Coloring aluminum, coloring brass and copper, and tarnish-proofing silver

A. Hi, Gaurav. There is a great book on patination of copper and brass listed at finishing.com/amazon called "The Colouring, Bronzing & Patination of Metals" [adv: this book on eBay, Amazon, AbeBooks] .

Coloring of aluminum is a very different technology, usually based on anodizing, then dyeing, then sealing in the color; please search the site for "color anodizing".

There are a dozen or more letters on this site about the various approaches to anti-tarnish for silver, including dips in organic tarnish preventers, rhodium plating, and electrophoretic lacquering; please try using those terms in a search of the site.

Readers prefer to interact with you and learn something themselves rather than deliver monologues. So please tell us what you are trying to do, why you need to learn about these areas, what you've tried, etc. Thanks!

A. There is a gun care product called "aluminum black". It works best before oxidation starts to form (a fresh scratch) and takes multiple applications (rubbing it in) to black-oxidize, and prior degreasing is necessary of course. I was looking for something similar to "Brown" aluminum without the acid, electricity and boiling water, to "bronze" a leather-taped wooden handled aluminum kick scooter to "victorian-ize, or Steampunk" it, haha. Maybe I'll try blacking it to grey, then mix some with brown food coloring and see if it takes; it is bigger than anything I have to boil the water in, though I saw someone use a board frame lined with lawn trash bags for soaking large objects in vinegar [in bulk on eBay or Amazon] come to think of it.