Patina: 300+ Coloration Effects for Jewelers & Metalsmiths Hardcover – February 28, 2014

I could write a book about how awesome this book is. I was hesitant to even try to get into making patinas outside of what I had figured out on my own, as it can feel intimidating to take on such a task.This book is so well put together in every facet that I am truly in awe of it. It’s that good!Being that patina making is a niche topic I wasn’t expecting too much, but I was happily wrong.From the first to last page it is formatted so well, and it’s so easy to use that even someone like myself that had little to no understanding of chemistry can find what I want and make it.Everything from an outlay of how to set up a space for your lab if you choose to build one, to the types of chemicals, brushes, and tools you will need, this book truly goes above and beyond in all aspects. And you don’t need very much to do a lot with.Endless formulas, techniques and hundreds of images, this book will be the sword by my side for years to come.I can’t say enough about how thrilled I am with this purchase, especially considering I deal in a very niche area that requires making patinas.Kudos to the author. I don’t think I could put something this intricate yet easy to use if I lived a hundred lifetimes. My only regret is that I didn’t buy it years ago before I made all the mistakes I’d made.I rarely write reviews, rarely. But this is an exceptional product, one I felt obligated to review. Knowing what I know now I would have paid 10 times the price for this one. I’m not being hyperbolic either.The author is Matthew Runfola, and his name is worthy of mentioning, because this is a true work of art in every way. It’s very affordable, a hardcover for like $30-40 is a deal. Ok I’m gonna stop now. Thanks for reading!

I am an artist that is also an engineer. This book is completely my style of book. It speaks to both the artist in me as well as the engineer. This book not only does well showing the technical details of different materials (highlighting what actual alloys were used in the test) and finishing methods, but then also beautify presents each result in well organized color chips. This is really a great starting place. I would say that perhaps it might be intimidating for someone new, but it gives you everything you need to start and to experiment, while also letting you know the range of possibilities.

This book is more technical than I expected and covers chemicals I don't use in my small studio. I like it for the general information re the various techniques, because it is a beautiful book, and a great reference. Especially interesting to me was the info re prepping the metal for the patina process. if you are looking for info re basic kitchen sink patinas like vinegar and ammonia this is not the book for you If you want to know about coloring metals, not just with reactive patinas, but with other methods (e.g.heat, pigment,dye plating, paint, dyed liquid, clear coat, dyed paste wax and more), you will enjoy this bookI said before it is beautiful. The pictures of patinas are large as are the pictures with instructions. The colors are incredible.I am an intermediate metal smithing student and spend hours on the couch paging through books and dreaming and this is just the best!

Beautiful photos to go with the Step-by-Step instructions, formulas for an array of metals! Just a phenomenal must-have for beginner patina folks!

This book has <i>everything</i> in it that an advanced metal artist might want to know about the process and use of patinas on steel, stainless steel, aluminum, copper, brass (230 and 260), bronze (220 and 655) and sterling silver.There are two reasons I did not give this amazing and informative book the full 5 stars: the first reason is that the book had nothing on Argentium silver or any of the newer 'sterling' silver alloys. Zip. Nada. Bupkiss. I guess it's going to take biting the bullet to purchase some Argentium sheet and taking careful notes on how it reacts to the various patina recipes. The other reason I'm not giving this book that 5th star is because it does not have much information at all for a beginning metal artist who is starting out working in the potting shed, the laundry room or a corner of the garage. The list of space and equipment required reads more like a lottery jackpot wish list for so many of us than it does a list of things we could actually manage to get together. I guess those of us who usually have to make do will carry on and continue to let ingenuity be our guide and keep hitting those garage sales.

This book came quickly and is better than I expected! It has a lot of basic information for anyone not as familiar with this type of coloring of metal. It shows a lot of how-to stuff! It has sections for each type of metal. Then it offers a high quality photo and the recipe and method of how it was achieved. The book also tells you where each chemical etc was obtained. There is a section with all of the recopies as a look up for the individual metal sections. I think this book is a must for anyone serious or just starting out even in metal work as art. Makes a great information as well as a great reference book. Very glad I bought it here as well I saved over$10!

I searched for this recipes so long time, I found! Thanks its great really