"No rules, no restrictions."
—Linda O'Brien
I recently checked out a copy of Metal Craft Discovery at the library. It's an older book on metal work published in 2005. The found object projects (art dolls, jewelry, journals, and home decor) aren't my personal taste, but the techniques and the descriptions of materials and tools are solid. If you work with metal, this book offers a nice round-up of basic techniques including cutting (using tools other than a jeweler's saw), riveting, drilling holes, etching, embossing (before the use of the Cuttlebug became popular), and image transfers. After reading the book, I now have a couple of new tools on my wish list and a few new projects sketched out. (You can read a free preview of the book showing the image transfer process.)
I love the idea of natural patinas, so after studying the options in the book, I decided to try the salt and vinegar one. It's very easy! You crush salt-and-vinegar potato chips into a contain and wet them with water. (Some variations of this experiment I saw online wet the chips with white vinegar instead of water.) You don't need the whole bag of chips, just enough to cover your item. That's good news all around: extra chips for you if you like to eat them (I don't) or a chance to do this experiment multiple times.
You bury your item under the wet chips, seal the container, and wait. Overnight was recommended, but I pulled out my brass and copper pendant out after about 4 hours.
I've sealed the copper and brass pendant once to preserve the color and will likely add another coat or two just to be safe.
Have you tried this patina method? What did you think.
Quotation Source: "About the Authors" in Metal Craft Discovery Workshop by Linda and Opie O'Brien, page 2.