New England School of Metalwork in Auburn, ME had a class/build session a couple of years ago. I know of couple of people who went. One still has his hammer and is happy with it (he's primarily a sword maker), the other sold or traded it off but he's a wheeler dealer and always doing that...
I was just watching a video on adding glass to a NorthRidge platen since I hadn't done it in several years for my old KMG and it appears that they recommend gasket bonding RTV. Hmm... They also nicely drill and tap a couple of holes for a little shelf on the bottom of their standard platen...
Just discolored but not rusted? That's expected. You can't reasonably avoid it on most
non-stainless steels but it's not harmful.
You're on the right track that a forced patina will make it less noticeable because what
you're seeing the start of a natural patina. I've used both ferric...