I think this question has been asked in the past but I could not find it with the search. Is the "classic" salt-vineger solution adequate for darkening zinc plated or galvanized mail to a quasi historical finish?

You'll have to first remove the galvanizing from the rings. I'm not sure how to do this best, but I'd think it would prevent the rings from really being affected by vineger.

Vinegar will remove the zinc plating and darken the rings all by itself. It will take several hours to have effect. The vinegar itself will have a corrosive effect if the mail isn't thoroughly rinsed off or soaked in soapy water, so I wouldn't use salt in combination with it. Mail has far more nooks and crannies around the rivets, etc. Too many places for the salt to migrate and cause trouble in the future.

Thanks Patrick, should I soak it over night or say four hours in the afternoon? I honestly dont know if the mail will be plated but comeing from India I imagine it will be. I read your artical and if I remember correctly you used some sort of acid? I was hopeing that the vineger would be a more "backyard" friendly alternative :D

thanks
Shawn

if u do the vinigar leave it way way in the backyard. zink fuse can and will kill you.

full submirge the mail in the vinigar and leave it.

when all the bubbles are gone and youbelieve it is safe empty the vinigar and spray down your mail and bucket well.
wipe down everything clean.

i suggest olive oil rub over the mail and put it on a cookie sheet on the grill or in the oven at a low temp.

then wipe it down again.

some people use boiled linseed oil on the grill to blacken mail. but if you've never used it i suggest the olive oil. boiled linseed oil is very flamible and can combust on its own if left on a rag. it can also catch fire on teh grill and charcoal your mail.

Thanks guys, in a few months when my mail finaly gets here I will tell you how it goes!

On a not wholly unrelated issue, I'm getting some rust on my maille. What's my best bet for getting rid of it and keeping it away?

Thanks,

Shawn

@Shawn Shaw,
Oiling the mail could help, and also I think the blackening might have given it more rust resistance, but I'm not sure.

Just wanted to add some of my experiences with giving maille some patine;
This was done on galvanized maille-chausses with butted rings, nothing too serious just decided to experiment making some maille i had laying around look alot better. I put the maille for half an hour in lemonjuice then dry over-night, then 24hours in 80% vinigar 20% water. I then rinsed the stuff in my bathtub, which was dumb, for a few hours then let it airdry. Then i headed out to my backyard and tossed the maille in a plastic bag with sand for a few minutes getting the (cakes of) thick rust off and leaving them brushed and dusty - i then dryed them off with rags and then tossed em around in break-free oil. Now they look great - blackish with a glimmer of brass almost.

Do you have a picture of the finish on your maille?

Here are some pics i took in a haste of my maille. Its pitch dark outside so natural lightning wasnt available - i took it in different light-sets for an overall view. I think the first one is most true to life.

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Here's a close-up of mine.
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There are various ring types in this photo: riveted rings from two different manufacturers and solid punched rings from another source. Most of the rings in the upper right quadrant were treated with muriatic acid. Most of the others were soaked in vinegar to give them a patina.

I had some of the aluminum rivetted mail when it first came out. I used dranO' and water to take the shiny off of it. GIves it a passible steel look.

makes a good picture prop anyway.

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To clean rust off maille, chuck it into a clean cement mixer for a few hours with NO sand. The rings rubbing against each other will be enough.