staining silver screws to black?

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3nity

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Joined
Dec 30, 2005
Messages
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instead of painting them?
i cant remember how or who but he did it.
i need to do it but cant remember what chemical or substance he used.
 
wouldnt you just buy anodized screws?

http://www.fastener-express.com/

I googled "screw, anodized" at work just to realize what type of search results I might get as I hit Enter!!

luckily, all is well.
 
well i better just buy the substance since i have the screws! and i got them really cheap! but they are silver!
 
sharpie%20pen.jpg


:green:

Keef
 
if you had aluminum you could anodize almost any color, but it would be easier to buy them allready done, probably easy to find since all the hobby stuff like RC cars use alot of decorative colored screws/nuts/shims/ect.

stainless is kind of tricky, i think the only feasable solution for coloring stainless and steel is to blacken it.
check this site for what to buy for that:
http://www.birchwoodcasey.com/

if its galvanized, i believe thats the same thing as a zinc coating, i dont know if those above coatings will 'adhere' to a surface that has been treated with that chemical, might want to check.

as posted above with the powdercoat. the above treatments will add less than >.0001" to the surface area, powdercoating will add alot as its almost like a paint, so it would fill the head of the screw and the threads in. i'm sure you could make a jig where they are screwed into a board, and only the heads are coated. but i dont think you can do this as it is an electrical application system and then its baked.

if i were you i would re-purchase the screws where they werent coated with a rust inhibitor and do the birchwood-casey route.
 
You can try Zinc Blackener or Black Chromate from Caswell Plating. I haven't used those products specifically, but I have used similar oxidants for other metals with mixed results.

-Chris
 
In order to blacken a zinc plated surface, you need to convert the surface to zinc chromate. This can be done by first etching with a 5% sulfuric acid (battery acid) and distilled water bath. Then place the parts a bath made of this:

http://www.caswellplating.com/kits/zinc_black.htm

Rinse the parts with distilled water, drain, let them sit for an hour or more and seal them with WD40 (or you can get a sealer from Caswell).

As you can see, the solution costs about $23/pt. plus shipping so it might be more economical to buy new black finished screws and save the zinc plated ones for interior use.

Apparently the chemistry is ~ZnCrO4 (zinc chromate) and a small amount of silver nitrate or iron oxide to produce the black color if you have chemicals and want to experiment.
 
One possible solution:

Aim a mapp or propane torch at them until they change color. Heat for another 30 sec. A real coal fire is best, but hey..

carbon migrates out of the metal with no higher-carbon source nearby when heating. Probably not a big deal in this case.

Clear-coat (auto parts store or model section at wally world) if you like 'em shiny. Heck, they might even buff dark with a light cotton wheel.

There's also stuff like gun kote and other powders you can rub/burn into the metal to change color.

DIY electroplating would not only involve chemicals, but would change the thread dimension.

Since they are galv, don't breathe the fumes when burnt.
 
personally i'm not obssed but i just wanna make a major step on building and racking! make sure every detail is done plus when you have a black rack with silver screws that looks awful!
 
There is nothing that Frank hasn´t done before
Look here:

http://www.nrgrecording.de/html/brunieren.html

regards
Bernd

UUUUps, haven´t seen, that you´ve already found it, sorry
 
That Caswell is new to me, it rocks !!

Yes, I've discovered the "coal fire" technique. Cleaning up a fire pit , I found some screws/bolts and noticed ho nicely black they were.

In my Faux Finishing business, I've etched the zinc off the part....soak the parts in an acid solution = 25% muriatic acid (swimming pool acid) to 75% water. (always add "acid-to-water" in that order!!)....for about 3-5 minuted, until they stop fizzing. Drain the solution into a plastic bucket with 2 TBS baking soda, reserving the parts (the baking soda neutralizes the acid).

The parts are now ready for painting, or blackening with chemical.

WEAR LATEX OR NITRILE GLOVES + WEAR EYE PROTECTION

=FB=
 
those are all nice solutions...but aren't we taking this diy thing a little far now, i mean it'll cost you far more time than the cost to just buy what you want in a bolt...
 
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