It's been awhile since I first published my how to guide for antiquing metals, so for those of you who missed it, here it is again....
If you've seen my work, you know I usually offer Crucifixes, centers, and medals in bronze or sterling that are newly made but 'antiqued' to the patina of an old and well-loved piece. This process is also called 'oxidizing' the metals. Often I buy pieces that are prepared for me, but sometimes I have to do it myself. So for those of you who want to 'antique' a piece, here is a primer from my experience.
There are three basic ways of oxidizing brass/bronze and sterling:
1. Muriatic acid method 2. Liver of Sulphur method. 3. All Natural Boiled Egg method
I've done all three. As you can guess, the boiled eggs are natural and organic, while the other two methods each have some degree of risk.
Probably the most potentially dangerous is the muriatic acid, sold under various names (I bought 'Silver Black'). This is intense stuff, with an odor to knock out a horse and an ability to burn to the bone--so BE CAREFUL! It usually comes in a tiny bottle. Use it in a well ventilated area, preferably outside--the fumes are dangerous, and strong: the fumes alone can unintentionally oxidize other silver and metals you have around the house! I dilute it down about 3:1 or 4:1 in cool water--ALWAYS ADD THE ACID TO THE WATER, not the other way around, to avoid spattering and sputtering and potential burns!! And use a glass container—No plastic, wood, or metal, please! Add your metal pieces and allow them to soak until they achieve the darkness you wish. This takes only seconds to about a minute. Make them darker than you need and polish them up when they have been thoroughly rinsed and dried.
I don't use this stuff anymore. Why? Being an idiot, I left the bottle on my lovely stone countertop one night. Yes, the countertop I had saved for ages to get. The lovely white countertop. The countertop that Maxx vonMeow visited in the wee hours, tipping over the bottle, which then leaked and oxidized parts of that stone countertop to a freckled speckled black and white mess. O yeah, I don't use that anymore. Maxx, by the way, was fine. So store it carefully and use it outside, please!
The next method involves no harsh chemicals, so environmentalists listen up!
First, hard-boil 6 eggs. When they are done, do not cool them--instead, quickly remove their shells (careful!) and pop them into a gallon zip lock baggie. Keeping them on one side of the bag, mash them up well, then add the metal pieces to the other side of the bag and close it. Wait. Periodically mash on the eggs. Egg yolks make sulphur, and sulphur oxidizes metal.
Did you do all this? Good. Now remove the pieces from the bag and feed the eggs to the cats. Then go out and buy some Liver of Sulphur--because THIS DOESN'T WORK WORTH A DARN!!!!!!!! Pieces often come out blotchy, and it is a slow process indeed.
Liver of Sulphur is my favorite, as it is fast and will not repeat the infamous countertop episode. It comes in solid form, broken into little mustardy-brown nuggets with a strong smell of sulphur. To use it, boil water—I use about ½-1 cup for oxidizing multiple pieces—while soaking the pieces to be oxidized in hot water to warm them up. When the water boils, place it in a glass bowl or measuring cup and add the Liver of Sulphur—use a piece about the size of a pea for 1 cup of water. Stir to dissolve, but use a wooden or stainless utensil. Add your pieces and remove when oxidized, usually less than a minute later. Again, rinse thoroughly and pat dry.
Make sure to rinse very well…or you may come back the next day to a piece which seemed to reoxidize itself overnight!
Polish your dried objects to your preferred level of oxidization. I like to use a little silver or brass polish and my Dremel drill with a brush attachment, but a rock tumbler makes quick work out of polishing and leaves a lovely shine. Dremels are not that expensive –mine was less than $50, and you can get a rock tumbler for a reasonable price as well; but you can always use a little elbow grease, a toothbrush and some silver polish too!
Silver Black (muriatic acid) is less than $8 for a small bottle; liver of sulphur was about the same for a 1/4lb container and lasts many times longer. Eggs are $1 a dozen on sale—
You decide, but try one of these methods for that ‘old’ look in your metals—and have fun!
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