Antiquing a brass buckle: a written how-to

[kontai69]

I’ve gotten several PM’s regarding how to produce the antique finish (patina) on the polished brass buckle of my Leather Goods Connection (LGC) belt shown above, so I thought I write a how-to. I used this brass darkening solution to do it…
http://www.historichouseparts.com/br..._solution.aspx
I bought mine on eBay.

Important notes…
1) Make sure the buckle is solid brass (usually says so somewhere on buckle). TMK, all LGC brass buckles are solid brass. If the buckle is only brass-plated, I think it will not work (solution will eat through plating). You can also tell by placing a magnet on the buckle. If the magnet attracts the buckle, then it is NOT solid brass (brass is non-magnetic). With LGC belts, the screws are NOT solid brass, at least on mine.

2) Most polished brass items are lacquered (i.e. clearcoated) to protect the finish from oxidation. You MUST remove this coating before using the antiquing solution. I tried acetone and paint stripper to no avail, so I thoroughly sanded off all the lacquer with Scotchbrite. Steel wool will also work.

3) Clean off buckle with rubbing alcohol before dipping in darkening solution.

4) The brass only takes 10-20 seconds to completely darken in the solution. Transfer buckle to water to stop the process. You may want to wear rubber gloves. I'm sure the solution is bad on your skin.

5) I used gray Scotchbrite to lightly buff off the patina on the edges to give it a worn look. Steel wool will work also. If you buff off too much of the patina, you can always redarken.

I think the results look great. It really gives the belt more of a vintage look. The brightly polished brass finish was too blingy.

 

[Egdon Heath]

Not sure I'm fully getting this.
So you want a tarnished belt buckle? Okay. Acetone (nail polish remover) works on just about every metal that's laquered (don't know why it didn't for you; did you leave the buckle dipped long enough?) And just plain air will tarnish brass and silver and will verdigris copper. Just give it time.​

 

[JGP.]

I had actually meant to pm you about that too. Thanks for the thread, definitely going to save this for later. I think it looks much better after the treatment.

 

[kontai69]

Originally Posted by Egdon Heath

Acetone (nail polish remover) works on just about every metal that's laquered (don't know why it didn't for you; did you leave the buckle dipped long enough?) And just plain air will tarnish brass and silver and will verdigris copper. Just give it time.[/indent]

Yeah, I don't know why the acetone did not work on that buckle. I left the buckle in 100% acetone for a couple of hours and the lacquer on it seemed unscathed. I could tell by scraping the surface with a razor blade. I also tried boiling the buckle in water (read on Google) and that also did not remove the lacquer on that particular buckle, although it did remove the lacquer on the screws. I actually was tempted to dip the buckle in concentrated hydrochloric or sulfuric acid, but that would have dissolved the metal to nothing. I have access to all sorts of nasty chemicals were I work, heh-heh.

Originally Posted by Egdon Heath

plain air will tarnish brass and silver and will verdigris copper. Just give it time.
True, but that would take a relatively LONG time (years, decades?). The darkening solution turns the brass almost completely black after only a few seconds.

 

[rolling green]

Gonna try this out myself. Thanks so much for the generous write-up!

 

[Big Pun]

I read the title as brass knuckle

 

[montecristo#4]

This is all quite unnecessary.

I posted how to do this about two or three years ago.

Basically, just take a fine-grained sandpaper and lightly sand the outside of your LGC buckle. (Start with the back so you can get a feel for how it will look.) Once you're done, rub the buckle with a little brown shoe cream. Wipe clean.

Presto, antiqued.