Architectural and Bespoke Metal Finishes
“Custom Patina and Aging Services for Sydney”
Architectural Bespoke Metal Finishes for Sydney
At Twisted Metalcraft, we offer bespoke colour matching and aging services to residential and commercial clients around Sydney.
The range of metal finishes we use is forever expanding as no one job is the same. Choose finishes from mirror polished metals in brass, copper, & stainless steel, or aged finishes such as rusted steel, blackened steel, and antiqued bronzes, even stainless steel can be aged or stained.
Send us a sample of your Aged Metal Finishes or Patinas for our matching services – we can fabricate and provide a finished product for you in-house.
Which Materials can be Aged?
Nearly any metal can have a patina finish or be aged. Most commonly are brass, copper, mild steel, stainless steel, aluminium, bronze and sterling silver.
Precious Metal Coatings by Twisted Metalcraft
Some products cannot be made from the precious metals we desire. This could be because of simple material properties and limitations or because the time and labour needed to create the product would far exceed what anyone would be willing to pay.
Twisted Metalcraft have created a product from real metal that can be coated onto almost any substrate, metallic and nonmetallic alike. The range of items we can coat includes timber, plastic, concrete and much more. These materials could not previously be plated in metal using traditional electroplating methods, as without a conductive surface the plating cannot take place.
These bespoke metal coatings can be applied to your fabrications from aluminium, brass, bronze, white gold, copper, iron, pewter, nickel, zinc or stainless steel. By using these real metals, we can provide aging and patinas to these surfaces, or they can be left to naturally age as they would normally.
How Metal Ages
Due to the way metal ages, if the metal is polished anywhere from a satin finish through to a mirror polish it will age in proportion to the polish on the surface. The higher the polish, the less prone a metal will be to aging / corrosion.
To achieve a dark antique finish, the metal is not simply coated with a product as this will appear unnatural. Instead, the ancient processes we use at Twisted Metalcraft causes material to react to chemicals in a careful and controlled way. In doing this we accelerate the natural process that would occur if left in the right environment. An example of this could be anything from a green aged copper to a bronzed brass.
If you have a finish that needs to be matched, send us a sample or a quality image and our specialists will create a matching process.
Metal finishing and patinas are generally not uniform in colour as metals naturally age over time, reacting in a way that causes transitions between shades and colour. The outcome of a naturally aged finish depends on factors like temperature, humidity, PH level, pollutants and other chemical reactions.
When a uniform colour is required, Twisted Metalcraft offers paint and powder coat to preserve and protect the final finish.
Matching New Metals with Old
If you want your newly fabricated items to match your existing ones, send us a sample or a high-quality image and we will match the finish to suit.
Everyone has a name for their finishes and if we are to match another supplier we need as much information as we can get. A lot of suppliers have different names or finishes for their product, e.g. one supplier’s ‘Medium Bronze’ may not be the same as another supplier. If we are to match another supplier’s product, the more information we have about it the better.
From time to time, some suppliers claim to have metal aged finishes but they only tint the surface with paints. Our finishes are done using ancient formulas and processes, which provides our customers with the real deal rather than a cheap imitation.
Polished and Antique Brass
In addition to copper, brass is often used as a base for a lot of the finishes at Twisted Metalcraft.
Polished brass is a very popular choice as it resembles gold and is much more resistant to corrosion and staining, while coming in at a fraction of the cost. This material is commonly used in household furniture, in door and window fittings as well as in the car industry.
The longer brass is left in the elements, the duller and darker it will turn over time. Depending on your project, you may want the brass to look anywhere from a year old to 200 years old. This is where we apply our aging and patina techniques to give you the look you are after.
Copper Patina and Aging
Brass is a copper alloy so it comes as no surprise that there are many similarities between the two.
If left untreated, copper will corrode and age, changing colour to browns, greens and or blues.
Just like brass, we can accelerate the aging and patina process to give you one of these colours or maybe even a mixture of a few.
Brass Grades & Effects on the Finish
l composition of different grades will make a huge difference on how they age or patina; one might give you shades of brown, blue or purple where another will virtually give only shades of black.
To match metal finishes with each other it is best to be working with the same metal, or at least one with a similar chemical composition.
The reason that many grades have been developed is because the addition or change of the composition give the metal different attributes.
Some of these can be seen in the below table; one might be more suitable for corrosion purposes or might be easier to cast. Another may be more machinable or could simply just be that a particular colour is desired. Any change in the metal ratios or addition of other metals will affect the finished product.
