Blackening white metal

Heather Kay

Western Thunderer
I generally use Birchwood Casey metal black for brass, mainly because it's what I've got. Where the fluid will properly blacken nickel silver and brass, it's a different matter with whitemetal.

The finish will be a darkish blue-black, for a start. It's best to degrease a casting, then use either a brass wire scratch brush or a brass disc brush in a mini drill to buff and shine the surfaces. Then, either dunk the casting in a dilute solution of Casey for as long as needs, or brush the fluid on neat and leave it to do its work.

If dunking, once the casting has reached a point where you're happy, fish it out and let it dry on a paper towel. Once dry, gently buff it with a stiff brush to remove the sooty deposit, if there is any. If brushing, leave it work, and mop off any excess as required. It might need repeated doses to get a density.

Unlike NS and brass, the finish isn't a nice dense black that can be buffed to resemble steel. It does, however, give a good key for painting in my experience.
 
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