Customer Reviews

The Colouring, Bronzing and Patination of Metals

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Patination is a way of coloring metal, using the chemistry of the metal itself to create colored oxides, chlorides, etc. It's a controlled form of corrosion, usually for decorative effect, but sometimes to put a protective layer on the metal. Outdoor copper and bronze show some of the greens and browns that are possible. This book puts that chemistry, and a much larger palette of colors, into the crafter's hands.

This book is encyclopedic. Three factors affect each patination: the alloy or element being treated, the chemistry of the solutions applied to the metal, and the way the treatment is applied (time, temperature, and so on). Hughes systematically explores all three dimensions. The discussion includes reproducibility of each patina, since some have squirrely chemistry that gives variable results. It also describes the mechanical and chemical durability of each patina, factors that define the kinds of applications where it may be used.

This book is not for the home hobbyist, though. It uses very harsh chemicals in most treatments. Many are highly toxic, and many present special hazards in handling and storage.

The only weakness I found in this book is the range of alloys covered. A number of interesting copper/gold combinations are traditional in Japanese metalwork, valued for the unusual colors of their natural oxides. These were severely under-represented. No book can cover everything, though.

Just thumbing through this book is wonderful, seeing the range of colors and textures that can be coaxed from the metal's surface. It's also helpful to anyone who loves metal artwork, as explanation of effects that you mught see displayed.

Beautiful book, irreplaceable info. I saw this years ago at a price of over $100 and balked, but I should have bought it then. If you are a committed bronze artist/ crafts person and you want to get good patinas you will eventually buy this book, as it is the only one in print that is top notch in sophistication and comprehensiveness. Some might think this book with it's great technique descriptions, over 250 high quality patina chip photos, over 1000 distinct patina formulas and an incredible bibliography as esoteric and overly demanding in terms of chemistry and technique, but the rest will consider it priceless. Best patination book in print, possibly the best ever.

I bought this book and found it to be very thorough with recipes and pictures for hundreds of types of finishes. However, I did find the title misleading. The recipes are only for copper, brass, bronze, and silver.

The metalwork I do is with steel and I bought the book to color steel. This huge medium is never dealt with in the book.

This book is encyclopeadic--there are at least a thousand recipes. But only about 1 in 4 has a color picture to show the results. I'm sorry, but color pictures are a must. The word descriptions simply don't suffice, especially when one is looking for a very partcular look.

Contrary to what other reviewers have said, there are only sixteen pages of color photos in the book.

A lot of the recipes should only be attempted by persons that are very safety conscious. Some recipes contain strong acids or strong oxidizers that must be stored and used correctly.

The metals covered are: bronze, brass, copper, gilding metal (aka red brass 90% Cu, 10% Zn) yellow.

This fabulous book boasts simple, explicit recipes for creating virtually any color with any metal. It is a tremendous resource for any artist or craftsman interested in adding metalwork to their pieces, or for anyone who has simply wondered, "How did they DO that? "

Hundreds of formulae and practical advice on how to use them, and reasonably accurate descriptions of outcomes. Problems with techniques are openly discussed, not glossed over. The color photographs of patinated samples are very helpful. I wish the authors had organized the formulae for use on each type of metal by their content rather than randomly. But that is carping. This book is the most helpful one available and I have it in my shop now, experimenting with many of its recipes and techniques. An absolute "must" if you want to patinate metal.

A useful reference for the serious metalworker, with color plates of most of the patinas, and a helpful discussion of techniques. One deficiency is the lack of any information on the relative durability of the patinas under the effect of handling or weathering.

This is a fantastic book, especially considering the esoteric topic. It's very thorough, providing recipes, instruction and tips on how to apply a variety of patinas to several common metals. The quality of the book is impressive, printed on quality paper with excellent color photographs throughout. Although it's not cheap, it's an extremely good value, and inspirational as well.

Get this book. Not only does it contain all the recepies you could ask for, it is actually possible to ask the more artistically oriented suppliers of chemicals for a liter of, say, nr. 314 and they'll mix it for you.

The only thing I can say against this book is it should have more chemical explanations about the corrosion products formed as patinas, everything else is good.