I need to take a new piano hinge (steel, not brass) and turn it a very dark brown color, permanently. Paint will just chip off, and I thought of gun bluing, but that's a dark blue, not brown. Any ideas? Thanks much.

How about some gun browning??

For Browning guns??

Need more info George. Old bronze, newly bronzed?? Application of the hinge? How long is the hinge?

Where is a good alchemist when you need one? Ha!

Just for starters, here is a thought...

Model railroaders have some interesting supplies. One that I have used is Rustall http://rustall.com/

It goes on and dries thinly, so chipping, as with paint may not be an issue. The base product dries a rust orange, but this could probably be airbrushed over very lightly with a deeper brown (still thinking the thin paints that modelers use).

Typically paint chipping on a hinge is caused by rubbing against the thicker paints. Because there has to be a certain amount of clearance between the hinge barrels and the wings of the opposite side, this thinner type of paint may avoid the usual problems. Then again, maybe not.

In any case, I'd do whatever I could to rough every exposed surface with sandpaper, steel wool, or a wire wheel on a Dremel.

There are chemicals that will blacken brass (used by trophy name plate makers). Not sure if there is an artificial expiditor for steel. The only real problem with chipping paint would be exposed shiny underneath. This would be less of a problem with a dark undercoat.

Just thinking out loud.

No, they make a browning solution for gun barrels. Try Dixie Gun Works. I bought some browning from them quite a few years ago. It takes several days.

Yes, Dixie Gun Works.
Afterwards you could rub in some bronze powder followed by a light coat of spar poly.

Bet that stuff is close to muriatic acid.

Or you could try this George:

http://www.redaviscompany.com/0039.html

FWIW

Tannic acid will make it go black.
That's why you never use steel screws in oak....Oak is full of tannic acid.
I think you can get some patination treatments,though I'm not sure of the colours or finishes.
Cheers,Ray.

Great! I'm learning a lot here today. Thanks to all!

Rockler sells piano hinges in an antique brass finish that is almost brown along with bronze colored ones.
http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=11292

They have those at my local Ace Hardware Store...

Do I ever miss my local hdwr store. Since Lowe's moved in here my local hardware store had to close its doors. The guy that used to run it now works in the lawn mower dept at Lowes.

That's pretty sad. Local hardware stores always have more interesting stuff than Lowes, HD, Menards, etc., and do it in a fraction of the space.

Not brown, but might work for you

Iron, Steel, and Nickel Blackener
http://www.jaxchemicals.com/jaxshop/shopexd.asp?id=64

Antiquing Solutions
http://www.artsparx.com/store_antiquing.asp

bob

Gee, thanks, guys. That's a lot of info!

Actually, I called my local gun shop and asked about the browning (thanks, Tabby), and the guy knew exactly what it was and said to try brownell.com. I'll check it out over the weekend. I also suspected Michael was going to suggest something from railroad modeling, which is great. But now I have several other options.

Thanks again!

Curious to see and hear about the results. Have a fun weekend with it!

I've had lots of success with Brownell. Warm the metal to over 100 degrees, then apply, then brush off excess.

I wanted to "antique" some brass hasps, and the guy from Lowes told me iodine would stain nicely, but I can't find it anywhere (apparently been replaced by Betadine).

Looks like I'm going to be playing with "gun browning" now...who da thunk it?

Thanks for this Tabby and Steve!

I think I should dig out my old book "Heaney's Book of Formulas". It has all kinds of these old time methods of doing things from making colors in fires to making your own photographic plates. I will see what they have in it.

Richard

At estate sales, after all the good stuff is sold, it pays to look in the cellar for old cans of stain, enamel and other goodies. Surprising what you can pick up for nothing that's no longer available in hardware stores.