Randall_Oelerich
Veteran
Creating aged looking rusted dungeon chains for a twisted horror film-- a how-to I just did last night, worked great:
Step 1: Buy the typical zinc or nickle plated chain ($2-$3/ft) at your local hardware story. Also buy some muriatic acid (hydrochloric acid), $5/gallon; Home Depot keeps it out in the Garden Store area; nasty nasty dangerous lethal stuff--- use at your own peril i take no responsibility if you disfigure yourself or die on the fumes! Wear thick protective black rubber gloves. You also need a plastic bucket. Also buy protective eye goggles.
Step 2: Outdoors, where the fumes can float away, and wearing the plastic/rubber gloves (the acid has no effect on rubber or plastic), pour some muriatic acid into a plastic bucket, and add an equal amount of water (do not bend over the bucket, the fumes will choke you!). Now carefully without splashing (drops of the acid can eat away your skin-- if you feel a burn on your skin flush your skin with lots of water immediately; thus do this near a source of water) dip the chain in the acid solution that has had an equal amount of water added to it. Do NOT bend over the solution, the fumes can choke you and possibly kill you! It will fizz as the shiny nickel coating is removed. An hour later (maybe 15-30 minutes actually) the nickel/zinc coating is gone. The chain will look like darkened metal, steel without the shiny nickel/zinc coating.
Step 3: Do not pour the waste acid in a toilet. While it makes a GREAT toilet cleaner (muriatic acid)-- amazing for removing that scum in a toilet, the nickel heavy metal is nasty for wastewater treatment plants (I know, I used to work in one)-- kills off the bacteria in the wastewater plant that recycle waste. Better to pour the waste acid in a hole in the ground, or on some nearby dirt where it can percolate through the soil (it will kill any grass or weeds it encounters).
Step 4: Wearing rubber gloves and goggles, rinse chains with water to remove residual acid. Again, wear the rubber gloves! (actually when I did this last night i did not rinse the chains, i just pulled them out of the acid and draped them over a wooden railing on my back porch, so maybe rinsing the chains has a negative effect on the next step (rusting), not sure; rinsing the chains seems safest though.
Step 5: Pour a strong saltwater solution over the chains, leave them out overnight. In the morning you will have rusted dungeon chains.
Muriatic acid is a strong acid, dangerous. Do not attempt this if you have any qualms. I took lots of chemistry in college so I have worked with caustic acids. But this acid can eat away your skin like a B horror movie. Treat the acid as dangerous and deadly. Only do this outdoors, and only near a faucet so you can quickly rinse skin with copious amounts of water if you get even a drop of the acid on your skin. WEAR PROTECTIVE GOGGLES to protect your eyes!
All the above said, this is a great way to mogrify shiny chain from a hardware store to creepy rusted dark steel dungeon looking chains. In the morning I went to check my chains, and there was a thick layer of rust over the chains, far beyond my expectations; in fact i might need to redip to remove some of the rust!
ps: i swear i have the hardest time finding the correct forums for some topics, so this topic is here because i can not find a preproduction
rops forum. Might the moderators consider talking to dvxuser.com about adding a preproduction forum (for props, locations, casting, storyboarding, etc)? it seems that would be useful and logical.
Step 1: Buy the typical zinc or nickle plated chain ($2-$3/ft) at your local hardware story. Also buy some muriatic acid (hydrochloric acid), $5/gallon; Home Depot keeps it out in the Garden Store area; nasty nasty dangerous lethal stuff--- use at your own peril i take no responsibility if you disfigure yourself or die on the fumes! Wear thick protective black rubber gloves. You also need a plastic bucket. Also buy protective eye goggles.
Step 2: Outdoors, where the fumes can float away, and wearing the plastic/rubber gloves (the acid has no effect on rubber or plastic), pour some muriatic acid into a plastic bucket, and add an equal amount of water (do not bend over the bucket, the fumes will choke you!). Now carefully without splashing (drops of the acid can eat away your skin-- if you feel a burn on your skin flush your skin with lots of water immediately; thus do this near a source of water) dip the chain in the acid solution that has had an equal amount of water added to it. Do NOT bend over the solution, the fumes can choke you and possibly kill you! It will fizz as the shiny nickel coating is removed. An hour later (maybe 15-30 minutes actually) the nickel/zinc coating is gone. The chain will look like darkened metal, steel without the shiny nickel/zinc coating.
Step 3: Do not pour the waste acid in a toilet. While it makes a GREAT toilet cleaner (muriatic acid)-- amazing for removing that scum in a toilet, the nickel heavy metal is nasty for wastewater treatment plants (I know, I used to work in one)-- kills off the bacteria in the wastewater plant that recycle waste. Better to pour the waste acid in a hole in the ground, or on some nearby dirt where it can percolate through the soil (it will kill any grass or weeds it encounters).
Step 4: Wearing rubber gloves and goggles, rinse chains with water to remove residual acid. Again, wear the rubber gloves! (actually when I did this last night i did not rinse the chains, i just pulled them out of the acid and draped them over a wooden railing on my back porch, so maybe rinsing the chains has a negative effect on the next step (rusting), not sure; rinsing the chains seems safest though.
Step 5: Pour a strong saltwater solution over the chains, leave them out overnight. In the morning you will have rusted dungeon chains.
Muriatic acid is a strong acid, dangerous. Do not attempt this if you have any qualms. I took lots of chemistry in college so I have worked with caustic acids. But this acid can eat away your skin like a B horror movie. Treat the acid as dangerous and deadly. Only do this outdoors, and only near a faucet so you can quickly rinse skin with copious amounts of water if you get even a drop of the acid on your skin. WEAR PROTECTIVE GOGGLES to protect your eyes!
All the above said, this is a great way to mogrify shiny chain from a hardware store to creepy rusted dark steel dungeon looking chains. In the morning I went to check my chains, and there was a thick layer of rust over the chains, far beyond my expectations; in fact i might need to redip to remove some of the rust!
ps: i swear i have the hardest time finding the correct forums for some topics, so this topic is here because i can not find a preproduction
rops forum. Might the moderators consider talking to dvxuser.com about adding a preproduction forum (for props, locations, casting, storyboarding, etc)? it seems that would be useful and logical.
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