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-----Tarnishing aluminium
Q. My husband and I purchased a Mexican crafted aluminium and tile mirror from a couple of guys and their pickup truck off the side of the road. The punched aluminium frame is shiny and will look much better in our home if the aluminium were tarnished. My smart science minded husband wants to buy aluminium pierces and experiment with household products to diminish the shininess of the metal. I want your help to learn how to make the aluminum look older and brown tinted...not painted.
Thanks,
Pamela Smith- Austin, Texas
2003
2003
Hi Pamela. One of my buddies from Texas used to have one of those mirrors; it was last seen in the hands of a couple of guys racing towards their pickup truck. Let us know if you see one in suspicious circumstances.
If you can disassemble this and send the aluminum parts to an anodizing shop they can anodize and dye the parts for you.

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
Need quick confidential answers? $25
Need project assistance? $100/hr.
2003
A. Try this recipe!
Brown to black colour for aluminum:
1 lit. water
10 gm. potassium permanganate
⇦ on
eBay or
Amazon [affil link]
4 ccm. nitric acid(38 Be)
25 gm. copper nitrate
⇦ on
eBay
or
Amazon [affil link]
Working temperature 80-100 °C!
Immersion time 5-30 min!
Only well degreased works can be coloured!
Goran Budija- Cerovski vrh Croatia
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