How to age metal parts

[Redfish]

Please forgive me if this has been discussed to death but I can't find anything specific on the forum. What is the best way to age metal parts?

[Sean French]

Many use Etchant solution.

[FLICKOFLASH]

Originally Posted by Sean French

Many use Etchant solution.

Mercuric acid that is used to wash down masonry sold at home depot
Tape parts to lid put acid in bottom you want the fumes to mist it ( drop a penny in)
Do outside & do not breath the fumes

[flameburst]

Play the guitar for all you're worth for 30 years and they will age naturally with sweat and scum and crud from many sweltering gigs. Carry it with you everywhere; waiting for the bus in the rain, snow, summer festivals, smoky blues and jazz clubs... pay your dues, and maybe then metal parts will age nicely, rather than looking like they've been through a potato tumbler!

[Redfish]

Originally Posted by flameburst

Play the guitar for all you're worth for 30 years and they will age naturally with sweat and scum and crud from many sweltering gigs. Carry it with you everywhere; waiting for the bus in the rain, snow, summer festivals, smoky blues and jazz clubs... pay your dues, and maybe then metal parts will age nicely, rather than looking like they've been through a potato tumbler!

Death, taxes, and responses like this.

[FLICKOFLASH]

Originally Posted by flameburst

Play the guitar for all you're worth for 30 years and they will age naturally with sweat and scum and crud from many sweltering gigs. Carry it with you everywhere; waiting for the bus in the rain, snow, summer festivals, smoky blues and jazz clubs... pay your dues, and maybe then metal parts will age nicely, rather than looking like they've been through a potato tumbler!

smokey bars are a thing in the past ( smoking has been banned most public places)

[Redfish]

Thanks Flick, I'll give it a try. I just want to do my tailpiece to match an aged tonepros bridge. I guess I should just check it regularly as it cooks? Are we talking hours or days? Is there anything I need to neutralize the acid with when it gets to the desired point?

[FLICKOFLASH]

Originally Posted by Redfish

Thanks Flick, I'll give it a try. I just want to do my tailpiece to match an aged tonepros bridge. I guess I should just check it regularly as it cooks? Are we talking hours or days? Is there anything I need to neutralize the acid with when it gets to the desired point?

wear gloves as well . I did chrome tail , bridge & tuners for my 7 string ( looks like aged nickel now ) & it took only minutes , Yes have water near by to rinse. Alot of people do not know but under chrome is nickel & under that is cooper so do not over do it. I learned of this trick thru working on the job site when they acid washed it aged & tarnished our light fixtures when not covered

[lp59aholicDon]

Originally Posted by FLICKOFLASH

smokey bars are a thing in the past ( smoking has been banned most public places)

Ahh Depends what state your in, LOL here in NC, not too many " Smoke Free" establishments Tobacco is still a vegetable here Thanks for the tips, Careful also Muriatic Acid is some nasty nasty stuff

[BOBBO]

Originally Posted by lp59aholicDon

Ahh Depends what state your in, LOL here in NC, not too many " Smoke Free" establishments Tobacco is still a vegetable here Thanks for the tips, Careful also Muriatic Acid is some nasty nasty stuff

Don that was just too funny !!! I'm in NJ and we have the smoking ban ! How am i gonna get my Lester all nice and smokey if they can't puff up at the club ??

[lp59aholicDon]

Originally Posted by bobbovisme

Don that was just too funny !!! I'm in NJ and we have the smoking ban ! How am i gonna get my Lester all nice and smokey if they can't puff up at the club ??

Hey Bobbo, Bring down a few Lesters ya want to smoke up and we'll head out to a few wild crazy roadhouse jams

[tiedstick]

Originally Posted by FLICKOFLASH

Mercuric acid

Any other alternatives? I heard somewhere that acetone works. Is this true?

[lexluthier]

I wouldn't use etchant, sometimes the plating is so shitty these days you can eat right through the nickel if you leave it in too long. I've used muriatic acid fumes and also phosphoric acid fumes. Always rinse the acid off the parts with water after aging.

Wear goggles and gloves and use it outside, that stuff is hazardous! I've used a cardboard box with a tray of acid on the bottom, seems to work for me.

[61LPSG]

I'm going to offer a service to Forum members: Send me your Lesters and I will age them in my car for a week or two, I still smoke, and it's still legal in PA.
OK, seriously... you could try using a paste of crushed rock salt with a few drops of water and then clean them off real well. This is sweat on steroids. This will only works if the chrome is off or badly worn.
And a side note: Chrome is clear. The silver color is the nickle plate ( sometimes zinc) under the chrome.

[lp59aholicDon]

Originally Posted by BOBBO

Don that was just too funny !!! I'm in NJ and we have the smoking ban ! How am i gonna get my Lester all nice and smokey if they can't puff up at the club ??

