Where the
world gathers for metal finishing
Q&As since 1989


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Ingredients for metal finishes on steel

Where can I find the ingredients for various metal finishes that can be applied to cold rolled steel? I have cut some designs and want to plate them by dipping into a solution to give a copper or instant-rust appearance.

Thanks,

John Lee
- Tucson, Arizona
2001

Hey John,

Did you ever figure out how to get the look you wanted on your steel? I am looking for the same thing and am having trouble finding information.

Thanks,

Dale Teague
- Cedar Creek, Texas
2001

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October 2009

Hi, Dale. If clean steel is simply dipped into copper sulphate [on eBay or Amazon], it will acquire a copper surface.

This site is about metal finishing exclusively, folks, and we have 50 thousand pages about galvanizing, electroplating, painting, powder coating, patinizing, vacuum deposition . . . hundreds of different finishes. And please visit our "must-have books" page :-)

Good luck.

Regards,

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey

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You can buy a chemical at arizona iron or phoenix metals (one or the other I forget which) that sprays on and produces a copper look, there are also powder coats that produce a transparent copper look try first place finishers in Phoenix

Scott Woosley
- phoenix Arizona
2005

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Ed. note -- Scott: We don't readily find anything like that from Arizona Iron or Phoenix Metals; can you be a bit more specific? Thanks.