Yeah, but i’m an outlaw. 
@Chinooker Thanks for the tip. I’m trying Ajax dish liquid since the sulfates are common ingredients in dish detergents. Already seeing the color start to change after just a few minutes. Also applied to my daily use copper zippo that is very slow to develop a patina even after a few years of daily use. Both were cleaned with brake fluid, lighter fluid, and isopropyl to remove any protective coating.
Acetone I think was the consensus choice for easiest removal of the coating.
I used naval jelly, just because had it handy.
Be sure to post your results.
Navel jelly? Like for your belly-button?
Well, iffn it’s rusty in there? Go for it.
Well, I think I’ll stop here on the K18 brass. Looks to be my new Keychain light. Knocking the Rey Tool Ti off to backup duty.
I kinda lost my bling on that one, ehh?
No sir, Rustic Bling is still bling…
Now I know what I will do with my Brass K18 when I get it…
Gave up on the dish liquid on my copper blf a01 due to concerns about toxicity of CuSO4, cleaned it thoroughly, and switched to baking soda and water. Roughly 2 parts very hot water to 1 part baking soda. With the battery removed and head screwed down tight I tied a string through the keyring hole, set the light in the bottom of a sour cream container with about 2 inches of the baking soda/water mixture, swished it around and gently flipping it in different directions using the strong, then removed it from the mixture and stood it on a plastic lid. I repeated the process every ten minutes or so and occasionally gently rinsed the accumulated dry baking soda off by immersing the light in fresh water before starting the process again. After several hours the copper achieved a nice brownish color a bit brighter than an old penny.
A picture paints a thousand words mate……
@scrumpypaul I plan to post a photo of the light with a new penny and an old penny after the sun comes up to get a photo that accurately represents the results.
cool - look forward to seeing it.
Did an Astrolux SC recently. First I removed the coating (and cleaned/degreased) with acetone and a soft nylon brush. Then I hit it with some vinegar (mini spray bottle) and sea salt and sealed it in a Tupperware container. I taped over the heat-sink, and later polished it up:
Freefly - that is lush. Makes me want to buy one……
Here’s the patinated A01 with a new penny and two with different levels of patination. New photo taken today in sunlight.
Very nice Tekwyzrd! That brown is a wonderful patina…. Maybe a roll in the gravel on mine for a rougher look…
I like this thread.
Since my backup new Cu A01 came in, I went ahead and went a lil wild on this one. Out-rustics my antique brass K18. Won’t say everything I stuck it in… suffice to say I won’t be holding it in my mouth for handsfree lighting! :confounded:
tekwyzrd and chinooker - both brilliant. nice pics.
I like the look of the cold bluing on copper. There’s some products made for this, intended for use with guns made of non-ferrous metals, such as Birchwood Casey Perma Blue. On the Birchwood Casey website, they say that the product won’t work on ferrous metals, to include copper. And yet… I read a post by someone in a forum that they used this with success on copper.
Has anyone here tried it?
I had no idea that the dish liquid would make copper sulphate, thank you for this info!
Yep, I’ve tried a couple:
Brownell’s “Oxpho-Blue” cream works pretty well, and is less aggressive.
Birchwood Casey “Aluminum Black” also works good, but is much more aggressive (will darken much quicker than the above).
Good old fashion heat (from a torch) can give some excellent results as well.
For the Astrolux SC I posted above, I used a mini spray bottle with white vinegar, lightly coated the light, then sprinkled sea salt over it and sealed it up in a Tupperware container for a couple hours (turning/spraying/salting a couple more times along the way). 