Rust-O-Ration

[schmibm]

I learned about this cool tip to make a nice new part rusty very quickly. While this isn't often something someone wants to do, but if you got an old rusty tractor and want to maintain the patina on an old rig when repairing or replacing a part with new.
Take a 16 oz of hydrogen peroxide, like you get in the pharmacy at Wal-Mart for about $0.52. To that, mix in 2 oz of table salt and 2 oz of white vinegar.

Now mist spray or coat the part with the solution and watch if foam up instantly. It will rust in a matter or minutes. Just let it dry or wash it with water to control the rusting.

Pretty simple and very fast. This works best on a part that is clean and free of any grease or oil. I bead-blasted my part first. In about 2 mins, I had a nice scale look.

[ShineOn]

That's good to know .

[Stanton]

What? No pictures?

[Mortgaged]

Great info! This will definitely come in handy as my daughters insist that my tractor maintains it's patina and no new paint is allowed!

On one of the Discovery channel car restoration shows they used a "sealer" on an antiqued truck to preserve the rusty look without letting it go further. It looked really good and didn't appear to alter the appearance, at least on TV. I've been looking for this "sealer" and haven't found anything yet. I'm not looking for a glossy clearcoat either.