‘Blackened' or ‘Patinated’ steel is when the metal goes through a chemical process to give it a darker finish. The final effect gives a cool contemporary look.
In recent years we have worked on several internal steel projects to achieve a Blackened or Steel colour which is then finished with a hard protective wax.
We use a ‘cold’ blackening process so we can achieve the finish on-site. Due to the nature of steel we recommend this product for interior areas with low moisture contact.
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Understanding the Preparation of Steel
We recommend our blackening process on cold rolled steel. Hot rolled steel is covered in a hard blue grey oxide layer called Mill Scale. Mill scale is so tough it doesn’t take patina and can only be removed by mechanical processes like grit blasting, pickling or oiling.
Cold rolled steel has a much finer surface quality without any mill scale, ready to patinate.
Galvanised steel can also be patinated, it is also more resistant to corrosion.
We are unable to patinate stainless steel.
We highly recommend sand or grit blasting steel prior to patination. Most steel will have some surface damage such as scratches and scrapes from handling. Our patinas create a very thin layer of oxide on top which do not cover blemishes in the material. Blasting creates an even surface and a more cohesive finish in the metal.
Please note - We do not keep steel sheet on hand and also due to the material differences in different batches of steel we request the client provides their own material for our sampling process. Get in touch with us for more information.
Steel is often made of a high percentage of recycled content. This will create subtle colour variations in the blackened steel finish due to the different alloys composition. These minor inconsistencies highlight the ‘organic’ hand applied nature of blackened steel. This industrial effect becomes more obvious with large sheets where you sometimes get differences in texture and finish.
The final finish with its’ mild variegations is industrial and contemporary- making it an assured choice for residential and commercial designs.
Conrad
Shawcross-
Exploded Paradigm
Hay Castle-
MICA Architects
