hola joe
espero que puedas conseguir una buena traduccion de esto, he realizado algunas pruebas con patinas en hierro, con productos sencillos de cocina. Una de ellas que me ha dado muy buen resultado, es preparanco una solucion en caliente con sulfato de cobre, y con la pieza perfectamente limpia le aplico con un picel y corto la reaccion con NH3 el amoniaco que se utiliza en la limpieza de cocina, luego cuando llego al color deseado le aplico cera de abeja con un paño

Hi Matsu,
I apologize for not being able to understand what you have written. I'll take it to a friend of mine for translation.
thanks,
Joe

Frank,
One reason I like to clear coat instead of paint is that, like you say, one scratch or ding and it looks like Fido's butt. I went to soaking in vinegar to remove scale because if I just wire brushed and sanded after forging, I often end up with scale patches that refuse to come off and to my eye look like crap. The problem with the vinegar method is that after wire brushing the steel looks very bright as if it were chrome plated. I'd like a look more like what I get from sanding after forging but without the scale patches. I saw one fellow spray some black paint on a rag and wipe it over the steel which was an interesting way of doing things. But most folks who are knowledgeable about paint warn against using it without a primer coat.
Incidentally, if I soak the steel in vinegar and pull it out after a day or so and let it set without washing off it develops some beautiful rust colors.
I've thought about chemical patinas but haven't found anyone with experience of them.
Rustoleum Clear Enamel works well to seal the steel against rust for interior work. For exterior work the only thing I've found is paint, paint, and more paint.

I have used the sculpt nouveau metal dyes successfully for indoor pieces for 5+ years and really like the transparent effect I can get. You can't get every color you want because the white is not transparent but you can combine them to vary the shades. I coat the finished piece with rustoleum clear. You might try a combination of clear shellac and pastels. I used to shave the pastel sticks and mix them with the shellac when I was a picture framer and needed to tint molding. I doubt it would hold up outdoors. I used shellac because the old framer saying was that shellac sticks to everything and everything sticks to shellac. For some of my indoor pieces I use Duplicolor transparent auto paint. It is beautiful but fragile. Lin

Lin,
Thanks. I'll look into sculpt nouveau dyes. That sounds very much like the effect I'm after.
Joe

But after looking at them, they might not work because they say a primer must be used for iron. I expect this is correct since the patina formulations I looked at where water based. I know that when I've tried acrylics on steel just for grins, I've ended up with rust spots unless I use an oil based primer.

The dyes I have used are thinned with a solvent, so I don't think they are water based. I have never used a primer as I want the steel texture to show through. I haven't had any rust but use them only on indoor pieces. Lin

Many thanks for the extra info. I went back and found the solvent dyes you are talking about and they look like what I need.
What had confused me was that I looked at one of the colored patina's and it talked about being water based.
I'll give the dye a try.
Best,
Joe

Hi folks.
I peep in here every once in a while, and I just happen to come across a patina receipe that Matsu shares here in Spanish. Hope you guys don`t mind translating it for you as it may turn out interesting….

“Hi Joe, I hope you can find a good translation of this, I have run some tests of patinas on steel, with simple household products. One of them which has given good results, is preparing a hot solution of copper sulphate, and with the piece perfectly clean I apply the solution with a brush and cut the reaction with NH3 (ammonia) the type used as kitchen cleaner, thereafter once the desired color is achieved, I give it a bee wax coat with a piece of cloth”

Sounds interesting to me, and I`ll give it a try myself. Happy holidays !!!

Hola Matsu,
pronto te contactare para intercambiar ideas. Gracias por compartir y felicidades ¡!!!!!!

Many thanks for the translation. We tried but hadn't gotten very far.
That sounds like an interesting idea. Gotta try it.
Thanks Matsu and Nelson.
Joe