relic hardware diy

[gordy_sg_no1]

i have been experimenting with aging hardware, its a bit of fun involveing hydrochloric acid and a tupperware tub. but i was wondering is there any other wacky ways people relic parts. my favourite to get that smoke stained yellow is well....... using cigar smoke and behlen solvent. and that idea came from noticing after the ban on smoking in most of the free world that guitars would not get that yellow hue from the sweaty gigs in the smoky old blues clubs, you would have to smoke that tele of yours with the hanging salmon. so as a smoker i thought what if i put all my butts in a plant pot with sand, let the rain concentrate the mix and use bahlen solvent to let the colour soak into the plastics......... that was a fail it went a dirty browny orange. i refined the idea a bit and decided to use a more dilute mix and get a cleaning product pump bottle which worked but didnt quite look real enough. now i ave a box with a hole in it and a plexi front which means i can make sure the aging looks spot on. if you guys have any inspired relicing ideas and stories of how you came up with it please share

[FrankenFretter***]

I've been doing some experimenting lately. I don't really plan on doing a relic guitar, but I was just curious about some different methods. I tried a mixture of coffee and pipe tobacco on some cream plastic parts, but that did nothing. I then tried some strong black tea. Again, nothing. I have yet to try a solution made of cigar butt juice (that sounds so appetizing, yum!), but since I do enjoy the occasional cigar, I may try that next. It's really just curiosity with me, though. Oh, I did have some success with white vinegar on some nickel-plated pickup covers. I had to use some Scotchbrite on them first, just to get a the surface a bit more conducive to aging. It did work, but I think I used the Scotchbrite a little too liberally. Oh well, it's just for fun.

[deeaa*]

Fun to notice I'm not the only one...I've also gone the coffee etc. route...but never did come up with an easy way to yellow a surface to look old.

Hm, I wonder if iodine would work...it's the right colour and might stain some paint.

[FrankenFretter***]

Fun to notice I'm not the only one...I've also gone the coffee etc. route...but never did come up with an easy way to yellow a surface to look old.

Hm, I wonder if iodine would work...it's the right colour and might stain some paint.

Iodine is pretty nasty stuff, I'll bet it would stain plastic. I think maybe my plastic parts are too non-porous to take the staining attempts.

I really thought the coffee would work, considering what it does to the lid of my coffee pot (it's white...they didn't have black).

[gordy_sg_no1]

if you use behlen solvents it makes plastic nice and porous but failing that if you use some scotch pads and wood stain then use satin clear coat as it retains the matte but protects the staining

[Commodore 64***]

I soaked that PUP cover in coffee overnight, got about halfway there.

[FrankenFretter***]

I soaked that PUP cover in coffee overnight, got about halfway there.

I left my plastic stuff on a tupperware container with my concoction for a week. No change. I think I'll try the cigar butts this weekend.

[Andy]

..try adding some lemon juice to the tea. I have also heard of people using cola in the mix. I guess they soften the plastic

I did a plastic knob that way, left it overnight

[gordy_sg_no1]

..try adding some lemon juice to the tea. I have also heard of people using cola in the mix. I guess they soften the plastic

I did a plastic knob that way, left it overnight

well if it will shine up a penny with its acidity, and rots your teeth to hell. my last experiment i performed was with vinegar ........... that is wonderstuff will work on plastics to nickel plate. the best results came from the pickling vinegar i had left in a jar of pickled onions.