Large Scale Central

Aging the 'tin'

The MIK - Annual Build Challenge
#21

GIANT WORD OF CAUTION.

The muriatic acid bath can be. . .um . . . er. . . well lets say interesting. This is an outdoor project for one. Besides the fumes this can turn violent in an instant. So I mixed the solution 2:1 two parts hydrogen peroxide and 1 part acid. Here is where I then went horribly wrong. I did this in a tall drinking glass and then added about half the panels at once. A few seconds later a few bubble began to form then a few more and about 45 seconds into it I had a raging cauldron of spewing acid. almost completely boiled itself empty. Acid everywhere. So I got the panels into baking soda and water. Then cleaned up my mess. Everything that was important took a bath in soda water. everything else was thrown away.

So moral of the story. Do this outside. Clear a space free of anything you don’t want bathed in acid. Go slow. One panel at a time maybe two but be ready.

BTW I have some very nicly aged panels. Time to do the rest.

#22

I used low plastic trays and I always play with chemicals out side.

I used the plain water rinse and the baking soda rinse to slow my reactions. The mix I made is still under it’s cover for when I do the game pieces, so to say.

I’m sorry you had a bad reaction.

I never use food utensils or containers for chemicals, I use throw away containers.

Guys Remember : Do like you oughter and add the acid to the water (HO).

The other way leads to another reaction!

John

#23

Devon … were you making marine deep cycle batteries in your living room?

#24

I like to age my tin in a tall 1 gallon pitcher with a roll of paper towels for drying them …Add a generous amount of baking soda(about 2 cups ) into the pitcher. Place the tin at the bottom of the pitcher up right and staggering the panels as you go. Next pour a generous amount of vinegar into the pitcher liberally coating the panels with the vinegar bath as you go. Have a few of the paper towels ready so you can pull the panels out and allow them to air dry on the towels.

Edit for Disclaimer: I recommend this procedure being done within an open environment meaning “outside” as the fumes may irritate the eyes and in extreme cases may cause uncontrollable vomiting ,severe diarrhea,consult your doctor before trying this procedure. If you have a resurrection lasting for more then 4 hours consult a priest immediately!

Quick simple and easy how I age tin!

#25

Well an update. Second go was much much better. I did them one at a time at the same strength and in the same glass. Nice slow start and as they etched it became more aggressive. Interestingly as they etched, just before they were done to my liking they popped up and floated. I would push them down with a stick for a few more seconds then pulled them and then rinsed them in baking soda water. I purposely varied the amount of etch to get different colors. as the acid did its thing over time it would change to different colors which was interesting to watch. It started of basically colorless then turned almost black then started to turn amber and then finally went back to colorless. I presume this had to do with the amount of reacted aluminum. It also weakened as I went taking almost twice as long to do the last few panels as the first.

#26

Rooster ¿ said:

Devon … were you making marine deep cycle batteries in your living room?

I don’t know about a battery, a witches cauldron or maybe a spewing acid volcano.

#27

Dude! The one time I did acid man, it was a total bummer!(http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-embarassed.gif)

Jest foolin’ I be pure as the driven snow!

#28

Ill post here what i did with the JAX aluminum blackener in case you missed my build post

it was $15.95 plus postage.

i poured it into the top of a plastic egg carton and dunked the sheets in for a minute or two…

the metal darkens and gets a little rust color in spots. it is not uniform but rather speckled which I think looks good. it is a surface finish and does not seem to eat through the metal. It does seem to deplete the juice after a few sheets. I think i will end up using the whole 16oz container for all the sheets.

#29

Eric this has a great effect. Johns method left a more clean appearance for me like newer old galvanized (which i was after I am not aging mine as much). But this has a decidedly rougher appearance.