I agree used oil works better and adding some copper and graphite seems to deepen the color and add more purple or plum to it. Itll evaporate rather rapidly, but still, dont whip it at cars or house finishes. Stand on end over some paper towels to drain. 500F-600F is often all that is needed and the parts can be done over and over again you just have to clean between each attempt. There is something really rewarding about this technique. Glad that there are folks like you around. Its oiled in production to keep it from rusting on store shelves. 3D Printed Futuristic Space Age Wall Clock. The salts will be a gooey caustic mess while theyre cold, and you MUST have covers on the tank when youre not using them, or the salts will climb over the edges of the tank and make a mess on the floor. This article was very, "I've been working with steel since I was a child, and reviewing these proper methods and skills makes my projects, "It surely educated me on several points. If you look at the temps that Tenifur(SP) and Melonite(sp) and early Pakerizing processes used this is nothing. If a bank transfer is made but no receipt is uploaded within this period, your order will be cancelled. highfour, case hardening is a bit different from what you describe.. Usually, the steel needs some time in a medium that will allow carbon to penetrate the surface, and we are talking 15 minutes to several hours. Nowadays, even mild steel does have a certain amount of carbon in the alloy, which can explain your observations, if you google "super quench," you should find a waterbased quench that is rumoured to do the same, but in my humble opinion, water can do just that as well. Ok you gotta help me out herewhen I was studying mechanical engineering a good few years back a project I done involved using a compression fit of 1/4" thick plate steel into 1" thick steel rod, both mild steel. The List Price is the suggested retail price of a new product as provided by a manufacturer, supplier, or seller. As a small thank you, wed like to offer you a $30 gift card (valid at GoNift.com). How to Blue Bluing Steel Using Oven Or Torch and Oil Method. Use hemostats to hold a cleaning patch wetted with the solution and apply in nice, long, even strokes. Dont. The rod was heated and the plate 2" square was inserted and the rod shrunk onto it. Keep posting like this. Let them cool down as you take a closer look at the bluing effect. FigureLLC. Craig, torch bluing is a real thing that has been use a lot in the custom gun world, mostly for screw heads but even for complete muzzle loader creations ( the vendor will be quite proud of his work it seems as cost increases considerably to a finished item). That surface rust on the barrel could be polished off easily. The "turning blue" process has nothing to do with hardening of the steel, or its compression. Robert Farago is the former publisher of The Truth About Guns (TTAG). I learned something slightly different than what you are teaching and that is I am willing to pay people like you to do this kind of stuff for me. Wear thick gloves so you dont burn yourself. 2. For the process your metal should be nicely polished for the best results.The more shinier the polish the more your end result will glow. I can' The content is not meant to be a replacement for professional service advice. Approved. Now you slide the cold rod in, and the plate cools, gripping the rod. ], By the time I was done it looked like it was a beat up 5 year old gun rather than a 1930s bolt .22 that came from a scrap yard. The higher temperatures of the other processes as well as their caustic nature could weaken the soldered joints and make the gun hazardous to use. Once it's cooled down, take the object out of the oil and place it on a piece of paper/cloth and let it set for about 20 minutes. 4 years ago I have done a cold blue on a very rusted .22 for a friend. If everything appears good, then you can transfer the components into a hot water tank. This is as deadly as the lye-based hot salts, but more for the temperature of a large batch of salts. 2023 All Rights Reserved by Shooting Mystery. Next comes the main part. Bluing involves an electrochemical conversion coating resulting from an oxidizing chemical reaction with iron on the surface selectively forming magnetite (Fe3O4), the black oxide of iron. So I buffed down the barrel with steel wool and started over heating the barrel in the oven before taking it outside to add the solution (which is nitric acid). Spilling salts at this temperature will instantly result in fire, because the KNO3 is a powerful oxidizer all on its own, and the added thermal energy will light anything on fire all alone. Oxides come after its been heated to a red heat and cooled. "https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6dwEQfHK1tk_ZeaA4PniOA/", Your tanks better be tight, your stands for the tanks better be rigid, youd better have top-of-the-line fire extinguishers (NB the plural) available to you. }, you could also heat this size tank with anything from a hibatchi up to a Weber charcoal grill or you could put it on top of a wood-burning stove or even a kitchen stove. | Alpha Detroit", "NRA Family | Gun Manufacturing: Browning vs. Bluing", http://mypeculiarnature.blogspot.com/2014/08/quick-rust-bluing-back-in-black.html, "Radio Kits and Designs for Old and New Styles", "Coating, Oxide, Black, for Ferrous Metals (MIL-DTL-13924D)", "Phosphate and black oxide coating of ferrous metals (MIL-HDBK-205A)", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bluing_(steel)&oldid=1142351288, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles that may contain original research from October 2020, All articles that may contain original research, Articles needing additional references from October 2020, All articles needing additional references, Articles lacking in-text citations from September 2014, Articles with multiple maintenance issues, Articles with dead external links from July 2017, Articles with permanently dead external links, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 1 March 2023, at 22:58. The blueing salt bath will be at about 286 to 292F, and as it is bubbling away, it is losing water, and the boiling point of the solution keeps climbing. My apologies for the background noise in the first half of the video We had compressors running where I had to shoot this This video shows how to blue steel parts using an oven or torch and quenching in oil This method is not the professional method using bluing salts but can be done in your home with a torch or if you have access to a high temperature oven This method will provide your parts some protection from corrosion and show how to achieve different colors in the steel by varying temperatures I am not a professional so please spare me the that s not hot bluing and other criticisms If you don t like it turn it off Hope this comes in handy for someone, How to take apart disassemble and put together assemble a 1911 pistol 1st method, Stevens 20 Gauge Break Action Shotgun Project - Part 4 Cold Bluing with Brownells Oxpho-Blue Creme, Van's Instant Gun Bluing - Removing Gun Rust, Cold bluing Steel blackening How to use Tifoo Black Devil - burnishing steel, Gun Bluing - Colt Official Police 38 Special, Vintage Screwdriver Cold Bluing Br nierung Restore No 2, Slow rust bluing O1 knife blades part two, Easy and Fast bluing touch up Presto Gun Blue Pen, DuraBlue Spray-on Bluing Aerosol Application Process Polished Version, Axe Restoration Part Two Bluing With Birchwood Casey Superblue, Birchwood Casey Aluminum Black Super Blue and Metal Work on a Tanfoglio TA22S, Gun Bluing using cold blue and heat Weihrauch HW35 E Restoration, Perma Blue Gun Blue Paste Birchwood Casey. Use a smaller toaster oven if your piece of steel fits inside. They have their place, but doing a whole gun with them isnt that place. I rarely use them. Commercial products are widely sold in small bottles for cold bluing firearms, and these products are primarily used by individual gun owners for implementing small touch-ups to a gun's finish, to prevent a small scratch from becoming a major source of rust on a gun over time. Mix equal parts of cream and liquid Brownells Oxpho Blue. Quenching the steel rapidly cools it so the alloys inside harden together. Ill be saving this for the future. Think big scars. 2 years ago Alternatively, You could store them in a hard case (like a pelican with a purge) and throw some desiccant packs in there as well. The process isnt intended for bronze. He started the site to explore the ethics, morality, business, politics, culture, technology, practice, strategy, dangers and fun of guns. Slow rust blueing can take a week or more to accomplish, but it is a durable blue job like no other. Vegetable oil has a higher boiling point, so the hot steel will take longer to cool and reduce the chance of it cracking. When Im polishing on barrels, I polish lengthwise. It cannot rust any further. Its much cheaper anyways. Get it Feb 25 - 27. Hot blueing is a good process, especially if you have a lot of iron to shove through the blueing process quickly. You have entered an incorrect email address! The reason I ask is that when you heat steel that is in the white to 600F, you get a brilliant blue all on its own. Either of these two methods is called 'hot bluing'. If your barrel has heavier pitting, now were into filing to remove pitting, and thats something I cant teach people in mere text. This process was repeated until the desired depth of color was achieved or the metal simply did not color further. 