Does the quality of my brass blanks determin the success of developing a salt/vinegar/ ammonia patina?
For a couple of years now, I’ve successfully developed patinas on brass blanks. Suddenly, nothing works. After conscientiously going through the steps of cleaning etc and trying various ways of achieving patina, I am left to wonder if my supplier has changed the quality of the brass blanks. Has anyone got an idea how to remwdy my problem, or can tell me of a successful method to developing patina?
Thank you
Bärbel
First Step would be to ask your supplier if they’ve changed their brass alloy. If not, you should check if they sent you the wrong alloy–most places sell more than one type of brass alloy. I’m finding more and more businesses seem to be getting less and less experienced workers who do not provide the kind of service as in the past :-(… The last possibility Is of course your patina solution. These usually work best when made up fresh. Also, the ammonia might be old (?).
I’ll make a wild, sloppy guess just for fun: your supplier used to make their own or got it from a US manufacturer and now they’ve switched to a Chinese manufacturer (totally different alloy) :-)…
Janet in Jerusalem
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I use “Berg Selenium Toning Solution” to patina my bronze belt buckles. Also works on brass. Get it from B & H Photo in New York.It is used to tone photos. Use straight out of the bottle, don’t dilute. Apply it with a Q tip and heat with torch under hood or outside .Works best if you sandblast the surface first.
Dave
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Thank you for your thoughts abd suggestions. Sorry for the late reply.
The answer was the alloy. I found a different supplier. Thank you Janet!!
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Glad you figured it out! There’s zillions of brass alloys.
Congrats!!
Jeff