antiquing brass?

[goaliedad]

I am restoring a small piece of furniture on the cheap. I have some new brass hinges, knobs and such that I want to darken. 

Vinegar and salt? 

any first hand experience?

thanks

[MsNomer]

If it's bright brass, I've had good luck spraying with oven cleaner after the lacquer is removed. The result is not a smooth dark look, but a more mottled look that I see on my genuinely old brass.

[goaliedad]

Awesome. Thanks

[Scoony]

I haven't tried the oven cleaner, but will give it a try.

Couple of other techniques:
1. Suspend over some ammonia. Take a container with lid, poke holes in the lid for string or wire to suspend parts. Pout a little ammonia and drop in a penny.
2. place in a fire proof container, pour a little black powder over the part and ignite. This one is a bit dangerous, and I only tried it once, but it works really good in aging brass.

[goaliedad]

Scoony- your black powder idea sounds fun!

[ed kerns]

Under the category of what NOT to use: I tried a product called "patina it"  from a craft store and had very marginal results. A little dulling of the brass but no real change. I don't know what's in the product, but it smells like sulfur. The hinges are not lacquered. Please let us know if you get good results from another method- I'm thinking the oven cleaner is worth a go.

[goaliedad]

I have an extra set of hinges. I plan on trying one with oven cleaner and one with ammonia
I will report back

[MsNomer]

I look forward to seeing your comparison.  The oven cleaner couldn't be any easier, but I have wondered what the ammonia would do.

[Dave Diaman]

[font=.SF UI Text][font=.SFUIText]I like to fume my brass with ammonia. I have a big fuming tank I made out of plexiglass and use 28% ammonia. Regular household ammonia in a Tupperware will work too just not as fast. Just be sure not to get the liquid ammonia on the brass after it is antiqued. Both of there were antiqued using ammonia. That is where the green hues come from that you see on true aged brass. [/font][/font]

[font=.SF UI Text][font=.SFUIText]<img src="http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k316/eoddave/Furniture/WMHighboy006.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo WMHighboy006.jpg"/>[/font][/font]

[font=.SF UI Text][font=.SFUIText]<img src="http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k316/eoddave/Furniture/P1030245.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo P1030245.jpg"/>[/font][/font]

[goaliedad]

sorry to report that my attempt with both methods was a failure. I suspect the cheap hinges I bought were not real brass, or even brass plate. the oven cleaner did nothing- the fume is still cooking, but not showing any change. On to plan b