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Waxing the finished flower
(On a side note, it's getting harder to find Johnson's Paste Wax in my small town. I went to all the grocery stores and Wal*Mart a few weeks ago and none of them carried it any longer. So, now I'm using Turtle Wax exclusively.) It's not possible to get into the petals of the flower with a paste wax and then buff it, so I use a traditional blacksmithing concoction. I mix equal amounts of melted beeswax, turpentine, and boiled linseed oil and stir them together in a jar. Let it cool overnight. If it's too stiff, add a little more liquid. If too runny, melt in some more beeswax. This is applied to the hot rose, on both the leaves and petals. Before doing this, I brush the flower well with a wire brush to remove any scale from the shaping operations, and to bring out the highlights on the petals. I brush this to a bright sheen. Then, I use the torch to evenly heat the flower through the oxidation colors until I get a range of colors from bronze and yellow up to various shades of blue in the highlights. Turn off the torch, and apply the wax with a brush, making sure to get in between the petals. Turn the flower over and apply more wax from the bottom. Rotate it, and make sure that all the petals receive a light coating. Do not breathe the fumes while waxing. They're nasty. You want the metal hot enough so the finish darkens and immediately liquifies the wax, but not hot enough to burn or ignite it. After applying the wax coat, I relight the torch and gently heat the wax, making sure it flows to cover the whole flower. The wax will have an odor that is unpleasant to some people until it cures in a few days. Then I can't smell any particular odor, but I don't have the best sniffer in the world. The stem should be checked twice a year or so -- more often if you handle it a lot -- and paste wax should be reapplied to prevent rust. Paraffin* or beeswax can be applied to the petals or leaves if anything scratches through the finish. (*For my visitors from the UK, paraffin is what we call a form of wax, not the liquid you're thinking of.) Just for fun, I sometimes take a small piece of denim or black material, put a few drops of essential rose oil on it and press it into the bud of the flower. It's fun to see people's reactions when they invariably sniff it, and it smells like a rose. Gold and Silver Painted FinishesI've had a couple of people ask me if it would be possible to get a rose that has been painted, rather than waxed. I was resistant to this, because I wasn't sure how a painted finish would hold up over the years. So, I've done some research, and as a result, I think I've come up with a finish that should endure for a long, long time. So far, the only painted finishes I've done have been gold and silver. I decided that I'd use Rust-O-Leum paints, only, for their added resistance to rusting. Luckily, their gold and silver paints leave a beautiful, reflective finish. There are a number of steps involved in preparing a steel rose for painting, and the glossy finish means I have to do some extra surface preparation. After shaping the rose in the fire, I first wire brush it with a revolving steel brush to remove all the fire scale I'm able to reach. Then, I soak it overnight in white vinegar to dissolve the remaining fire scale. It's then washed in a baking soda solution to neutralize the acid. Then, I do some painstaking manual work to remove as much of the dissolved fire scale as I can from down between the petals of the rose. This is followed by a rather extensive brushing with a revolving brass brush to bring up a sheen on the highlights of the petals. The last step prior to painting is to degrease it with an acetone rinse. Then, it is brought inside so the southeastern humidity won't cause it to rust overnight. The next day, I take it back to the smithy where I apply several coats of paint over the next several hours. After allowing it to dry for 48 hours, I do a final inspection, and apply two more thin coats, if needed. This may be a bit of overkill, but it has my name on it, and I want it to last for many, many years. It's DoneNow that it's protected from rusting, The Rose is Finished!
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