In short
Liquid metal coating is real metal powder, such as brass, bronze or copper, in a binder, sprayed onto MDF, wood or metal and then polished, brushed or given a patina like metal. With normal care it lasts more than 20 years, and we do all the work in our own production facility.
Is liquid metal real metal?
Yes, the metal in the finish is real. Every liquid metal coating we make carries powder of the metal itself. A brass finish carries brass powder, bronze carries bronze and copper carries copper. You can also choose zinc, iron, Corten or aluminum, and if you're after a tone that isn't in the catalogue, we'll mix a blend just for you.
Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, and bronze is an alloy of copper and tin, which is why brass leans to a light gold and bronze to a warmer brown. And because the metal is real, it behaves like metal. Polished brass throws back light like a mirror, copper takes a green patina and iron takes on a rusted look. That's also the difference from metallic paint. Here the metal isn't an effect, it's the material itself.
The piece underneath stays what it was made of. What changes is the surface, which looks and feels like metal. It's a metal finish on your piece, not a piece made entirely of solid metal.
What can you put liquid metal on, and what do you make with it?
MDF, wood, metal, aluminum and stainless steel, and other materials when the project calls for it. You don't have to build the piece from metal for it to look like metal, and pieces from the joinery shop and the metal shop get the same finish.
Reception desks and lobby walls in hotels, bars and restaurants, wall cladding in offices, front doors and interior doors, stairs and railings, furniture, bookcases, window frames and sculptures. Every piece gets its finish in our production facility and is installed only afterwards.
Liquid metal wraps arches, radiuses, edges and fine details, and keeps the same finish across the whole surface. That's how the arched Corten bookcases at the NSO headquarters came out, and the curved island in polished brass in a Jerusalem apartment too.
Corten Reception Desk, ONE Towers
- Technology:
- Liquid Metal Coating – MetaliQ
Design: Baranowitz Goldberg
Liquid metal or solid brass?
Liquid metal is lighter and costs less than solid brass, and it works on shapes that are hard to make from sheet metal. Arches, shaped fronts, fine details and large surfaces, without the weight of metal plates.
There are times when solid metal is the right choice. When the piece is already made of brass, bronze, copper or stainless steel and you want to give it a patina, darken it or polish it, that's exactly what Metal Finishes on Solid Metals is for.
It comes down to what your piece is made of and the look you want. Tell us, and we'll tell you which way suits it.
Which finishes can you get with liquid metal?
Every finish starts from the same metal powder and gets its character from the hand work after spraying. Polished to a mirror shine, like Polished Brass. Softly brushed in one direction, like Brushed Brass. Deeply darkened, like Blackened Bronze. Or aged with patina or rust, like Copper Tiffany Patina, Rust and Corten Steel.
At the end of the job we seal the finish with a clear coat chosen for how the piece will be used. It locks in the patina, so the finish keeps the look you chose.
You choose the finish from our finish catalogue, and it isn't the full range. We make many more finishes to order, as a liquid metal coating and by arc wire spraying too. And if you are weighing finish types, we wrote a guide to architectural metal finishes.
How long does liquid metal last, indoors and outdoors?
More than 20 years with normal use and care. Indoors it works on every material we named, and outdoors we work on a metal base with protection made for outdoor conditions.
We have dozens of projects that have stood outdoors for years, front doors, window frames and sculptures, including right on the seafront. Liquid metal on a metal base with outdoor protection has also been through a salt fog test in a lab, in a chamber that keeps the sample in salty mist. Wood and MDF pieces stay indoors.
Before every outdoor project we go over the place and its conditions with you, and choose the base and the protection together. For ideas, see metal finishes for outdoor architecture.
What sets the price, and how long does it take?
The price depends on two things, the area and the complexity of the shape. A flat, simple front costs less than a curved desk full of details, and every project gets its own quote from the drawings.
Once the sample is approved, the pieces are usually ready in 2 to 4 weeks. Since 2017, more than 1,000 projects in Israel and around the world, all made in our own production facility.
Before anything is made, it's worth holding the finish in your hand. Pick samples from our sample set or ask for a sample made for your project, and send us your design. We'll tell you how we'd make it shine.
