Not sure what you are referring to. How to blacken brass?How is that made? I believe its not blackening... that makes the guns black. I think the brass cannon would have been look like dark metalic brown, or dark bronze,
Would appreciate a tip.
This is the stuff:Hi KURT do you have a brand name or a link to the product. THANKS Don
Cannons could never have been made of brass...they would have exploded into a million pieces, killing multiple crew members. In the 17thcentury, bronze was used, but gave way to the much less expensive cast iron which was essentially black.
@DARIVS ARCHITECTV wuao! That does is it! Thank very much sir. The only question is how do you finish (interupt) the darkening processes? Do you just take it out of the solution? Wash it wit water, or paint it with a colourless protective?
And if I may a second question. If you go to far darkening can it be reversed through acetone or lemon etc?
Thanks again for your response and of course for sharing your precious knowledge.
Christos
@DocBlake metallurgy: Bronze and brass are both cooper alloys. Cannons were normally made from bronze, not brass. Bronze alloy has less zinc (its a tin-zinc alloy) and is harder. Brass has more zinc and is softer. Brass has a more yellowish colour, while bronze has a more reddish colour.
Still in the english language there seems to be a confusion in the use the of the terms brass and bronze cannons.We have the same confusion in the greek language as well.
Bronze that is used for guns (just as an example:10–14% Sn, 2–3% Zn, 0–0,8%P) it is also called red brass or even gun metal.
Many cannons were made of bronze (I live close to the Royal Armory Museum, Portsmouth) If a bronze cannon was damaged they could salvage the metal and recast it. Use concentrated liquid ammonia (hardware store oven cleaner) and put 10mm deep in a jam jar with a sealable lid. With a bit of rigging line hang the brass to be coloured over (not in) the liquid. Please do this operation reasonably quickly, you'll understand later! A cannon can be left for a few hours, wire tends to go too brittle so only a few minutes. The patina will also have some green verdigris, this can be removed with fine steel wool. You may want to repeat for longer until you get the shade required.How is that made? I believe its not blackening... that makes the guns black. I think the brass cannon would have been look like dark metalic brown, or dark bronze,
Would appreciate a tip.
Can't help I'm afraid, never used it. You can't ruin a cannon by experimenting I assume??Just love your bronze cannons, Bob.
My question....I bought some 'liver of sulpher'. It arrived in a clear pink solution. After a while it turned colourless, with a few black specs floating around. Does this stuff have a shelf life?
I have struggled a little in the past with getting to the "appearance" cannon as well. Personally, I don't care for the look of raw brass. Like many members I use Birchwood Casey's Brass Black with good results. The process I use is to dilute the Brass Black, 1 part Brass Black to 5 parts water. It will allow you to get to the same results if you used straight Brass Black, it just takes a little longer....about 5 times longer. And since the process is slower it allows me to watch and remove the cannon when it reaches the depth of black I'm looking for. I then remove and rinse under regular water.How is that made? I believe its not blackening... that makes the guns black. I think the brass cannon would have been look like dark metalic brown, or dark bronze,
Would appreciate a tip.
You can always remove the oxide coating if you don't like the appearance and start over using a different method. There is no appreciable metal loss.Can't help I'm afraid, never used it. You can't ruin a cannon by experimenting I assume??