« Fun in the Sun | Main | Washing Windows II »
November 09, 2007
Experimenting with iron oxide
Playing with rust probably sums it up better.
Before deciding on lead as a cladding for the desk, I was thinking of rusty steel. So, in the interests of true research, I got a bit of steel and set about rusting it.
When you don't want something to go rusty it invariably does, but to get something to rust is a different story, particularly if, like me, you want it to rust evenly.
After de-greasing it and giving it a good going over with the emery cloth I added a heady cocktail of water, salt and, to increase the acidity levels, piss. This produced quite a spectacular result:
A few days more, spraying it intermittently with water, I got this:
Not bad, but not as even as I would like and not stable enough for the job [not to mention the fact that it was a bit too orange] so I chose lead. Lead also has the advantage of being gorgeous to work with. Dressing it round the desk was a delight.
Posted by john at November 9, 2007 07:06 PM