Iron or steel items to be finished are heated in special furnaces to approximately 1700 degrees Fahrenheit, at which temperature they are cherry red in color. While at this temperature, live steam and volatile hydrocarbon liquids are injected in to the furnace for a period of several minutes. The chemical action of the heat, water-vapor and hydrocarbon gases on the iron and steel is such that the surface of the items being treated become oxidized and carbonized. The surface becomes covered and impregnated with a hard, non-porous, grayish-blackish coating. The surface with this treatment practically becomes impervious to moisture. After parts are removed they are dipped ... Read More »]]> Bower-Barf is a black rust-resisting finish applied to steel and iron only and is not applicable to non-ferrous metals. It is named after two men, Mr. Bower and Mr. Barff, who originally developed the process.

Iron or steel items to be finished are heated in special furnaces to approximately 1700 degrees Fahrenheit, at which temperature they are cherry red in color. While at this temperature, live steam and volatile hydrocarbon liquids are injected in to the furnace for a period of several minutes. The chemical action of the heat, water-vapor and hydrocarbon gases on the iron and steel is such that the surface of the items being treated become oxidized and carbonized. The surface becomes covered and impregnated with a hard, non-porous, grayish-blackish coating. The surface with this treatment practically becomes impervious to moisture. After parts are removed they are dipped in a special oil and wiped off. The finish becomes a dead black and is extremely beautiful and very practical for interior use.

Current Day Finish Option:

We at Al Bar Wilmette have a colder process that is done with a non-volatile process in our shop. We refer to our finish as the ‘Olde Iron’ finish (though Bower-Barf is certainly more interesting). We use a oil, wax or acrylic for our final step of the process (depending on what the final location of the hardware/lighting will be). As with any finish we do the base metal must be extremely clean, have no surface tension, and in the case of iron or steel be finished almost immediately because of how fast surface rust occurs.

Much of these finishes cannot be done today because of environmental regulations. However, new technologies and processes allow us to achieve the same final finish with a more advanced and cleaner process. Unfortunately most of the time the labor involved with even the new process is just the same if not more intense.

If you think you are going to use a custom finish always be certain to ask for a production sample for review. This sometimes will delay your project but it is often worth the extra time involved.

Here are a couple photos of our cremone bolts with the westmoreland knob in polished nickel. These were installed as a piece of an overall hardware package on a project in Highland Park, Illinois. These cremones can be finished by our shop in any finish and many knob selections are also available.

These are the raw castings of pocket door hardware we are making for a Chicago project. They will be finished in a soft ‘butler’ bronze and hand waxed.

These solid brass offset pivots were finished in satin silver for our client in New Jersey. They also have a clear coat that will aid in the prevention of tarnish.

The captioned photos here are of an installation in New York, our finish is an old brass with wax. Most of the hardware was original and the balance was made for the remodel/addition.