Anyone Used John Wardle Brass Blackening? (It's A UK Brand)

C

CumbrianLad

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Cumbria, that's in England.
Hi.

I read all over the place about Jax Pewter Black, for blackening white metal, brass and solder. I went to order some, but can't seem to buy it in the UK. One Amazon.co.uk seller listed it but it was marked as 'Currently unavailable. We don't know when or if this item will be back in stock.'

I could order from the States but then there's shipping costs and delays.

I saw the UK company in the title selling similar products. I don't know if anyone here has tried their stuff. Let me know if you have, please and what you think of it. I'm well aware of how much money I'm spending at the moment! I don't really want to spend more time and cash on experiments. Nothing ever seems straightforward!

Thanks.
 
I was having inconsistent results with Jax, just bought Brownell's Oxpho-blue liquid gun blue and it worked very nicely on my one attempt so far.
 
I've just checked out their UK website and seen a browning solution that could be ideal for me, given that I want most of the brass to be of a wooden appearance. It involves repeated applications and heating to 150 to 200 farenheit (101 to 130 C) to get the desired depth of colour. That may be worth a try. With a little dry brushing in a slightly darker brown, I think I'll get a quite natural wood appearance. I need to use brass to get the desired strength, whilst still being realistic in scale in a couple of applications (tiller and whipstaff). For other applications, strength doesn't matter. That blue-black will be fine for lanterns. For the cannon, I'll just use vinegar. It gives a lovely weathered appearance to brass.

I like the fact that I only need a hair dryer to get the brass to temperature. That's pretty important since I don't want to heat the brass until it blackens or glows, or else I'll end up annealing the metal and making it as soft as putty!

Thanks for the tip, mate. It's much appreciated.
 
Last edited:
CumbrianLad said:
Hi.

I read all over the place about Jax Pewter Black, for blackening white metal, brass and solder. I went to order some, but can't seem to buy it in the UK. One Amazon.co.uk seller listed it but it was marked as 'Currently unavailable. We don't know when or if this item will be back in stock.'

I could order from the States but then there's shipping costs and delays.

I saw the UK company in the title selling similar products. I don't know if anyone here has tried their stuff. Let me know if you have, please and what you think of it. I'm well aware of how much money I'm spending at the moment! I don't really want to spend more time and cash on experiments. Nothing ever seems straightforward!

Thanks.
Click to expand...
Hi
For darkening brass I use diluted selenious acid solution (!!poisonous use mask!!).The surface of the brass part should be clean (not coated by lacquer or vernis ). You can remove it by using a solvent or by sanding 800 -1200 with sand paper.
Application: Put the brass article for appr. 20-30 seconds while shaking .Take it out and rub with a piece of cloth then treat it again with the same solution for another 30 to 60 seconds.The end result is in the attachment.
I bought the product from a shop who delivered all kind of articles also chemicals to bras working sector producing like bed frames ,antique looking table lamps etc. Kind Regards

Attachment-1 (2).jpeg
 
I've used Super Blue for many years, works fine on brass.
Just looked up the current price, ouch!

DSCF9055.JPG
 
I saw the UK company in the title selling similar products. I don't know if anyone here has tried their stuff. Let me know if you have, please and what you think of it. I'm well aware of how much money I'm spending at the moment! I don't really want to spend more time and cash on experiments. Nothing ever seems straightforward!

i have a bottle of it and you can have it, it does not turn pewter black. I tried it and the solution turned a rust color and the pewter piece turned a dark red and not black.
Caswell is the best
 
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