I decided to start with the larger pieces to establish the amount of material. I wanted to chew through. I used a solution of 50% water and 50% etchant and submerged the bridge and control plate for three minute intervals. Between each dip I rinsed in water and used a paper towel to rub away the corroded remnants on the surface of the metal. I ended up etching for around 20 minutes. The result was slightly pitted with a nice dull reddish brown tone.

After drying the parts I applied the rusting liquid and let it sit for about an hour. The result left a very green surface on the metal but when this was buffed away it darkened the the finish slightly and slightly broke down lines of scratches in the metal.

I repeated the process with the smaller hardware. My biggest concern were the small threads on the bridge so I held back the small stuff and I put a bead of hot melt glue through the threaded parts of the bridge saddles. I’ll boil the glue out after etching.

I separated the hardware into surface area similar batches and used a couple of glass jars and etched the parts in bulk. After the water wash I dried the parts and gave them a shot of wd-40. I may “rust” a few more of these before assembling later.

The last step of the day was to apply black shoe polish on the big parts to decrease the contrast in the finish a bit.

Heres a pic mid rust, I’ll post photos of the completed hardware once I have the bridge and control plate back together.