Aging new nickel

[Dave D]

Does anyone know of a way to add some age to new nickel parts? I have a Jerry Madsen long throat reproduer that looks too shiney on an old machine.
Dave D

[Jerry B.]

It's raining pretty good here in Oregon. Send it to me and I'll put in in the back yard and return it to you at Union in June. That should do it. Jerry Blais

[Jerry B.]

I was working on a machine with a friend and he wanted to age some steel screws. I believe he got them super hot and then dipped them in cold water. Would that work? Jerry

[Dave D]

Hi Jerry,
I would rather have rain than all the snow that we just got!
As far as heating it up, I would be afraid as I am not sure if part of it is soldered or not. I have used ph decreaser from the swimming pool to remove the plating from new screws prior to heat treating to darken them. I might try some iron, steel and nickel blackener I have. If it turns it black, I can always give it a light polish to bring it back up. I was hoping someone had a good suggestion. (Not that yours were not good, LOL)

These reproducers look like they were chromed instead of nickel. At the close out price of $10 each, I figured I could not go wrong.
Dave D

[Jerry B.]

After I submitted my post I wondered if they were chrome or nickel plated. I hope you come up with a good method because I have several also. They stick out when used on a machine. Jerry

[mcgravy]

I was told by a reputable plater that did show chrome for my 1927 REO that if I didn't like the chrome all I had to do was clean it with a mild solution of Muriatic acid. He said it would remove the chrome and not hurt the nickel. Never tried it so don't know for sure but the guy is still in business and attends most major antique car shows on the east coast.
Rick

[need4art]

The muriatic acid is the way to go-chrome 25 parts water to 1 of acid-if you start with nickel 30 to 1 you can always add to and change the look but if you go to far too fast....
Abe

[Dave D]

I soaked the reproducer in my ph decreaser for the pool. It strips off the plating of new screws quite well so I can antique them. It did not touch this plating. Next, a mild solution of muratic acid. Still nothing. I kept adding more acid and still nothing.
I then looked on You Tube and found a video about aging new chrome parts. It involved a small container to hold the part and a larger, covered one into which some muriatic acid is placed and covered. The idea is to let the fumes age the chrome. The video suggested 20 minutes should do it, with perhaps additional time as needed. Hours later, nothing! I will try again tomorrow when I am back in the shop. I did not want to leave it all night unattended.

If I ever solve this, I will report on it.
Dave

[kirtley2012]

how aged do you want it?, have you considered beating the reproducer up to speed up the time of "natural aging" , a bit of light sand paper to wear off some of the finish then wire wool to smooth it out?

[Discman]

The problem may be due to the fact that most modern nickle plating is electroless and the platers often apply a anti-tarnish post-dip. If you want true authenticity, you would need to have the components nickel electroplated.

I found a lot of discussions about aging nickle plating on vintage guitar forums: Use ferric chloride also known as etchant solution. It may be available at Radio Shack.

Here's another tip:
1) remove any lacquer finish on the part or remove any oils such as on spots
2) Get some Birchwood Casey Super Blue - it's a gun product available at most gunshops or online
3) Dilute the blue with rubbing alcohol - start out with three parts blue and one part alcohol - adjust as need be
4) Dip/soak the part in the blue until it turns dark (doesn't take long so DO NOT leave for very long) - it can go dark blue/black if left too long, but is easy to lighten back up with 4/0 steel wool
5) After removing from the blue neutralize with baking soda and hot water then rinse well in plain hot water.

Dave Jolley