ageing hardware

landon · Post by **landon** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 11:31 pm

hey whats a good EASY way to age plastic parts. i want to age some extras white pup covers and some tone and volume knobs i have ?

any help is appreciated

is ageing /rusting . the bridge or other metal conponets dangerous . or not?

cause ive got this shity strat copy that im fucking up . and i want to it to be all gross and old .

Billy3000 · Post by **Billy3000** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 11:39 pm

I've heard that soaking them in tea or coffee is supposed to work... I've never tried it though.

landon · Post by **landon** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 11:41 pm

thank you will try

Aug · Post by **Aug** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 11:42 pm

You should ask hurb.

Post by **Hurb** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 11:44 pm

Aug wrote:You should ask hurb.

you really should.

Billy3000 · Post by **Billy3000** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 11:44 pm

Try searching on google also, there's a bunch of techniques that people have used and have claimed to work. If you find one that works, post pics of it here!

Post by **Hurb** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 11:56 pm

okies.

your never gonna just stain plastic..just sorta leave dirt on the top sorta.

I mean it will stain with age but if your fakeing it, you have to give the stain something to key into.

alot people spray clear on guards etc then sand smooth and stain the clear.

you can also ruff the surface of knobs and stuff with wirewool to get in the plastic a bit.

coffee works....but take ages.

you can use a spice....shit what the hells it called

its tumeric or something like that...its yellow

anyway that stains straight away, its a little on the fake/yellow side but you can rub it down to make it more real lookin.

metal, you can mess up by hanging it above some acid stuff but, iam not really into that tbo.

Post by **Hurb** » Fri Oct 13, 2006 12:42 am

ok i did a quick age on this strat knob to show you, the pics aint that true because lighting..an i dont have any wire wool to shade it down some.

ok take one strat knob.

place in some turmeric mixed with a little water.

as you can see next to the untouched tone knob the effect is pretty nasty, i als used som lead to darken areas, then you would use some wirewool to lighten some areas etc.

the end

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Fri Oct 13, 2006 1:04 am

If you want to just tint them darker, soak them in coffee, it works, gets off white pretty quick, but if you want them more/less cream or tan, it'll take a while. I've done this to strat covers and knobs on my bullet, only soaked em long enough to make them slightly off the shade of white the pickguard is.

Billy3000 · Post by **Billy3000** » Fri Oct 13, 2006 1:06 am

I think the coffee method will look much cleaner than the method hurb posted.

Post by **Hurb** » Fri Oct 13, 2006 1:14 am

Billy3000 wrote:I think the coffee method will look much cleaner than the method hurb posted.

em, possibly.

but he did say this.

landon wrote: . and i want to it to be all gross and old .

also i used the same stuff on these knobs but just less so.

The pickup covers were coffee.

Billy3000 · Post by **Billy3000** » Fri Oct 13, 2006 1:29 am

Ok, well if he wants dirty then go for it. I just didn't read it clearly and thought he wanted them to look naturally aged.

Post by **Hurb** » Fri Oct 13, 2006 1:34 am

Billy3000 wrote:Ok, well if he wants dirty then go for it. I just didn't read it clearly and thought he wanted them to look naturally aged.

yeah i was going for the ... this strat has been up my arse in a smoke filled club look

Billy3000 · Post by **Billy3000** » Fri Oct 13, 2006 1:57 am

Hurb wrote:
Billy3000 wrote:Ok, well if he wants dirty then go for it. I just didn't read it clearly and thought he wanted them to look naturally aged.
yeah i was going for the ... this strat has been up my arse in a smoke filled club look

Hahaha!

dana · Post by **dana** » Fri Oct 13, 2006 1:28 pm

If you wana age the hardware use Muriatic acid,but its toxic shit so look into it before you go drinkin the stuff ok landon.

Il find a link on it for ya.

*EDIT* cant find the link to the site i saw.anyone got a link on using muriatic acid on chrome etc for him?

Post by **Doog** » Fri Oct 13, 2006 1:38 pm

Hurb wrote:
Billy3000 wrote:Ok, well if he wants dirty then go for it. I just didn't read it clearly and thought he wanted them to look naturally aged.
yeah i was going for the ... this strat has been up my arse in a smoke filled club look

"Lollylops! I-screams! All free toooodaaayyy!"

[/dubious cross reference]

Billy3000 · Post by **Billy3000** » Fri Oct 13, 2006 4:37 pm

dana wrote:If you wana age the hardware use Muriatic acid,but its toxic shit so look into it before you go drinkin the stuff ok landon.
Il find a link on it for ya.

*EDIT* cant find the link to the site i saw.anyone got a link on using muriatic acid on chrome etc for him?

I never thought about using it for aging hardware. We used it in the pool I managed and had huge tanks of it. It probably would work though cause it did turn the white bucket I used to carry it in yellow!

It can be pretty toxic though. In my CPO class they told us that Muriatic acid + chlorine + something else makes mustard gas. One time I had to syphon some muriatic acid out into a bucket to throw it in the pool to lower the PH, and we only had one syphon because the pool company is stupid, and it was the one that we used for the chlorine. So I had to use that, and I cleaned it out pretty thoroughly to try and make sure that no chlorine was in there, but when I started using it there must have still been some chlorine in there, cause it just started sizzling and I caught like maybe a half second's breath of it and was coughing like hell for 4 hours!

Gavin · Post by **Gavin** » Fri Oct 13, 2006 4:51 pm

You're gonna get lung cancer.

dana · Post by **dana** » Fri Oct 13, 2006 5:23 pm

Apparently its real good with chrome,looks authentic.
If only i could find the damn website i saw "muriatic acid for guitars" tutorials on.

Anyway heres a page of info on aging pg's,knobs,making decals etc,lotsa stuff.
LINK

*EDIT* here's the muriatic process:

The fumes of muriatic acid (used for cleaning bricks & other masonry) will oxidize the nickel and make it look old. There are two techniques:

1. Pour the acid in a bucket, suspend the part over the muriatic acid with string, and cover.

2. Use a dishpan with a lid. Sit the parts on something like a brick or plastic stand to hold them out of the muriatic acid, and cover.

Don't immerse the parts; the fumes which do the work. The fumes will tarnish the nickel in an hour or so.

Be sure there are no fingerprints on the parts, or they will be VERY obvious in the tarnished plating,wipe the parts with naptha to remove any finger prints before hand. Some luthiers do some "creative buffing" when aging parts to put wear in areas that normally get wear prior to using the acid.

After you've reached the desired appearance, you should wash the parts, and pH neutralization is a good idea [dishwasher soap works wonders...has a pH of about 12]

WARNING: You're working with acid -- use gloves, glasses. Don't breathe the fumes. Work outdoors and clean up well -- hose down the area with water.

landon · Post by **landon** » Sat Oct 14, 2006 6:32 am

thanks for the great ideas guys .

i really like hurbs method . i defently trust the guys info . so im going to go with his method .

thanks for posting pics and all hurb