4.3 out of 5 stars 242 ratings-30% $12.99 $ 12. Various processes are used for the oxidizing process. COPYRIGHT 2021, THETRUTHABOUTGUNS.COM. Heat the Steel. Both ingredients are super cheap. I think I was drinking heavily (and likely doing stupid things in my shop with high heat and flammables at the time, possibly while juggling chainsaws) at the time I made that comment - without reading carefully. Again, dont mess around with these chemicals and only handle them with extreme attention. wikiHow is where trusted research and expert knowledge come together. In the hot salt process, you will need, oh, four to six tanks, only one of which will be the heated blueing salts. For modern uses of black oxide, see, Learn how and when to remove these template messages, Learn how and when to remove this template message, "How To Remove Rust From A Gun Without Damaging Bluing? Color case hardening is the predecessor of all metal coloring typically employed in the firearms industry. You can reassemble the gun after. High temperatures and dangerous chemicals mean that a moment of carelessness can make you pay a heavy price. on Introduction. Then you pull it out and scrape off the oil along the blade edge. However, the chemicals from the bluing process can accomplish uneven staining on aluminium and polymer parts. Although the steel parts, such as anOrdains watch hands, are near enough miniscule, each Where/how did you think I got to the point I could make nice guns? Copyright 2023 Flixsterz. Its a good process, but it isnt a 1:1 replacement for blueing. Higher carbon contents will take longer to heat. Also: Do not allow the solution to run, drip or sag. You should note that the blue layer is rather delicate so dont treat it roughly. Thermometers and stirring tools are also needed, as well as something to heat up the tanks. The "hot" process is an alkali salt solution using potassium nitrite or sodium nitrate and sodium hydroxide, referred to as "traditional caustic black", that is typically done at an elevated temperature, 135 to 155C (275 to 311F). Submerge in water and scrape edge. In this case cooking oil, rather than gun oil, acts to displace water and prevent rust. If you have very light, fine pitting, you can polish this out. I have in the past few years became more and more. Keep a grade B fire extinguisher nearby in case of a fire. It is named after the blue-black appearance of the resulting protective finish. The potassium nitrate will liquefy at around this temperature and blue your items at a relatively quick speed. You dont want to affect the hardness of your steel in critical areas like actions, bolts, bolt lugs, barrels, chambers, etc. Mea maxima culpa - and I left my comment up rather than delete the thread (for now) just so I could reply and admit the My Dumb, rather than skulk away cleanly >;-), Question Browning a gun gives you a nice, even brown patina finish of red rust on a gun. No. You then oil or wax over the finish when youre done. These minerals (often calcium and magnesium compounds) tend to result in blotchy and uneven results. We have all kinds of rifles and shotguns with recievers made from non-Fe alloys again we do not give it a second though or break out the hardness tester. Its easy enough to color metal with a torch, but it has always been a hit-or-miss process for me, and when it was a big hit, I was rarely able to re-create how it got that way. Brownells has steel tanks, and there are some steel/stainless long/thin tanks available from other sources. pliers, mole grips, -An old metal container (I know, a plastic container is pictured but always use a metal one) filled high enough with oil to completely submerge your steel object would be ideal. It takes practice. Oil and grease really are the enemy because youre trying to (literally) corrode the metal. I found through my bluing adventure that different oils do act slighty different but ultimately everything I've used has done the job. Heating it again to a lower temperature will not introduce additional martensite. I use a pickling paste. I used Express Blue #1 on lots of guns, where I want something less labor intensive than slow rust blueing (which I wont describe here): most steel wool isnt oil-free. "sameAs": If you do not get crazy and over heat the steel there is no reason to be fearful of the process. (You say the rod was heated, but it couldn't have been, as it was on the inside. This is not necessary as long as you can hold your item appropriately and not cover where it is to be heated. "headline": "How to Blue Stainless Steel in 5 Easy Steps: Complete Guide", The use of stainless steel alloy varies a lot from one manufacturer to the other and thats why the bluing effect wont always be consistent. Thanks for the lesson, DG. It was left in a flannel gun case in the back of a moist closet for 25+ years. This is not advisable. As I'm bluing round pieces I slowly and evenly rotate the piece over the flame to equally disburse the heat. You can use a heat gun, a blow dryer, or a torch for this. If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. Ive hot salt blued guns in a shop with the proper equipment and you can shove a river of iron through a single hot salt tank in an afternoon. To heat this, I use a