Giving Brass a Green Color.
—Make a solution of 2 ounces of copper sulphate, ¹⁄₂ an ounce of sal ammoniac and 25 ounces of water. Suspend the articles to be greened in the solution and boil it until you get the color you want.
Giving Brass a Dull Look.
—First clean the articles thoroughly; then mix ¹⁄₄ ounce of iron rust and ¹⁄₄ ounce of white arsenic in 4 ounces of muriatic acid. Use a brush and paint the articles with this solution until it takes on the proper dull appearance. Then wipe it off, oil, dry and lacquer it.
Frosting Brass Articles.
—Hang the brass articles in a boiling solution of caustic potash, wash them off in clean water and dip them in nitric acid until the oxide is gone, wash them again and throw them in sawdust to dry; heat them a little and lacquer while they are warm.
Lacquering Brass and Copper.
—To lacquer a brass or a copper article dip it in a weak solution of sulphuric acid and water and then wash it in clean water. Next put the article on a piece of sheet iron and heat it over a gas jet or in an oven.
It must not be heated enough to color it but just so that when you place your moistened finger to it it will sizzle; now put on the lacquer and this can be done by brushing the article over with a camel’s hair brush or by dipping the article into the lacquer.