I wanna make rust

[ieezitin]

Hello peoples.

I have a little project that I need a little help with. I have two pieces of steel plate 60”x25”x1/4” and I need to age them, meaning I want them to look like they have been out in the weather for ten years, I want all the pits and flaky rust. This is for a client of mine and he likes the old industrial look, this will be a kitchen table top when it’s finished.

Believe it or not I can’t find anything around my local scrap yards as they are selling scrap like crazy, prices must be high!. Anywho any chemicals or electrical way of doing this I am interested in.

Many thanks in advance   Anthony

[AdeV]

This page might help?: http://metalgeek.com/archives/2006/06/13/000065.php

[Swarfing]

Electrolysis but in reverse, just swap the cables around, instead of removing rust you put it back on?

[Troutsqueezer]

Spray with vinegar mixed with some water. It'll rust overnight.

[KB3RLJ]

I'm sure it will be no help as it won't be obtainable but titanium tetrachloride will do it almost overnight. I work in a plant with it and have gotten it on a brand new chromed wrench. Put it in my toolbox over the weekend and Monday it looked 10 years old with big rust blooms and all.

[PekkaNF]

All acids and salts will corrode iron metals, but they take moisture, temperature and time. Some vapours will work pretty even rust on tools overnight, found that with printed circuit etching solution, when I left it overnight in one cabinet with some tools....

Ferric chlorid used to etch printed circuit boards leaves fairly nasty looking stains on most metals. PC-board solutions are designed to eat copper and will etch pretty effectively most metals, some will need some heat.

Mr. Muscle (liquid plummer) leaves fairly matte and metallic finish.

One etch will work on one effect, you may need to use several in succession to get the rich texture you are after.

You may consider hapharzad sand blasting and/or wire mesh before etching. Least good wash to remove oil and all that of the new steel plate.

Pekka

[crabsign69]

Salt water no problem   pool acid works great too and in under five minutes but where a respirator its nasty stuff. i washed a concrete floor with acid once (very very clean floor  afterwards) but every metal thing in the shop rusted  (bad idea boss was pissed off) but that concrete floor was clean and white.

[doubleboost]

Buy a Jaguar
Just leave it beside it you will get rust overnite
Sorry 
I would think salt water should do the job
John

[raynerd]

Anthony,

If you place them in cheap vinegar for 24 hours, you`ll make some iron acetate (a mixture of Iron (II) Acetate and iron (III) acetate) the solution is a red brown mess of a colour! It`ll also make some iron oxide. Then stick it  in a bucket of salt water for a few hours and pull it out but don`t clean it. Then throw away most of the salt water from the bucket so you have most of the "part" out of the water and stick a lid of some sort on the bucket. This will create a very moist atmosphere (the water will evaporate and stay in the bucket) and the salt will still be on the part from the soak you gave it earier.  You`ll have plenty of your hydrated iron (III) oxide forming  and it looking pretty good within a few days.

I do a similar thing with a nail and it looks badly rusted after a day!

A better way would be electrolysis, I`m pretty sure if you stick your piece of steel to the positive terminal (anode) of a battery and use water as the electrolyte your going to get rust forming when the oxygen is attracted to your steel part! Don`t put any salt in if your doing electrolysis or you`ll end up making chlorine!  

Chris

[ieezitin]

Fellas
I want to thank you all for the help, I will this weekend start on a mixture of all ideas to see what I like on a few test pieces. All sound appealing to me and I will certainly have fun trying them out.

Doubleboost: I know exactly your point, I had a 89 XJS fastest ride I ever owned, it got faster everyday I drove it due to the loss of metal mass through oxidation. Shame really it was a bute!.

KB3RLJ
Believe this or not I have access to it, Du Pont is a client of mine and I know the effect of this stuff its relentless but I never thought of this product for my solution.

Thank you again all.      Anthony

[snoopdog]

Iv done this type of thing before and i took the metal outside and pissed on it. Im not kidding one bit.

It will rust real quick and the piss is free.

[websterz]

Iv done this type of thing before and i took the metal outside and pissed on it. Im not kidding one bit.

It will rust real quick and the piss is free.

I doubt anyone wants your whizz on their dining room table.     

[Ronkh]

It will rust real quick and the piss is free.

 

Wouldn't that depend on how many beers you have to sink? Surely not tap-water instead of the brown stuff?!

Ron.

[AR1911]

Iv done this type of thing before and i took the metal outside and pissed on it. Im not kidding one bit.

It will rust real quick and the piss is free.

Ditto.  That was a barrel-finishing method for gunsmiths 200 years ago.
Barrels in a rack outside the (outside) privy.

[krv3000]

HI all a good one for rust and is free wel sort of is rock salt ie the stuf they put on the roades in the winter  it rots out

[black85vette]

I have used acid to remove the nickel plating but the best oxidizer I have found is laundry bleach.   It will rust steel right before your eyes (which of course are protected by safety glasses, right??)