Coleman camp stove and a 15# jug of LPG gas. Dang it all. Could I use stainless steel earrings that I have got? I wasnt planning on doing it for a few months. It will first turn gold, then orange, then red, purple, blue and then dark grey! Heating white, degreased steel to 550 to 600F results in brilliant colors. Ill wait for and look forward to your article! If you are new to the subject and are in need of detailed instructions, then youve come to the right place. Note: I know a plastic container is pictured but always use a metal one! ", the wrong quality steel. My advice to people here: Unless youre a professional, and youre working in a shop with all the required safety gear (a cold water shower within a couple feet of the tanks, and an eyewash station next to the tanks, and someone working in the same shop every moment youre working on the salt tanks), DONT. For the process your metal should be nicely polished for the best results.The more shinier the polish the more your end result will glow. Soft, low-carbon steel was used, but strong materials were needed for the receivers of firearms. JUST DONT. Safety is the number one priority so protect your body as much as possible. Go on and start bluing! When everything is set up, put on your protective gear and then get down to business. When you add water to a hot salt tank, you get an explosion of steam, and you need to develop some skill in adding the water with a very fine copper pipe on your water hose to prevent steam blow-outs spattering salts all over you. Heres instructions from Mark Lee Supplies on using their Express Blue #1. Pour in 4. Once you get the colour you want, go outside to your oil container and fully quench your object into the oil!Note: I know a plastic container is I can keep a Krylon can always handy for touch-ups. Take them out after a couple of minutes and then wipe them clean to remove excess oil. Friction, as from holster wear, quickly removes cold bluing, and also removes hot bluing, rust, or fume bluing over long periods of use. In my case I drilled/threaded the metal piece and made a holder with a threaded end. Treating with an oiled coating enhances the protection offered by the bluing. Use your torch to bring up Picture Information. Youll have a hot caustic degreaser tank (about 10 minutes), then a cold rinse tank, then into the hot salts for, oh, 15 to 20 minutes, then out into the hot rinse, then into a cold running rinse tank, then into a water displacing oil tank for 20 minutes or so. So unless you have sufficient equipment and skill, its advised to let a professional perform the bluing for you. If you dont drain the barrel or action recesses properly before putting a barrel or action into a hot salt tank, then you will find out in a hell of a hurry as the water flashes to steam under the surface and again, splatters hot, highly caustic lye/nitrite salts all over you and your shop. The thickness of the oxide is a function of how hot you heat the steel (The color is due to interference of light reflecting from the surface of the oxide coating, and light reflecting from the oxide-steel interface). So basically, youll want the rifle in the vise with the muzzle pointed to your left. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Metal Finishing Guru. Wear safety glasses and gloves while working with hot metal. }. Once the solution reaches its boiling point, turn down the burner to about one-third of the boiling temperature and let it stay there. Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 914,567 times. You have to apply the bluing fluid. -something to hold your object with i.e. Did you make this project? You MUST plug your barrels, gas cylinders, remove your pistons, etc. Colour case hardening occurs when soft steels were packed in a reasonably airtight crucible in a mixture of charred leather, bone charcoal and wood charcoal. At the end of this heating process the crucible is removed from the oven and positioned over a bath of water with air forced through a perforated coil in the bottom of the bath. "publisher": { ")You're ABSOLUTELY right. Theres a reason why I buy up clapped-out guns and stuff where people look at me with a WTF?! Ive gotten hot blue salts on me splashed into my hair. However, due to the unique qualities of stainless steel, you cant simply blue the material however way you like. Then you have to heat the metal. Cold blues will react with steel at room temperature, but you get more aggressive reactions when you heat the gun to, oh, 150 to 200F. Its a pretty straightforward process. Both refer to the same chemical process for providing true gun bluing.