3DPrinting in Bronze

I tried a number of different solutions, durations, and techniques, but nothing I tried produced consistent results.

Things I tried:

  • Salt Water (No discernable effect from any other solution)
  • Vinegar Water (No discernable effect from any other solution)
  • Baking soda Water (No discernable effect from any other solution)
  • 2-day long soaks (Weak to no patina)
  • 2-day long soaks with pennies in the solution (it seemed to cause a black coating on everything, and leaving it to dry produced the best results occasionally)
  • Spraying solution on the pieces and letting it dry every hour or so (good results, though inconsistent and not an even coating)
  • Leaving a drop of solution on a piece (sometimes caused dark blue buildup, sometimes total green coverage, sometimes nothing)

The totally brown pieces in the pictures are the control pieces. I finished a few of the pieces that had a good patina to be made into pendants. In this picture, the water, air, and fire symbols from avatar were sanded to remove the patina on the raised sections before adding a loop and sealant spray. For the Vault-Tec logo, I used a soft graphite pencil to darken some of the recesses.

Written on September 5, 2023