Alloy name |
Copper (%) |
Zinc (%) |
Tin (%) |
Lead (%) |
Other |
Notes |
Abyssinian gold | 90 | 10 | ||||
Admiralty brass | 69 | 30 | 1 | Tin inhibits loss of zinc in many environments. | ||
Aich’s alloy | 60.66 | 36.58 | 1.02 | 1.74 iron | Designed for use in marine service owing to its corrosion resistance, hardness and toughness. A characteristic application is to the protection of ships’ bottoms, but more modern methods of cathodic protection have rendered its use less common. Its appearance resembles that of gold.[27] | |
Aluminum brass | 77.5 | 20.5 | 2% aluminum | Aluminum improves corrosion resistance. It is used for heat exchanger and condenser tubes.[28] | ||
Cartridge brass (C260) | 70 | 30 | — | ≤ 0.07 | Good cold working properties. Used for ammunition cases, plumbing, and hardware. | |
Common brass | 63 | 37 | Also called rivet brass. Cheap and standard for cold working. | |||
Delta metal | 55 | 41-43 | 1-3% iron with the balance consisting of various other metals. | The proportions used make the material harder and suitable for valves and bearings. | ||
Free machining brass (C360) | 61.5 | 35.5 | 3 | 0.35% iron | Also called 360 or C360 brass. High machinability. Lead content 2.5%–3.7% | |
Gilding metal | 95 | 5 | Softest type of brass commonly available. Gilding metal is typically used for ammunition bullet “jackets”, e.g., full metal jacket bullets. Almost red in color. | |||
High brass | 65 | 35 | Has a high tensile strength and is used for springs, screws, and rivets. | |||
Low brass | 80 | 20 | Light golden color, very ductile; used for flexible metal hoses and metal bellows. | |||
Manganese brass | 70 | 29 | 1.3% manganese | Most notably used in making golden dollar coins in the United States. | ||
Muntz metal | 60 | 40 | traces of iron | Used as a lining on boats. | ||
Naval brass | 59 | 40 | 1 | Similar to admiralty brass. | ||
Nickel brass | 70 | 24.5 | 5.5% nickel | Used to make pound coins in the pound sterling currency. Also the main constituent of the bi-metallic One Euro coin and the centre part of the Two Euro coin. | ||
Nordic gold | 89 | 5 | 1 | 5% aluminium | Used in 10, 20, and 50 cents euro coins. | |
Prince’s metal | 75 | 25 | A type of alpha brass. Due to its yellow color, it is used as an imitation of gold.[31] Also called Prince Rupert’s metal, the alloy was named after Prince Rupert of the Rhine. | |||
Red brass, Rose brass (C230) | 85 | 5 | 5 | 5 | Both an American term for the copper-zinc-tin alloy known as gunmetal, and an alloy which is considered both a brass and a bronze.[32][33] Red brass is also an alternative name for copper alloy C23000, which is composed of 14–16% zinc, a minimum 0.05% iron and minimum 0.07% lead content,[29] and the remainder copper.[34] It may also refer to ounce metal, another copper-zinc-tin alloy. | |
Silicon tombac | 80 | 16 | 4% silicon | Used as an alternative for investment casted steel parts. | ||
Yellow brass | 67 | 33 | An American term for 33% zinc brass. |
Metal Finishing Options
Brass
Mill Finish
Brushed / Satin
Mirror Polished
Bronzed – (Light, Medium or Dark)
Blackened
Antique Brushed / Satin
Custom Patina / Coloration Finishes
Copper
Mill Finish
Brushed / Satin
Mirror Polished
Aged – (Light, Medium or Dark)
Blackened
Antique Brushed / Satin
Green Aged
Custom Patina / Coloration Finishes
Stainless steel
2b
#4 (Brushed / Satin)
Mirror Polished
Aged
Custom Patina / Coloration Finished
Mill Finish
Painted
Powder coated
Blackened
Rusted
Aged
Custom Patina / Coloration Finished
Aluminium
Mill Finish
Brushed / Satin
Painted
Powder Coated
Anodised
Aged
Custom Patina / Coloration Finished
Metal Finish Protection
Once metal finishing has been completed we offer levels of protection based on the customers’ requirements. These are listed below:
No Protective layer: This will let the product naturally complete the aging process while retaining the natural metal feel.
Light Oiling: A thin oil is applied to the surface, giving limited protection whilst the oil film is present. Maintenance of this oil is essential.
Protective Oiling: Oils are used that create a thin protective layer of film over the metal. Maintenance of this oil is essential.
Wax Finish: Waxing the surface gives a feel to the surface like the metal its self. Maintenance of this layer is essential.
Saturn Clear Coat: This is a semi-gloss coating that is considered to be permanent.
Matt Clear Coat: This is a matt coating that is considered to be permanent.
We deliver Sydney-wide!
Get in touch for a quote today – Call (02) 4789 2122
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