Pickup Cover Aging?

[big_teee]

I like the Bare Nickel covers.
I notice if I leave them unprotected in the shop, they start to tarnish.
I like the tarnish, but would like to speed up the tarnish.
Anyone got any tricks for controlled cover aging?
I want to age or tarnish them while making pickups!
T

[Sock Puppet]

I've not tried it but there's a five part tutorial on Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0tS5CR7h94

Could have been a lot shorter...

[big_teee]

Thanks!
I'm not wanting to do any scratching on the covers.
The bare nickel is already a matt finish, and no plating.
http://www.mojotone.com/Mojotone-Nic...Bare-image.jpg
I notice they corrode on their own, just wanting to speed up the process.
I may try setting the cover suspended in a coffee can over some vineger.
I don't have any other chemicals at the time.
Maybe clean them with alcohol first?

[copperheadroads]

Vinegar may take a few days (cant remember how long) ,Muriatic acid takes a few minutes to get them looking scummy .you should be able to get it at the hardware store

[big_teee]

Aging pickup covers when making pickups.

Here's how to relic a tele, and has the meltal relicing.
Some of this is relevant to what I want to do.
Interesting vid anyway, and the JC music is worth the time!

[SpareRibs]

Hello,
I am not trying to be funny. The one place in your house that has the most extreme temperature and humidity changes is the bathroom. Try laying them on a shelf in there. Or hang them from the bar that holds your shower curtain. Maybe dry them off once a day with a hair dryer.

[big_teee]

I agree that the moist air seems to help them corrode faster.
The one I sold was in a test guitar in a gig bag in the shop.
It can be a humid place, and it has rained all summer here.
So I thought I would try again, but speed it up a bit.
T

[jonson]

Terry if you want to age them with vinegar then place them in a rice sieve and suspend it over a saucepan and boil the vinegar it will speed up the process. Muratic or hydrochloric acid can also be got from your local chrome platers who may well sell you some and just get a plastic bucket with a lid and poke some holes in the lid and hang your covers from wires above a small ammount of acid in the bucket. The fumes will do the work you don't need to dunk the covers in the acid.

[Mike Sulzer]

Terry if you want to age them with vinegar then place them in a rice sieve and suspend it over a saucepan and boil the vinegar it will speed up the process. Muratic or hydrochloric acid can also be got from your local chrome platers who may well sell you some and just get a plastic bucket with a lid and poke some holes in the lid and hang your covers from wires above a small ammount of acid in the bucket. The fumes will do the work you don't need to dunk the covers in the acid.

Pool supply stores used to be a great place to get HCL, but now they mostly sell solids in granular form that make an acidic solution when dissolved in water. Although HCL is not one of the more dangerous acids, you can still get nasty burns, etc. These solid products can make solutions that probably require that the cover be placed in them, but they are safer to work with. (but please use common sense with any acid!)

[jack briggs]

muriatic at your local hardware store or HD

[big_teee]

No HD, but I will look around.
I'm gonna mess around with the vineger first.
Too busy mini farming today.
Thanks,
T

[Joe Gwinn]

One can also get 20% Sulfuric Acid as battery acid in auto parts stores.

I haven't tried aging with sulfuric acid, but I would dilute the battery acid ten to one, down to 2%, for this.

HCL is sold as Muriatic Acid in building-supply and hardware stores for cleaning cement haze off of tile. HCL probably also needs to be diluted.


Safety warning for all strong acids: When diluting, pour acid into water, not water into acid, to prevent scalding spatters. Wear full-coverage safety goggles. Keeps acid spatters out of the eyes. And have a source of water at hand, one than can be used to wash the eyes out immediately, even if you cannot see and have to do it all by feel.

[big_teee]

I have a cover in a bucket with a little vineger in the bottom.
I put a coffee can upside down in the bucket, and set the P/U cover on the can.
Put a lid on the bucket.
I set it all in the sun.
I'll see what I get.
It doesn't appear to take a lot to corrode the bare covers.
I would probably need something stronger for plated covers.
T

[big_teee]

Vineger Update

I put the vineger in the bottom of a 2 gal. bucket.
I set a plastic coffee can upside down in the bucket.
Set thebare nickel cover on the coffee can, put the lid on the 2 gal. bucket.
Set it outside for a few hours in the sun.
I took the cover out later, and it had a nice pretty tarnish color to it.
The heat on the vineger really seems to make the fumes, that corrodes the metal.
I may give it a little more treatment tomorrow.
Might try some other old plated covers in the shop, to see if it will work on plated covers.
T

[mr fab]

I use the granular powder you buy to etch PCB's. a small amount in warm water and dunk the cover in there for 5 to 10 minutes. make sure you use only a small amount, as it will eat into the nickel faster than you can expect. wash in clean water and all done in a few minutes