Sunday, March 14, 2010

Tauruscat: Tubing Fitting

I have spent quite a bit of time attempting to locate the perfect fitting to cover the end of the tubing where it joins the resin sensor. I looked at clamps and crimps and ferrules. I bought two sets of parts from Ebay—fifty brass hose ferrules, and another fifty copper end caps—both of which were too large. And then to my chagrin, I discovered the perfect metal piece at my local hardware store. It is a ½" brass compression fitting.


The photo shows my steps for aging the fittings, and making them a little less recognizable as a part you probably have under your kitchen sink. The top piece is in its originals state. Going around clockwise, I sanded off the sharp edges; I sandblasted it to remove any lacquer; and I buffed it. On the far left bottom I've dipped it into vinegar a couple of times which brings out the cuperate patina. And above it I dipped it into Liver of Sulphur which turns the copper in the brass brown.

I will age all eleven of the fittings together to hopefully a nice dark brown.

3 comments:

  1. I am impressed by your care for each little detail!

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  2. Nice!

    This may not suit your current project, but we used to let hardware soak a bucket of battery acid overnight and they aged rather nicely by morning.

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