I think the book you mean is The Colouring Bronzing and Patination of Metals, published in the UK in 1982.

Whould you please send me a copy of the e-book "The Colouring Bronzing and Patination of Metals"?
futiant@hotmail.com

I make outdoor custom made brass furniture, and one of my customers want a chocolate brown finish on their dinning table.
Since we are talking about few large pieces, it does not make sense to make a dipping tank.
I need a chemical I can brush on the parts, and get the chocolate brown finish before it drys up.
Could you look at your "Scientific Facts and Formula" old book to see if there something that can do the trick.
Tks,
Mario Calvo

I haven't heard of tourmaline acid either.

Scrollerbear

Where does anyone find these chemicals? I made a discovery a while back after reading recipe after recipe..I"d seen these chemicals somewhere else. Here are two good places to look check out the swimming pool supply people..excellent pickle cheap. Then head to the garden center..look at the plant food ingredients list, on the backs of the box. A little experimenting is in order. You may just find some excellent patina and grow some fine tomatoes.
I'm looking for whites and a pink on copper.
and as usual I want that three hundred year old look in half the time. Brad

Norsar2,
Feel free to go on for pages if you like. Welcome aboard, glad to read you. Need a pink on copper and a white? Hmmm Brad

Just a general inquiry as to whether any one knows patinas for silver. Alternatively does any one know whether recipies for brass/copper will work on silver. Ideally I am looking for a green or red. In the mean time I think i will try one of the above recipies on copper.

Visitor,

There aren't a lot of colors you can get on fine silver. Fine silver doesn't readily oxidize, and is stable enough that most things won't color it.

If you're talking about sterling silver (92.5%Ag/7.5%Cu), then liver of sulfur (sulfurated potash) will color it dark greay to black. It is working primarily on the copper in the alloy. Other patinating chemicals will have some effect on the copper, but not to the extent that they will on pure copper.

One thing you can do to get a broader range of available colors on sterlingis to flash plate it with copper. To do this, you take some used pickle you can afford to waste, and put the silver in it tied to a piece of iron wire. The copper that has been dissolved in the pickle during its previous use willbe deposited on the surface of the new piece, due to the action of the iron wire in the pickle. This is just making use of a phenomenon that is otherwise annoying when you do it by mistake. (grin)

Hope this helps.

Ye I figured, wasn't sure though, can never be too sure what magic some people may know about. heh I've had experiances with the pink silver although i never knew i could use it to my advantage that way. Thx again!

Just an FYI - you can get red, brown, blue, purple on sterling with varying strengths of LOS and depending on whether or not you use it cold or hot. Also, adding ammonia to a weak cold solution of LOS will give brighter blues/purples.

I'll post some pics.

~Janice

I am interested in achieving purple patina on a sterling silver item.

By accident, I got a blue patina! After I heated the item, i immerged it into sulphuric acid and then into water with soda and then to the cold black patina for silver, I am not sure if it is LOS (Liver of Sulfur?).
But i would really prefer a purple color! If it is possible...

Thanks

Kalliope

Kalliope,

Sterling silver, because of its copper content, is a pretty reactive metal and will ultimately oxidize to a grayish black. You can get a purple patina on it by using some brands of liquid cold-bluing for guns. As I recall, the ones that gave me the purple color were formulae that contained selenious acid. It's been more than a quarter of a century since then, so my recollection could be faulty. :-)

Unless you can keep the sterling from having contact with the atmosphere, any oxide color you get will still turn black sooner or later.

Today I was working with some silicon bronze and used cold bluing to darken it. The range of colors was pretty impressive - gold, brown, russet, purple, blue-black, greenish black and jet black.

Thank you all for your guidance. I am now going to try these options and see where they get me. I will keep you informed. Thanks again. Kalliope.

Kalliope - I get purple when I use a WEAK solution of liver of sulphur (a light straw yellow color of solution). Sometimes I just use day old solution. Instead of using it warm or hot (which is the norm most of the time) I use it cold and paint it on with a papertowel. LIGHTLY. Watch what happens and when you get the color you want, stop. It takes some playing to get a feel for it - but you can always heat and pickle and start over! Then seal it immediately with a strong wax or laquer. (both will change the look slightly, so again - play with it)

Hope that helps some. :)

Liver of sulpur works. Will turn it brown to black, depending on long you soak it. Diana

Thanks for the advice, from what I have gleaned from this thread, I am going to try tenting a large piece I am working on and fume it. I prefer the less toxic approaches such as the salt and ammonia/ vinegar solution. Just an aside, if I owned a book called a "Fortune in Formulas", I wouldn't mention it by name because it is one of many that the "Patriot" Act made illegal to own because it gives explicit instructions for making various explosive compounds.

Err.. so I have heard, not actually possessing or having read such an alleged book.