Help making sheet steel look 100 yrs old

[JPShooter]

I did not take the time to read all posts, so if this is a repeat my apologies.

Check the later part of this video, it may fit what your trying to do.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HEt8eS5YnNE&desktop_uri=/watch?v=HEt8eS5YnNE

 

[wroughtn_harv]

This is a fireplace screen I did ten or so years ago. What I want you to see is the hammer toning. Every hammer of mine has a signature of its own, fate of hammers the world over.

the material is 3/8" plate. The client brought me a sheet of plywood that he had cut to fit the opening of the fireplace. I cut that out of the plate and then went to work on it with hammers, three days worth, all done cold. Then the material had to be trimmed, lot of stretching type distortion with all the smacking with hammers.

I took it to the clients, did a test fit, got real lucky. Took it back outside and tacked in some tabs for securing it to the opening and went back in and installed it.

 

[sixdogs]

harv--that is a great looking job and you sure did get lucky on fitting it.

 

[Sodo]

JPshooter, that video was good, I could do that process with the propane burner easily, except?.where do I get "Ferric Nitrate" locally? The other stuff was "Liver of Sulfur". On eBay Ferric Nitrate is pretty darn expensive $28 and requires $42 of hazmat shipping fees. I'd like to get just a few squirts locally, for one project, and not have a bunch of that acid stored in my garage for the next 20 years.:confused3:

WroughtnHarv that is an awesome fireplace screen surround. Really great work. You were lucky on the fit and your client was lucky in finding you! I like real steel especially when it was made by a real guy here in the USA with no barcodes on it. However the look I want for my steel sheet is lightly sealed rust scale and and worn/burnished by boots with the nails worn shiny and dark around them, dark around the stove legs, dents & scratches from the poker….like its been there 100 years.

 

[muddstopper]

polish metal with scotchbrite. Coat with vinegar and let surface rust. Spray on Phosphoric acid (some say muratic acid will do same thing) and watch rust turn black. Rinse with clean water and dry. Coat with clear paint to preserve finish.

 

[SPIKER]

polish metal with scotchbrite. Coat with vinegar and let surface rust. Spray on Phosphoric acid (some say muratic acid will do same thing) and watch rust turn black. Rinse with clean water and dry. Coat with clear paint to preserve finish.

This is exactly what I was going to say, lol. While it is setting there under stove take a chalk and lightly mark areas you would like to age more/less...

For better patina, use the scotch-Brite (with good rubber gloves and goggles that seal) and work the phosphoric acid (weakened muratic acid works too) be aware that phosphoric acid leaves a bluish tint/coating that prevent actual rust from forming for a long while. It also helps paint adhesion (best stuff to use.) Doubling coats in areas also will make variations look different. If you have any old TSP (pre-painting cleaner) laying around in a box that will work but not as well as the other materials. what every you do since you said wet boots will be on there a clear satin rustolium type paint should be applied otherwise wet boots will make it look just rusty soon.
If you know of any Power Coaters i your area they can apply a long time coating too.


Mark

 

[sixdogs]

So how did this end? What did you do and does the steel look 100 years old?

 

[Sodo]

Thanks for checking in. So many good ideas & help that I held off to get some sample iron sheets (to test) and then got sidetracked by the holidays. I'll post pics of my samples (but not going to wait 100 years).

 

[GYPSY]

bottle of coke

 

[Sodo]

So how did this end? What did you do and does the steel look 100 years old?

OK six, back on this project after a few months. Thought about Coke, but Muriatic seemed like it might work faster. Took advice to use Muriatic acid so got some at the hardware store and put it in a spray bottle. I cleaned the steel sheet with gasoline, then with another solvent (Goof-Off).

The very light like rust-dusting that was on the sheet disappeared initially and the acid turned green. If you wanted to brighten rust-dusted steel, Muriatic might be a good way. I wiped off the (greened) acid, and misted the bright sheet again.

I misted the steel until it was wet. Was careful not to drip muriatic (= 31% hydrochloric acid) on the concrete :shocked: ! Already have exposed aggregate don't want gravel!
Pic below is 10 minutes after spraying with acid and wiping once, then re-misting.

24 hours later, sitting outside under an eave, in Seattle, wet rainy night. Next day sunny and humid.

Could have been a mistake to let it sit vertical, at risk to get "runs" but may have got lucky.

I brought it inside, and did a very slight touch with a fine wire brush on a corner - you can see the number of swipes (two!), they were very light and the rust basically wiped off. So the rust is not 'deep', nor is it adhered. I bet it would come off almost "clean" if I rubbed it now. This is all I know at the moment.

Spiker & muddstopper I probably should have re-studied this forum before going at it again yesterday. you guys said to scotchbrite it (before, or while "wet" with acid) I suppose that would have made a 'deeper' effect. Do you think I should then just rub off the rust and scotchbrite it, and then mist it with acid again?

What I need now is advice from the experienced to make the steel look "old, but not neglected". I want it to look like its been on the floor for 100 years, burnished wherever there is boot scuffing, wood piled, etc. But old, swept, indoors, NOT neglected. I suppose to burnish it around the nail heads and stove feet, etc, I'll have to wait. But mainly want to darken the rest of the sheet, ya know, the rustic look.

I need to know whether to keep misting it with water or acid, and how long to wait before rubbing the orange rust off. Should I put it back outside in the damp? Or in the rain? And how to rub the orange rust off? Aggressively with a wire brush on the angle grinder? Scotchbrite by hand? Or non-abrasive? So what should I do to get it to look old with not much more work invested?