I have a set of Johnson Products brass cups and want to get a nice, aged patina.

What's the best way you have found to do this?

Lots of info out there if you search. Off the top of my head; Urine, Head Grease (also known as Sebum) and general handling.

-todd

Constant handling.

My Johnson cups took several months to patina nicely, as opposed to my copper cups which patina in a couple of weeks. At first my Johnson cups became rather grubby looking and sticky. But now they look pretty good. Maybe you just need more time.

good luck

Tracy

Personally I like my brass to shine and my copper to look vintage!

You can also force a patina using a product called "Brass Darkening Solution." It's primarily used by people in the antique, furniture and construction trades to give new brass an old brass appearance. I've had wonderful results with it, but it works quickly (less than a minute), so be sure to follow the instructions precisely and pay attention lest you find yourself having to polish off a too-dark patina and start anew (a laborious process, to which I can also attest).

Also, be sure to protect the finish with a good clear (neutral) furniture-quality paste wax once you've gotten the patina you desire.

You'll have no trouble finding suppliers for the product via a Google search if that's of interest to you.

I have used this in the past, but have found it to actually be a bit too strong. The patina it produces seems to me to be a bit too dark to look natural.

Most of the patinizing compounds are like that.

To do it properly you need a hot dip solution, the temperature will control the patina effect on the brass. Let them patina completely in the solution and then take a flanel buffing wheel and buff away randomly, what you will get is a nice set of antiqued brass, you can preserve them by either an epoxy or as like others mentioned hand waxing.

Jake

Jake:

Love your work!

I own a set of your SS Montis and absolutely LOVE them.

What is the best hot dip solution to use?

Rainboguy,
thanks. There is a company called Caswell Plating, you can google it. They deal with all sorts of plating, oxidizing and polishing items for the home user. While the chemicals are so much industrial grade and could probally only be used once you should find what you need. Their staff is very helpful, call them tell them what you want to do and they'll tell you what oxidizing agent is best.

I use our plater for that as I'm highly allergic to any oxidizing chemicals, and caution should always be used ie. making sure you have plenty of fresh air flowing through your work area. A lot of agents are Acid based and the fumes can overwhelm you very quickly.

To remove the patina after it's applied, I recommend a White Diamond compound on the flanel buffing wheel and use very light pressure, let the wheel do the work. Also waxing is really the best, there really isn't an epoxy or laquer for the average consumer to use out of a can etc. that works well enough.

Hope this helps.

Jake

Check this out:

http://www.oillampparts.com/patina.html

Terry

Gotta be careful with some of this stuff.
1) You don't want to heat your cups until they are glowing orange. Especially a chop cup.

2) Nitric acid is not easy to find any more. Our friends from Al Qaeda kind of nipped that in the bud.

Nature is the best patinizing medium.

It is difficult to find. However, swimming pool cleaner and some products used for cleaning outdoor stone patios is often made primarily of nitric acid. Don't tell anyone I said so, though

Over here, they generally use "muriatic" acid -- which is Hydrochloric Acid. It will produce undesirable results. Like dissolving your cups.

But, thinking back on this, some of the artificial tanning products such as ManTan, used to contain a mild solution of nitric acid.

One of the dangers of concentrated nitric acid is that it can have an anaesthetic quality to it. So it can damage you before you know you have been injured.

I've used a couple of proprietary cold dip solutions on brass cups (called 'Brass Brown' and 'Brass Black' that are used for antiquing metal) with good results.

The best results have been from products used to antique gun parts. The brown solutions seem to give a more consistent result than black - producing a very deep but lustrous patina. If you use these, the cups have to be de-lacquered, cleaned really well with a polishing product, then washed in soapy water, rinsed and finally cleaned with alcohol (or metal degreaser) before dipping them. The dipping is simple enough - but the proprietary solutions must be diluted.

Some of these solutions are toxic (contain barium), but others are much more benign. You'll still need to wear gloves & protective goggles, though.

My JP cups didn't patinize much until after I washed them in water and detergent. After that the patina formed quickly. Right now they are still looking green and they feel "furry" (like when you haven't brushed your teeth in a while..)

I've heard that the green stage will pass and they will start to look great, but it's very tempting to clean them as it looks horrible... but I'll hold out for the aged brown look.

I have a Baby Don chop cup that I have used until it turned a nice brown. It took a lot of time, but it finally happened.

Washing the cups with a good detergent makes the whole process much easier and shorter, though.

they love those cups and balls that al qaeda lot