Blackening for Wood or Metal

Christopher Walrath · Feb 20, 2011

Christopher Walrath submitted a new resource:

(there was a url link here which no longer exists) - Blackening for Wood or Metal

(taken from Photographic Facts and Formulas - 5th printing - Wall and Jordan

BLACK FOR WOOD AND METAL

Use vegetable black mixed with terebene or turpentine. When used on the inside of the bellows, the black is made into a stiff paste with raw linseed oil and then thinned down with turpentine.

BLACK FOR CAMERAS

This may be used for wood or leather, inside or out.

Nigrosine, spirit soluble . . . 2.5g
Bismarck Brown . . . 0.65g
Alcohol . . . 3.0cc
Aniline...

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

holmburgers · Feb 21, 2011

Thanks for posting.. I love these archaic formulas. I believe many modern analoggers problem's solutions (that's a mouthful) are found in old books by Wall and the like.

jp80874 · Feb 21, 2011

Less archaic formula, but what I started using on the inside of ULF film holders, on any surface that might reflect light. Sharpie Permanent Marker. The idea came from an article written by Michael Mutmansky for View Camera magazine. The article compared available 7x17 wooden film holders. The purpose of using the marker was to improve the film holder's ability to keep out light.

John Powers

Hexavalent · Feb 21, 2011

Christopher Walrath said:
(taken from Photographic Facts and Formulas - 5th printing - Wall and Jordan

....
Arsenious Acid . . . 1 part
Hydrochloric Acid . . . 12 parts
....
This solution is intensely poisonous.

I will recommend this formula to all my competitors

Christopher Walrath · Feb 21, 2011

I use a black sharpie myself when making the matchbox pinholes and other minor interior stuff as well.

jp80874 · Feb 21, 2011

Another use I had forgotten. Several years ago three 7x17 framed pictures came back from a group show. The frames were Nielsen black aluminum. The show must have used volunteer labor from prisoners who normally stamped out license plates. Each frame piece had scratches and scrapes. They were a mess and unusable for any future show. I inquired here or the LF Forum and several members suggested magic marker or sharpie pen. I tried and the frames looked almost new again.

John

DWThomas · Feb 21, 2011

Somewhere I've read that toners like sulfide or selenium can blacken brass (as in pinhole plates from shimstock) but my own attempts have been less than satisfactory; maybe I don't have the right ones.

spoolman · Mar 7, 2011

I'm into model railroads as well as photography and there is a solution called Hobby Black #'s 1&2.It contains Selenium Dioxide,Nitric Acid and Methyl Alcohol.All you do is immerse the part/parts into this solution and in less than 2 minutes you have a pitch black matte surface that will last quite a long time.It works on nickel,brass,steel,copper etc.You can probably find it at any hobby store that carries model train materials or just model materials.

Doug

LumbisK · Mar 24, 2011

Gun stores also carry blackening solutions, such as Birchwood Casey Brass Black, that are effective for copper and brass. If you have a stained glass store nearby they also carry black patina solutions that are effective for copper materials. I've used both in making pinhole camera parts from copper. These produce a bonded layer with the surface but the layer can still be affected by scratches, etc.

Ken

Rick A · Mar 24, 2011

To turn oak black,take some really rusty nails and other steel pieces and soak them in white distilled vinegar for a couple of days, then wipe on the wood. Gives oak a nice ebony look. Fuming white oak with amonia will also turn it a beautiful color(not black) its what the Stickley workshops used to color oak furniture. Fuming with amonia will even color varnished oak. I'll have to find my book on chemical staining for more examples.

Christopher Walrath · Mar 24, 2011

Good input all.

Blackening for Wood or Metal

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