Thursday, July 8, 2010

William and Mary kitchen door

I decided to use the lovely strap hinges I bought in England on a rather rustic kitchen door I'm making for the WMH. 

They're real metal, but a darkish grey, and I asked David if I should paint them to make them look more like iron.  "Use the black patina", he suggested.

If you don't know it, black patina is used by ship and railway modellers, but it's mostly used by stained glass artists, to give lead or solder the dark patina of age instantly.  David introduced me to it a few years ago for another project I was working on.

And it worked brilliantly on the little hinges!  You can still see that they're metal (once you paint them, they might as well be plastic) and it darkens them enough to make them look authentic.


I bought a smallish bottle of the stuff last year in Toronto at a stained glass supply shop, and it will probably last me years :) You can try it on all sorts of metals.  You just brush it on and if it's going to work, it works instantly. Chemistry is magic!

This door will go in the back of the model. It will probably never be used, but it's got damned good looking hinges! It was made precisely the way I made the kitchen door for the castle, but I just bevelled the edges of the boards rather than really going to town on the carving ...

19 comments:

  1. The Hinges look lovely. You can also use Stove Blacking. xxx

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  2. Love the door and the hinges. The black patina really did the trick!

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  3. Great thing this black patina! Beautiful door!:)

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  4. Wonderful, I have to see if I can find that Black Patina stuff here in Finland :)

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  5. Wonderful door, I really like it. No, I love it!

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  6. Te ahn quedado unos herrajes perfectos, me encanta.
    Erea una artita.
    Besitos, May

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  7. That door looks great. I'm really impressed at how much you get done every day. It takes me forever.

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  8. Nina, I love the finish on the hinges. Did you get the Black Patina in your area? I'm in Halifax next week for a few days, and if I thought I could find it locally I would get a bottle. Love the door! You're doing a great job.

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  9. Gorgeous door! I have never heard of black patina paint.

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  10. What would we do without our husbands ...
    The result of the black patina on the door is perfect and is the first step towards a dream kitchen :-)
    Mini kisses, flora

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  11. I can't believe how fast you're moving on this. Brilliant idea for the hinges, I've never heard of that stuff but will keep an eye open for it now. Looks good.

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  12. Thanks, guys!

    Wanda -- I bought this bottle in Toronto, but Cranberry Stained Glass Supply in Halifax seems to carry the black patina ... http://www.cranberrystainedglass.com

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  13. Thans, Nina, for this - the hinges look so good!!

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  14. Thanks Nina, I'll check it out next week.

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  15. Hello Nina and All,

    A common blackening agent is `Birchwood Casey Liquid Gun Blue` from gunshops, used to polish gun barrels. They also make `Brass black` to do the same job. If the gun blue is just left on the steel to dry, it creates a rusting effect. Magic !

    Regards

    Ian

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  16. Great job on the doors and great information on aging metal, I think that is the stuff I have mentioned I used when doing stained glass years ago. Must get some!

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  17. Ian -- thanks so much for the tip about blackening agents from gunshops. That's really useful to know, and I love the fact that it could be used to create a rust effect!

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  18. Un buena idea, realmente aprendo con usted mucho de cosas que no conocía.
    un abrazo


    A good idea, really learn a lot of things you did not know.
    a hug

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  19. Did you know you can get patina in a copper colour as well? I have some left from my leadlighting days. :)

    Probably not for your hinges, but applying stove black and polishing gives a beautiful warm metallic glow as well if you need it in another project.

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