Patrick from Davis
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So recently I got a neck plate from Doug, but I decided I was going to be a little more looney tunes about it. So I decided to blacken the metal. In technical terms this is chemically adding a layer of Metal rust (in this case MnO2, or Parkerizing the metal) to the exposed steel or iron. It will not work on Aluminum, Stainless, Copper, Plated Steel... This means on the areas of a neck plate that have been machined, it should work. Because I am a looney tune, I decided that I would get a Bill the Cat neck plate.
Now, first and foremost, this is using MnO2 and Phosphoric Acid. Strong stuff. Do this outdoors and with safety gear. Do not try this without gloves. Seriously, go to the Dollar Store and get some nitrile dish washing gloves and throw them away when you are done. No if and or's or but's. I'm not kidding. At all.
Okay, remove any oil and rust from the piece of metal. I used a bathroom cleaner, they tend to work quite well for this. Another Dollar Store find from several years ago. I have about 6 of these around the house.
Now time for the heavy hitter. I found this for $15 on Amazon and they shipped it to CA, so you should be able to get it. It is a concentrate (4X) so be sure to dilute it with three parts water to one part Agent. This should be close, but don't worry very much about being exact. If it is too concentrated the Phosphoric will eat the metal away, not concentrated enough it will take forever to blacken. I used a little bottle that had graduations on it, but just get it close. I made 40 mL of the stuff and that was easily enough. But, because it is for Blackening Metal, and I have a love for plays on words and puns, I put it next to it's brother.
Okay, jokes aside, here is the bottle of the stuff that I made.
After putting the plate into a small plastic container, I let it sit for 45 seconds. I had looped a copper wire through one of the holes to pick up the plate without touching the blackening solution. I would dunk it in water, brush it with a dollar store toothbrush (2 for a buck, Yesss!!) and then put it back into the blackening solution. I did this about five times until it looked good to me.
Now, the blackening agent will not stop rust, so you have to seal this someway or another. I have a pen of clear car paint touch up that I got from O'Reilly's. Open this thing outside, smells like ether. Wear gloves as well, ether passes through your skin real easy carrying all sorts of stuff into you cells. Not good.
Now, I am not one to paint within the lines, and in this case, it is sort of impossible. So, I just put the stuff on and made sure that the whole thing was covered. You can see the slightly darker shade on the chrome.
After waiting a minute or two, the smell mostly goes away. These solvent get out of there quick. The paint is still gummy at this point, so I rub it off of the chrome areas with a paper towel. It is quite sticky, so it stays with the engraved areas, they are rougher, and those areas are also recessed so... You have to rub with gusto, it is like tape goo on glass, kind of annoying, but it should seal what needs to be sealed. The paper towel will leave bit behind, but they blow off easily. Anyways, the excess is removed, and I have a neat-o looking neck plate.
Thanks to Doug for producing such a cool thing, I was worried that the chaos of lines that makes up Bill might be a fools errand to make into a neck plate, but Doug nailed it. If anyone has questions about trying this, let me know, and I'll comment if I have an answer. I just sort of winged it, and it came out pretty darn cool.
Patrick
Now, first and foremost, this is using MnO2 and Phosphoric Acid. Strong stuff. Do this outdoors and with safety gear. Do not try this without gloves. Seriously, go to the Dollar Store and get some nitrile dish washing gloves and throw them away when you are done. No if and or's or but's. I'm not kidding. At all.
Okay, remove any oil and rust from the piece of metal. I used a bathroom cleaner, they tend to work quite well for this. Another Dollar Store find from several years ago. I have about 6 of these around the house.
Now time for the heavy hitter. I found this for $15 on Amazon and they shipped it to CA, so you should be able to get it. It is a concentrate (4X) so be sure to dilute it with three parts water to one part Agent. This should be close, but don't worry very much about being exact. If it is too concentrated the Phosphoric will eat the metal away, not concentrated enough it will take forever to blacken. I used a little bottle that had graduations on it, but just get it close. I made 40 mL of the stuff and that was easily enough. But, because it is for Blackening Metal, and I have a love for plays on words and puns, I put it next to it's brother.
Okay, jokes aside, here is the bottle of the stuff that I made.
After putting the plate into a small plastic container, I let it sit for 45 seconds. I had looped a copper wire through one of the holes to pick up the plate without touching the blackening solution. I would dunk it in water, brush it with a dollar store toothbrush (2 for a buck, Yesss!!) and then put it back into the blackening solution. I did this about five times until it looked good to me.
Now, the blackening agent will not stop rust, so you have to seal this someway or another. I have a pen of clear car paint touch up that I got from O'Reilly's. Open this thing outside, smells like ether. Wear gloves as well, ether passes through your skin real easy carrying all sorts of stuff into you cells. Not good.
Now, I am not one to paint within the lines, and in this case, it is sort of impossible. So, I just put the stuff on and made sure that the whole thing was covered. You can see the slightly darker shade on the chrome.
After waiting a minute or two, the smell mostly goes away. These solvent get out of there quick. The paint is still gummy at this point, so I rub it off of the chrome areas with a paper towel. It is quite sticky, so it stays with the engraved areas, they are rougher, and those areas are also recessed so... You have to rub with gusto, it is like tape goo on glass, kind of annoying, but it should seal what needs to be sealed. The paper towel will leave bit behind, but they blow off easily. Anyways, the excess is removed, and I have a neat-o looking neck plate.
Thanks to Doug for producing such a cool thing, I was worried that the chaos of lines that makes up Bill might be a fools errand to make into a neck plate, but Doug nailed it. If anyone has questions about trying this, let me know, and I'll comment if I have an answer. I just sort of winged it, and it came out pretty darn cool.
Patrick
