fly ash - for aging brass?

[elk killer]

1. what is it?
2. where do you get it?
3. how do you darken brass with it?

[JBlk]

Fly ash is the residue left over from burning coal in a power plant.The dispose of it by the truck loads and it is usually buried in pits and covered over with soil.Thats all I know about the stuff.

[ottawa]

maybee find a blacksmith he might have some from cleaning his forge

[Mad Monk]

1. what is it?
2. where do you get it?
3. how do you darken brass with it?

Why fly ash???

Wood stove ashes or fireplace ashes will do the same thing.  A paste made from wood ashes will darken brass.  The "active agent" in the fly ash and the wood ashes is "potash".  Potassium carbonate.

When I used it on brass I would lay strips of toilet tissue, several layers thick, on the brass and then drip the potash solution onto it and let it sit for a few hours to a day depending on the humidity.  Simply dump some wood ashes into a bit of water to make the potash solution.

Bill K.

[SR James]

Wow, that's a lot easier than what I've been doing to make fly ash.  Did you know you have to catch and burn over 700 house flies just to do one ramrod entry thimble?

[Levy]

I always thought that black powder fouling worked pretty well for darkening brass?  If you use the gun often, then your hands and gloves will keep the brass polished.  I often times hunt with an antique squirrel rifle from the mid-1800s and the brass stays polished, but it has no engraving or dark recesses.  I'm guessing that the sulphur in both is the active engredient that darkens.

James Levy

[Mad Monk]

I always thought that black powder fouling worked pretty well for darkening brass?  If you use the gun often, then your hands and gloves will keep the brass polished.  I often times hunt with an antique squirrel rifle from the mid-1800s and the brass stays polished, but it has no engraving or dark recesses.  I'm guessing that the sulphur in both is the active engredient that darkens.

James Levy

Not the sulfur.  Black powder fouling (residue) is rich in potash, potassium carbonate.
The thing about darkening the brass is that it only effects the surface of the brass.

Bill K.

[Dave B]

I took ten grains of black powder and mixed in some water to make a slurry paste to rub down my patch box to give it that aged look. It worked just great. I always assumed it was the sulfur that tarnished it just as it tarnishes silver. No 

[Mad Monk]

I took ten grains of black powder and mixed in some water to make a slurry paste to rub down my patch box to give it that aged look. It worked just great. I always assumed it was the sulfur that tarnished it just as it tarnishes silver. No 

Sulfur will tarnish brass.  In the fired powder you have no really active sulfur in the powder's combustion residue.  Almost all of the sulfur in the powder prior to combustion ends up as potassium sulfate after combustion.

The unfired powder is somewhat alkaline due to the amount of minerals in the charcoal used.  The charcoal used will have a mineral content (ash) that may vary from 2% of the charcoal weight on up to 10% by charcoal weight.  When Roseville supplied GOEX with charcoal their ash content ranged from 5% on up to 10% at times.  Almost the same as using wood ashes on the brass.


Bill K.

[Acer Saccharum]

Egg yolk? That tarnishes silver quickly. Does that have sulphur in it? (yellow= suphur*)

*That's my associative chemistry showing

[elk killer]

i was just watching the american pioneer video this morning,,
and they said mark silver used fly ash to darken the brass,,i just didnt know what it was,,,
didnt think to google it until i asked here

[ramserl]

flyash!!!

   I work in a coal fire and wood fire power plant!!!  I cant believe their is more to flyash than just the good taste!!!

[AMartin]

I need a bucket full !!! I'll pay shipping .........

Allen

[Old Ford2]

A bucket full of flies or ash?r fliesashes?

[Dphariss]

I need a bucket full !!! I'll pay shipping .........

Allen

Or you could burn some wood in the back yard or get some ash from someones charcoal bar-b-que.

Dan

[Long John]

Friends,

Fly ash is the ash left over from the combustion of coal.  Modern combusters are required to scrub the sulfur oxides from their effluent stack gas.  This is usually done with lime and results in a calcium sulfate.  These sulfates end up in the fly ash also.  So you should expect a mix sulfates some sulfides and carbonates in fly ash along with silicates, aluminates and the other mineral contents of the coal.

If you put  black powder into water and let it sit the elemental sulfur will slowly react with the water and result in a mizture of sulfides, sulfites and sulfates over time.  An equilibrium state will develop.  Each of these chemical species will react to varying degrees with the copper in your brass hardware.  Copper sulfates are usually blue-green in color, sulfites are often red.  Red and green make brown. 

Egg yolk turns silver black due to the decomposition of two amino acids in the yolk that contain sulfur.  This reaction is facilitated with water so mix your egg yolk with a little bit of water.  The balck color on the silver is silver sulfide. Copper sulfide is also black.

Best Regards,

JMC