How do you age metal to a Patina?

[cplstevennorton]

I have a 1911 rear sight that I need to age to a patina to match my 1913 Colt. What is the best way to do it?

My colt has little to no finish left, and has turned to a black/brown patina. I finally found an original Colt round rear sight to replace the incorrect one, but it is almost worn white. It doesn't match at all with the finish of my pistol.

And since round rear sights are almost impossible to find, I am gioing to try to make this one match if I can. So I am wondering if I can age it to match the patina.

Any help would be appreciated.

Steve

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[Mick]

I have refinished a couple of guns that had a " patina" . It looks just like fine rust to me.

Probably not what you want to hear, but if I were you I would refinish the entire gun.

[Patrick Chadwick]

Steve, if I understand the problem correctly, you want the "new" part to match in with the rest of the gun, not to refinish the entire object. I have had this problem several times - either to darken a forsight black for better contrast, without it looking like a new replacement, or to hide a horribly bright new (!!) scratch.

Dealers who fancy themselves as sellers of antiques often refer to a finish as "turning to a plum brown". This is dealer hype for "turning into plain surface rust". All blueing/browning/blacking is a kind of controlled rusting.

The answer in your case is (as I myself have done) to deliberately give the affected part or area a light (refinishers would say: poor quality) blacking, to tone in with the rest of the gun.

It is quite easy, and will only take about as long as it takes me to write this posting. You only need some cotton buds, paper kitchen towelling, acetone, and the blacking agent (Birchwood-Casey blue or similar). Use the buds to dab acetone on the area to be treated, wipe off any dirt and repeat until a fresh bud remains damp but does not show a dirt stain. Do NOT let the acetone touch the wood, as it will spoil any wood finish as well!

Let the acetone dry off (less that a minute) and then use a bud to wipe on the "blueing". As you wait, the cleaned area will darken. When you reckon it looks about right, wipe off the blueing with a clean bud, wipe again with a bud moistened with water, then wipe all over with an oily bud. Simple, and if it's not dark enough, do it again. The advantage of wiping on the blueing solution is that you can control the darkening and shade it to match the surroundings.

I suggest you try it on a piece of hardened steel first. I practised on a pair of pliers, which, like most of the tools I use frequently, had developed the famous "plum brown" look from years of handling with sweaty fingers!

Patrick

[Chuckindenver]

put the sight in a shotglass of lemon juice set outside in the sun.
remove it from the glass, and let it air dry.

[cplstevennorton]

That sounds good I will try that.

My 1913 colt is a USMC serial number so I definetly don't want to refinish it. Even at no finish it is still worth three times as much as a refinish. Here's a pic of it. It's not the pretiest, but it is a true Marine Corps peice which is extremly rare as very few exist anymore. In fact, it's the 775th 1911 pistol the Marine Corp bought, which is sort of cool. It's all correct, except the original round rear sight must have been swapped for a later WWI style flat sight for WWI. Which from what I researched is very common as the round rear sight did not give a good sight picture and in 1914 the military switched to the flat style.

So I've been trying to find an original round rear sight to make it 100% correct. The problem is they were only used on 1912-1913 Colt pistols and most were switched and thrown away in armory changes. So they are very, very hard to find.

I finally found one but it's worn white. So I just have to age it a bit to make it match.

[jmoore]

+1 What chuckindenver said.

It might take a little fiddling but you should be able to get close. The "cold bluing" thing can also be made to work but its not as stable, and it has an odor that experienced collectors know to check for.(Its really unpleasant too!) Won't argue the ethics thing, that's for you to ponder.

[Chuckindenver]

or try Plubm brown available from Beach wood casey

[JBS]

Like Chuckindenver said lemon juice. Edges can be aged with one of the large grade school pink erasers. Rub the edges where they would make contact with whatever. The eraser will leave a dull matt finish down to the silver metal just like happens over time.

[Alfred]

Try the controled rust acid pickeling, vinegar may work.