armour finish

[bryanrobbins]

i am thinking about blackening or black oxide or black zink (cool huh??) i have seen many a blunder in this area (splotchy finish, peeling, etc.) how do i avoid there problems and what do you think is the best way to achive a black semigloss finish? and what kind of paint did they use for the black and white armour?

[Patrick]

I can't say what was used in the day for the black and white armor, but I can note that if you are asking how to do it, you probably won't get better results than the ones you've seen that are peeling. Lots of these sorts of skills take time and effort to learn to do right.

That said, a cold gunblue solution will give you a black surface (someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the gunblue is a form of black oxide). It is easy to use and if you have a fairly shiny surface to begin with it really looks sharp.

Of course, you could also heat blue it, you could heat it up and spray it with Pam several times, or you could heat it up and dunk it in old engine oil. Might be better for your particular application. By the way, what armor are you planning to blacken?

-Patrick

[AwP]

i am thinking about blackening or black oxide or black zink (cool huh??) i have seen many a blunder in this area (splotchy finish, peeling, etc.) how do i avoid there problems and what do you think is the best way to achive a black semigloss finish? and what kind of paint did they use for the black and white armour?

I don't know what they used back in the day either. I'd suggest ferric chloride, it gives a nice black oxide finish that's tougher than many other finishes, and with just a touch of buffing it's a nice semi-gloss too. The key to an even finish is surface prep, you want the surface to be nice and smooth and CLEAN, very very clean.

[bryanrobbins]

i plan to make/finish a LATE 14th- early 15th century italian suit hundskull, corrizina and all. i think ill go with the PAM idea for starting i have alot of that stuff.

Has anyone ever had a black zink job done?

[caladin]

I read some where the black was forge scale and the white was the total removal of it, but I don't have sources, and I think I didn't read it here.

YMMV