Hey Bobbo, Send it down this way and I can take it to a whole lotta smokey bars, and for a bit extra I could take it to some smoke houses where the ham's are hangin too

Originally Posted by FLICKOFLASH

wear gloves as well . I did chrome tail , bridge & tuners for my 7 string ( looks like aged nickel now ) & it took only minutes , Yes have water near by to rinse. Alot of people do not know but under chrome is nickel & under that is cooper so do not over do it. I learned of this trick thru working on the job site when they acid washed it aged & tarnished our light fixtures when not covered

Ahh... shame shame! Wear Eye protection Dude!! One drop and your blind in that Eye! If you get it on your skin, it burns slightly, and you'll know right away but by all means where gloves too. Eye protection is a must. M. Acid is nasty stuff. You should seek another method all together...Remember the fumes are poisonous as well...

[roxrob]

Hi Guys


I Use PCB etching solution from Maplins electronics store in the UK. The way I do it is to wipe the solution on to the parts neat, rather than diluted with water, and then immedeately wipe it off. It works really quick on nickel but havnt tried it on chrome. All the metal parts on my guitar are the original gibson ones apart from the ABR1 bridge which came from a shop in London called Rokas on Denmark Street and only cost about £12.00 a couple of years ago. Any streaks left after application are buffed off with silver polish. This treatment works great on screws as well. A few photos are here.....

http://img66.imageshack.us/img66/646...otos011bw9.jpg
http://img91.imageshack.us/img91/984...otos009fe4.jpg
http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/5...otos010de1.jpg

It took a few applications but I think the results are worth the effort.


Rob

[bigdakota]

Hi guys. I have a les paul standard (not gonna age) and have an sg standard (natural burst). I want to age the sg and have tried using the etching solution. Works great on screws and smaller parts but did nothing to mytailpiece, bridge or tuners, still very shiny. Any tips? Do I need to sand paper or something?

Thanks,

[Seoighs]

Plain old WHITE VINEGAR works just fine on nickel parts...quick too.

Oh, and it won't kill you.

[bigdakota]

Not sure to tell if my bridge and tailpiece are chrome or nickel? It's a 2005 Gibson SG Standard in Natural Burst. Seems even steel wool won't scuff it up.

[loaded six string]

Originally Posted by flameburst

Play the guitar for all you're worth for 30 years and they will age naturally with sweat and scum and crud from many sweltering gigs. Carry it with you everywhere; waiting for the bus in the rain, snow, summer festivals, smoky blues and jazz clubs... pay your dues, and maybe then metal parts will age nicely, rather than looking like they've been through a potato tumbler!

HEY! I resent that comment, I make potato(e) tumblers for a living and have made several hundred dollars in my career, more or less, by selling them to people wanting to antique those fancy 'lectrified guit-machines

[marshallcrazy]

Hillbilly does this for a living; maybe he'll see this thread and chime in. There's a lot of truth to the smoky bar thing as well; I know a nice cigar, after savoring the puffs, when exhaled does a very nice job on Marshall logos!!

[bigdakota]

I have pics and need to post them. So you can't find Hydrochloric acid easy in NYC with good reason. I did find a cleaning solution in home depot that had somce hydrochloric acid in it. I did get the pcb etching. Pcb works quick on nickel but not at all on chrome. My bridge and tailpiece are chrome I put it in a container to let the fumes get to them, no luck, I then soaked them in the solution for two days. It dulled them for sure, then I dipped quickly in the etching solution and washed off. The results are pretty good but it's a longer process with what I used. The tuning pegs came out great. I suggest after this is done, put all items in a sock or heavy plastic ziplock with screws, keys and other metal objects to scuff them up naturally with sandpaper or steel wool.

[shotgunlew]

What if you left the part in the sun till it got good and hot and then put it in the freezer ( maybe it would do something ?

[Coachmoe]

Gentlemen,

From experience, you can't age chrome parts with acid or etchant solution. It does not work.

I have used both muratic acid and etchant solution. IMHO, muratic acid works better on pickup covers. I use etchant solution for everything else.

There is one other option and that is to strip the chrome plating off and get down to the nickle then proceed from that point. I have not yet used this method but this summer I will be dechroming my 03 Firebird V to get to the nickel.

Hope this helps.

[dwagar]

I think Coachmoe is right, you're pretty well hooped with chrome unless you can get the chrome plating off. Easier to just buy replacement nickel parts if you want to age them.

Etchant works just fine for me.

[Mike60]

...ammonia works well,which is what is in real sweat...white vinegar is another good one.

[BobbyK]

ammonia is also in urine.



would Hydrochloric Acid work? I put that on the tailpiece of my mandolin... (the gold looked horrible !) it kinda made the metal look aged, but I wanted a uniform look and sanded it... then filled the grooves with shoe polish

it turned out pretty neat.

[J_Wig]

Originally Posted by FLICKOFLASH

Mercuric acid that is used to wash down masonry sold at home depot
Tape parts to lid put acid in bottom you want the fumes to mist it ( drop a penny in)
Do outside & do not breath the fumes

if you really want it to smoke drop a chunk of aluminum can in there

[watchunglava]

Originally Posted by flameburst

Play the guitar for all you're worth for 30 years and they will age naturally with sweat and scum and crud from many sweltering gigs. Carry it with you everywhere; waiting for the bus in the rain, snow, summer festivals, smoky blues and jazz clubs... pay your dues, and maybe then metal parts will age nicely, rather than looking like they've been through a potato tumbler!

thats how mine looks the way it does.