Being exposed to rust dying (just now) I am still processing things.
It seems to be a a simple process to me. Something rusty and you press fabric against it.
If you are trying to make a pattern on the material it seems like you have a few options. You could cut the steel sheet to the desired shape/patter, or you could put a mask over the material, so it would not rust/bleed on to the material. How many do you want to make. If you could laser cut the mask it would be higher details, and maybe fast.
It might come down to how many pieces you were going to make. If you had many copies to rust/dye you might need to cut a thicker piece of steel on the plasma, then rust it, then press it. If it was going to be one off, you might be better to use a custom ostensible and do one of’s.
I am willing to help. If you have a general geometric patter via picture, svg, cad, pencil drawing, and the number of plates you need made. I will try to help.
I do not currently have a setup to rust steel at home, but I could. Anode/cathode/electrolyte/electrical current. I know @paul.maseberg had been doing some at the space/home for the keepers.
If you can hand draw something, and give basic dimensions we could go the ball rolling. The picture give basic shape, but no dimensions. If you want to plasma cut this you would need each piece to be connected, or you could cut the basic shapes and tack weld them to another sheet for placement. I guess you could also reverse mask the steel you wanted to rust then press the entire sheet. Do you know how long/how much rust is needed to dye material? Do you have any links any example sites you want to replicate the process from?
when are you needing this? I could try to do some testing. Do you have some comparable fabric material to do some tests on? there are many questions that would need to be answered, but it is basic chemistry to convert Fe -> FeO3.
Cool idea. Willing to help. Just need some details.
