Opinions on this finish

[MattF]

Just wondered whether this looks okay? It's a brew I've been tweaking and farting about with for days now to try and get it just right, (the jar of paste has been remelted and tweaked no end of times ), and I think I've finally hit the sweet spot, but just wondered what the general opinion was. It's very similar to stove black, but I've made my own so that I can precisely control what's in it, consistency, how it looks etc.

These are those parts before the paste went on.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

Looks fine to me, what's in it?

 

[MattF]

Cheers. Beeswax, gum turpentine, linseed oil & graphite powder. Made it of roughly similar consistency to shoe/boot polish, so that it can be applied by fingertip. It's a slow way of applying it, but I still can't find any other method which works it into the surface as well as a fingertip can.

 

[cumbriasteve]

Yep..a nice patina that, looks nice and keeps the aged look, much better than some glossy modern paint.

 

[gordon stephenson]

Nice looking job, better appearence and more durable than paint, I have some high temp Molycote. Gives a very similar finish when worked briskly into cast metal with a short bristled stencil brush,

 

[daleyd]

Nice looking job, better appearence and more durable than paint, I have some high temp Molycote. Gives a very similar finish when worked briskly into cast metal with a short bristled stencil brush,

is that GN assembly paste molykote Gordon?

I have some tins here, but never considered using it for a metal finish...

 

[gordon stephenson]

daleyd, I will get the details when I'm in the garage tomorrow,

 

[daleyd]

Thanks Gordon.

 

[1.8T]

Looks nice, have you tried applying it with a small sponge?

 

[julianthegypsy]

I make my own paste for stoves out of graphite and linseed, I apply it with wire wool. Works a treat and goes on quite quickly. The wire wool works it in well.

 

[MattF]

Cheers chaps. I'll jot this down as the final/permanent recipe then.

Yep..a nice patina that, looks nice and keeps the aged look, much better than some glossy modern paint.

That's what I was thinking too. Didn't know whether I'd hit the sweet spot or whether I was just trying to convince myself that I had though. You know what it's like when you've been playing around with something for a while. There's always that risk you might try convincing yourself something is right just so that you can stop messing around with it. Wanted to check that I wasn't falling into that camp.

Does seem to suit that vice much better than a paint would, doesn't it. I do like enamel paint, but it does seem to lack a certain something on old machinery/equipment. I'm thinking it's because it looks so fresh, so it loses some feeling of age overall.

Nice looking job, better appearence and more durable than paint, I have some high temp Molycote. Gives a very similar finish when worked briskly into cast metal with a short bristled stencil brush,

A lot easier to touch/freshen up than paint too. It's definitely growing on me more and more as I look at it. If I can find an old recipe for Japan Black, I've pretty much got my wishlist of traditional style finishes sorted. There seems to be very little info, (practically none), on that finish though. Is it a stiff bristle brush you use or a soft bristle one Gordon?

Looks nice, have you tried applying it with a small sponge?

Must admit, I'd never thought of trying that method. I'll give that a whirl though and see how it goes. Cheers.

I make my own paste for stoves out of graphite and linseed, I apply it with wire wool. Works a treat and goes on quite quickly. The wire wool works it in well.

Do you tend to get any minute fragments of steel bedding into the finish, or does that not occur when it's lathered in something? I've always been a bit wary of wire wool for that reason, but I've only mainly used wire wool dry or with water at most, so I'm not sure how it behaves when it's well lathered.

 

[gordon stephenson]

Very short stiff bristle stencil brush, work it in hard.

 

[MattF]

Cheers Gordon. I'll get hold of one of those to give it a try.

The fingertip method works well, but I'm always wary of finding that extremely sharp bit of cast which occasionally occurs. Being able to apply it well without risking the odd finger slice would be a boon.

 

[MattF]

I've loosely reassembled that vice to gauge the overall look, so this is how it looks when most of the bits are back together. It does seem to suit that vice well, I think.

 

[gordon stephenson]

Daleyd. In answer to your question, These are the three product that I have (remnants of my turbine days) All are graphite or lead based, I'm sure any of them would be ok for your type of finish if worked hard into the surface,

 

[julianthegypsy]

The wire wool does break off, but it doesn't embed, you can just brush any bits off or even wipe it off with a rag.

 

[gordon stephenson]

We used to mix out own jointing compound for steam turbine split-lines, Will hold well over 2000 psi @ around 1700 F once cured, Mixed from Manganesite, flake graphite and triple boiled linseed oil, Never known it to fail.Sets as hard as the hobbs of h@ll once its been baked at those temps for a few years. it would have been great for your vice.
P.S. next log burner i build i will take Julian's tip and mix up a brew to try instead of buying high temp paint,

 

[daleyd]

The wire wool does break off, but it doesn't embed, you can just brush any bits off or even wipe it off with a rag.

Thanks Gordon, I may have some of the gn paste as well, might be worth a try...

 

[MattF]

The wire wool does break off, but it doesn't embed, you can just brush any bits off or even wipe it off with a rag.

Could be a problem with this mix with their being wax in there. It is a claggy mix, so it would probably hold onto the fragments like grim death.

We used to mix out own jointing compound for steam turbine split-lines, Will hold well over 2000 psi @ around 1700 F once cured, Mixed from Manganesite, flake graphite and triple boiled linseed oil, Never known it to fail.Sets as hard as the hobbs of h@ll once its been baked at those temps for a few years. it would have been great for your vice.

Is manganesite just an old/other name for manganese, or are they two completely different things? You wouldn't happen to remember the rough proportions/ratios you mixed that in, would you Gordon? That sounds like another mix I'll likely try at some point.

Finished reassembling this vice. I must be getting to that old fart stage in life where you start chuckling at your own thoughts. When I was looking at it after I'd done, the thought crossed my mind that I'd managed to make the vice look older than it did before. Could just imagine someone who didn't know that it had already been fettled looking at it and thinking that a quick wire brush and a lick of paint would clean and smarten it up. Anyhows, I'll subject everyone to the gratuitous photo's now. How it started out:

Completed:

It seems to be quite good for not showing finger marks and such after the intial buffing and a bit of a curing period. I've been handling it with oily hands and such whilst reassembling, and it's not looking too dull in those photo's considering.

 

[MattF]

That battered and beaten vice which I got with the stand the other week is getting the same treatment too. The currently untreated portion visible inside, I'm going to coat with linseed oil.

The jaw portions on that vice haven't half had a thrashing throughout it's life. They're beaten to hell now, and they've already been welded at some point in the past, so I dread to think what they looked like before. Still haven't decided how I'm going to sort that jaw damage. I'm considering pouring some lead and making it a soft jaw vice.