[1]. The ideal setup is a pair of long sleeve gloves along with splash goggles and a face mask. To harden steel, start by heating the metal directly with a blow torch until it turns a cherry red color. The cabinet is then sealed. Christopher Graham writes all the content and reviews on this site with the help of his team of hunters and shooters. With. Youre just using stump remover to do it. Oh mas oui.Express blueing, slow rust blueing, hot salt blueing, nitre blueing, carbona blueing all are better than cold blueing. Always wear goggles and gloves when operating a propane blow torch. Spray down the whole barreled action with copious amounts of WD-40, inside and out. But the article was very informative. I heat treated a piece of carbon steel to make it less likely to wear (using its edge as a cutting surface in a wood turning application). I use it, oh so cautiously in making my biodiesel. I pulled the temp off the top of my head. Just use distilled water. If the solution is still boiling vigorously, then you can expect the bluing to happen naturally. wikiHow marks an article as reader-approved once it receives enough positive feedback. The parts must be observed constantly for colour change. . That would be a hot salt blueing mix. Life is good. Old school smiths use something called washing soda to strip oil off guns. - Ballachy", "Bluing of Steel by Heat Treatment: Why and How it Happens? If you cant, just get them out of the case and allow air to circulate around them. After spending most of his career as a firearms expert and enthusiast, he retreated to the great outdoors to raise his family in peace and quiet. Ive dealt with strong acids and strong bases in lab work, and I fear the strong bases more. Then remove it from the degreaser, don't be tempted to wipe it off with anything. A couple bottles of aged bourbon minimum. The mixed fumes of the acids produce a uniform rust on the surface of the parts (inside and out) in about 12 hours. Make sure to check every nook and cranny of the components so that you can find any discoloration or blemishes. Another good test for determining when the steel is ready is seeing if a magnet sticks to its surface. Have proper ventilation and use proper modern safety gear! If youre using acetone to de-oil, dont be afraid to do it more than once. Great column, and thanks for all the responses to various questions and comments. List Price: $18.64 $18.64. I hope to someday have good knowledge to pass on to people, heh. the cost of all the tanks you need for rinse & boil-out Dont pour water in to your bath! "I am nearly 16 and can not wait until I have my drivers license. Blue Metal Shell 13 in 1 Welding Torch Nozzle Tip Cleaner For Welder Soldering. "description": "If you want to find out how to blue stainless steel, then you've come to the right place. The de-greasing you do directly affects the uniformity of the browning or blueing. The difference is immersion in boiling water for bluing. Ive cut and pasted this to my notes on the cloud. 8 years ago Its for mild steel, which must be greased, oiled or otherwise coated with something to stop it from rusting almost immediately. That way, you can still use your oven for the rest of the evening. "@context": "http://schema.org/", A few safety items: Its essential to keep stirring the tank to prevent the forming of hot and cold areas. For the chemical, the bluing solution should be either Oxynate No. Were committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. The differing rate of cooling for each area produced a different color creating that rainbow effect. You turn up your nose at crap guns? The inside barrel was saved by the fact it was so full of lead fouling. "Cold" bluing is generally a selenium dioxide based compound that colours steel black, or more often a very dark grey. Dont touch the metal with your bare hands since it could cause severe burns. Todos los derechos reservados. Its nice when something can be re-used a time or two, especially when used in diversified ways. I now want to reverse the process so I can drill and tap the metal tip. My current rifle builds are going to be parkerzied. Not only does it give you an alchemical feeling of satisfactionbut it also gives the metal a finish to stop corrosion. My apologies for the background noise in the first half of the video We had compressors running where I The steel was mild steel and had very little carbon content. I'm a professional knifemaker and use many very high-temp methods including quenching 1,600F steel in pre-heated oil - I know what I'm talking about, 'cause I still have 10 fingers and my eyesight. This process leaves a deep blue-black finish. I handed a buddy my wallet and cell phone, and stepped under the safety shower and got wet. One of the reasons I hand-polish up to 600 and buff only above that is that when you see one of my barrels (by holding it up to a light source, and sighting down the barrel from the muzzle at your eye to the breech out at arms length), you see no dips, waves, ripples, etc. on Step 1. "Rust bluing" and "fume bluing" provide the best rust and corrosion resistance as the process continually converts any metal that is capable of rusting into magnetite (Fe3O4).

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