I'm making a bellydance costume, and I have not been able to find the bronze coins that I am envisioning. But I have a cheap coin belt with thin little "coins", and a friend suggested putting a patina on them. I want them to look antique--not brassy or bright. Even a little green tint (like old weathered metal) would be appropriate. Any suggestions?
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SF Bay Area
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Re: Patina onto metal
Mon, April 28, 2008 - 1:03 PMWhen i've wanted to patina or color metals, I've always just used plain ole' craft paints...even with protective coatings it did still scratch off, bu† not super fast. scratches and dings might look cool on the coins tho?
if someone has an idea for a good coating that won't be toxic or rub off, i'd love to know that too :)
otherwise it seems like craft paints can be scratched off with wear n' tear.
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Re: Patina onto metal
Mon, April 28, 2008 - 4:38 PMHey Katherine, there's a patina liquid you can buy anywhere that sells stained glass supplies, and maybe even at Michael's or another craft store. You wipe it onto metal and it'll give it a nice aged appearance, and if I remember correctly there are at least a couple of different 'colors' available. Good luck!
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Re: Patina onto metal
Mon, April 28, 2008 - 4:43 PMgee, i'd have said leave them out in the rain for a day or two
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Re: Patina onto metal
Mon, April 28, 2008 - 5:13 PMburying them in the cat box for a week works too- but..... -
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Re: Patina onto metal
Mon, April 28, 2008 - 5:21 PMI was trying to suggest an environmentally-friendly way to do it, without buying chemicals. -
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Re: Patina onto metal
Mon, April 28, 2008 - 10:06 PMSoooz,
I was not being snarky at you or your post- that really IS a way to get metals to take on a patina! (the but... was because, well, it's not the, uh, cleanest way to go about it...) -
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Re: Patina onto metal
Tue, April 29, 2008 - 9:35 AMNo offense taken. I'm just all about the simplest, lowest-tech way to get the job done.
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Re: Patina onto metal
Mon, April 28, 2008 - 5:40 PMDid u try soaking them in vinegar w/ a penny?
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Re: Patina onto metal
Mon, April 28, 2008 - 6:43 PMdo you know what they are made of?
Are they real metal that have been plated? If you put patina on w/o knowing what type of plating it is, the patina may not work. But Its worth a try. Patina will not work on certain types of metal plating.
Or do you think they may be electroplated antimony? If they are antimony, they will not rust instead you will end up with a goopy mess. Antimony is a type of polymer that can be electroplated. It looks and feels tinny like metal, but its a polymer base material.
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Re: Patina onto metal
Tue, April 29, 2008 - 2:14 PMCopper tends to tarnish anything with tin or steel. My thin little "coins" that were shiny silver got nicely tarnished sitting in a container with some copper beads. The galvanized steel I used to use for chainmail corroded with the copper wire in the same box too. But I think this takes longer than what you're hoping. Wish I knew more about the science of it all tho.
Maybe do a Google search on "how to patina metal". Here's one I found:
www.ornamentea.com/patina.html
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Re: Patina onto metal
Tue, April 29, 2008 - 2:15 PMAlso, I live 2 blocks from the beach. Everything corrodes here anyway. ;} -
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Re: Patina onto metal
Tue, April 29, 2008 - 2:21 PManother 2cents - I'm a photographer, often shooting belly dancers. Consider the lighting at places you're wearing it...if it's low, you don't want to be wearing dull metal.
I like hearing the jingle, personally ;-)
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Re: Patina onto metal
Tue, April 29, 2008 - 5:53 PMSandi~
are you referring to the thin shiny coins that are commonly used on coin hipscarves?
i have one with blindingly silver coins and have been trying to think of a way to patina them a bit....but you mentioned it takes a while.
about how long? i have a little over 2 months before i need the scarf for a performance...
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Re: Patina onto metal
Tue, April 29, 2008 - 11:47 PMHmm... I don't know. I had put a bunch of beads, baubles and those "coins" (yeah, the one's on the coin sashes) in a container thinking I would make something, but didn't. They probably sat in there for about a year. So I don't know if it took that long or not. I hadn't looked in it until today. And recently my copper artist friend told me about copper's corroding/tarnishing/oxydizing qualities with other metals. The tarnishing was a little uneven since there were only about a dozen of the copper beads in the container and there were about 100 "coins", many stacked on top of each other.
I wonder about a saltwater solution? Or just leave them out in the open air? The point is to oxydize, right?
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