I recently purchased a 16 gauge sheet of bronze to cut some disks
from, what a pain! After reading up on other things to do with it
since there’s a lot of sheet leftover now, discovered that a
beautiful patina can be achieved using a torch. After some
experimentation last night, obviously there’s some art to it that I
wasn’t doing quite right.
Can anyone share a good method or recommend a good resource that
would give a how-to for this? Would be grateful for some pointers.
I work with bronze also. What sort of patina are you trying to
obtain? I mostly use the same techniques as for copper, with
somewhat different results. You can buy disks from Hagstoz at http://www.hagstoz.com. They’re in Pennsylvania, where I am, so don’t
expect fast service.
Brian Corll
Brian Corll, Inc.
1002 East Simpson Street
Mechanicsburg, PA 17055
Probably pretty rare, even though the copyright is only 1988. I
could go on about it, I’ll just say that if it’s about patinas on
brasses and bronzes, it’s in there, or something like it.
Heat only patinas (harlequin colors) are by nature transient. If you
want more stable and more repeatable colors, the use of different
chemicals are in order. There are fumed, buried, cold and hot
patinas, with many variations of each, and everything giving
different looking results. Do a Google search for “bronze patinas”
and you will fine gobs of I very much like Patrick
Kippers book “Patinas for Silicon Bronze”. I use it as a resource,
idea book and as examples for clients or students. The formulas work
unlike some “coffee table” look pretty but poor books.
Ron Young at
has written an ok book, but he does sell proprietary patina mixes a
well as some other patination materials. Triple S “SSS” chemicals in
Los Angeles is another source for larger quantities of chemistries
and a lot of the “base” materials. Your local sporting goods or
hardware store often have “gun blueing” materials that will/can work
on bronze but not always as the instructions say on the bottle as
these materials are normally for steel and you are applying them to
bronze (copper).
Professional patinators are, like most any experiences professional,
highly sought after by art foundries. This is not to infer that you
or anyone should not attempt patination, it is just that these folks
can repeat coloration for a series, and they generally have a few
secrets up their sleeves.
If you or anyone need any further help with coloration of metals
(for me I do copper) I would be happy to help if I can.
“The Coloring, Bronzing and Patination of Metals” by Richard Hughes
and Michael Rowe may be more than one needs. I can’t
imagine any book that contains more info.
I have been purchasing from Hagstoz - off and on- since the mid-70’s
and I have always found their service exceptional, professional, and
very personable, and never had a delayed delivery. Russ always asks
“what EXACTLY do you want, and when do you need it by”. Often they
have to alloy metal (usually gold) for me and mill large disks (7"-
11" diam.) but I have purchased 90/10 bronze from them also.
Over the years they have shipped to me in Seattle, Washington;
Michigan; and northern Califonia. Always within the time frame
requested
