Aged Copper Finish on Cast Iron Rads

[HandySimon]

Hi All, am new here, was wondering if I could seek your advise and expertise on painting some radiators??

We are doing up our first place and managed to recover some freestanding cast iron rads. These have a dark / copper-edged finish to them, and we have wire bushed off minor surface rust; "the boss" wants to retain the current finish... however once the rust is neutralised the surface will be patchy and as they will be fixed to the wall, they will be an issue to re-paint in future so need to get it right. Therefore I am keen to paint/seal them.

Hammerite do a Copper finish, however on contacting Dulux they don't recommend mixing in some Hammerite black with a tin of copper. I am unsure how "bright" the copper finish will be after drying?

Ideally we would like something approaching an old Penny (or 2p) piece - a dark / weathered copper finish.

I would very much appreciate suggestions and advice how we can achieve this before they are bolted to the wall!

Thanks, Simon

 

[darkan9el]

As with all things like this do a small test first, either on a spare bit of old iron or on the back of the rad then stand it in its place to see how it looks in that light. Mixing black into a copper colour will necessarily "colour' it down, it will more than likely make it muddy but again if you are going to try something like that be very careful how much black you put in as a small amount can go along way. Always mix in a separate tub and try to measure accurately so that you get your ratio's accurate.

You could always paint the rad copper and then tone it down with an overlay glaze.

 

[Nige F]

Hi All, am new here, was wondering if I could seek your advise and expertise on painting some radiators??
.. however once the rust is neutralised the surface will be patchy and as they will be fixed to the wall, they will be an issue to re-paint in future so need to get it right. Therefore I am keen to paint/seal them.

Don't neutralise the rust - with some chemical ? - and don't use hammerite, you'll end up with a mess using that stuff. The copper/black finish is probably original. Can you post some pics. so we can assess the rust/condition.

 

[HandySimon]

Hi, thanks for the replies and suggestions. I don't think that mixing the copper with some black will work... perhaps doing a first coat in copper then something to "tone it down" more towards an old-penny type colour??
The rust neutraliser is Ferricon (KuRust), which I have checked, and is suitable for use on a radiator - I am concerned that if I don't treat the rust it might come back given the radiator will get cold when not on, and so get condensation - the rust could be a real issue once the radiators are fitted to the walls/plumbing (as you can see through them at certain angles as you can see below) and spoil the look. Especially after all the hard work we have done to restore the rooms.

Below are some pictures showing the rads just after being wire-brushed. All suggestions and ideas welcome Thanks.

[GALLERY=media, 99761]20170119_185343 by HandySimon posted 24 May 2017 at 9:54 PM[/GALLERY]
[GALLERY=media, 99760]20170119_185325 by HandySimon posted 24 May 2017 at 9:54 PM[/GALLERY]
[GALLERY=media, 99759]20170119_185336 by HandySimon posted 24 May 2017 at 9:39 PM[/GALLERY]

 

[Nige F]

Can't see any detail on them - but if you really want to paint them it will take hours - Also be careful if your house has a modern low water content boiler, those rads can have a load of sludge dried in the bottom. I fitted some in my last house and the boiler was a cast iron heat exchanger so it coped, I flushed them beforehand anyway. ( and being a plumber helps )