However, rust bluing small areas often match, blend, and wear better than any cold bluing process. Excellent info. I have in the past few years became more and more. Both ingredients are super cheap. this article statement 2 years ago, For the record The gentleman said multiple times that the plastic container shown in the pictures was just for the instructional photos and to be sure that the container is made of metal for this process, (Homer Simpson smacking his forehead: "DOH! I didnt drop outta my mommas womb being able to do this stuff. This is a great time to point out that leaving guns in gun cases, especially the woolen/fleece cases, in the back of a closet, is one of the most sure-fire ways to rust the value completely out of a gun. It is slow rust blueing. Bluing is also used in seasoning cast-iron cookware, to render it relatively rust-proof and non-stick. For the final step, we let the components cool down in water displacing oil. They should send you a stipend for your time. "https://www.reddit.com/user/theshootingmystery" The inside barrel was saved by the fact it was so full of lead fouling. WebStep 1: Preparing Your Materials You will need: -2x containers (one of them preferably being metal for the oil) -oil -unleaded petrol/Acetone/Terpentine/Rubbing alcohol or any good on Introduction, Hello my name is Joe and Im doing a project where Im trying to achieve the same outcome. Ive learned a LOT. His enthusiasm for handling firearms and hunting gear inspired him to create the Shooting Mystery blog. It takes practice. Quenched steel is harder, but it becomes more brittle. Did you ever find out what oil they were using? I rarely use them. -2x containers (one of them preferably being metal for the oil), -unleaded petrol/Acetone/Terpentine/Rubbing alcohol or any good degreaser, -metal object/s (I used mild steel, Please note this method should NOT be used on tempered/hardened steel as you will effect the properties of the metal). Sign up for wikiHow's weekly email newsletter. Check out the video:https://hackaday.io/project/21947-makers-vise/log/60914-coloring-steel-with-magnetism. 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. You are a fantastic resource for all of us here. How to Harden Steel: 10 Steps (with Pictures) - wikiHow Metal Finishing Guru. You might also want to read our article on how to easily darken stainless steel or blacken stainless steel for more ways to personalize your gear. These work by depositing a coating of copper selenide on the surface. Holy crap, did that reaction hurt like hell. You can get a IR non-contact thermometer for less than $20 at Harbor Freight. 1/16-inch pivot wire has a circumference of ~0.2in. If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. It does provide good rust resistance, which is improved with oil. I now want to reverse the process so I can drill and tap the metal tip. They have their place, but doing a whole gun with them isnt that place. It is not nice stuff. Oil binds with the metal and prevent it from getting air/chemicals to corrode. Again, dont mess around with these chemicals and only handle them with extreme attention. For this reason, it is considered not to add any appreciable thickness to precisely-machined gun parts. Cold blueing solutions usually just dont wear well. Could I use stainless steel earrings that I have got? Dont pour water in to your bath! Christopher Graham writes all the content and reviews on this site with the help of his team of hunters and shooters. The blue appearance of the oxide film is also used as an indication of temperature when tempering carbon steel after hardening, indicating a state of temper suitable for springs. This signifies that the steel is tempered. The easier of the two methods, hot bluing only requires some degreasing agent, a heating apparatus (a blow torch is perfect for this), and any kind of oil. In the nitre bluing process, polished and cleaned steel parts are immersed in a bath of molten saltstypically potassium nitrate and sodium nitrate (sometimes with 9.4 grams (0.33oz) of manganese dioxide per pound of total nitrate). Still, you will find that cold blues dont last. Have proper ventilation and use proper modern safety gear! "https://theshootingmystery.tumblr.com/", The steel is also used for producing great police flashlights with awesome durability. Im not responsible for marital discord as a result of gun projects attempted on the kitchen stove. Then the crucibles would be removed from the furnace and placed over boiling hot water and air would be bubbled through the water and the parts would be dropped into the water. Ive cut and pasted this to my notes on the cloud. High temperatures and dangerous chemicals mean that a moment of carelessness can make you pay a heavy price. This is as deadly as the lye-based hot salts, but more for the temperature of a large batch of salts. Woodworkers doing furniture finishing will use 000 and 0000 wool, and they hate oil on their wool for rubbing down oil finishes. Keep heating the steel until you notice a blue color form on the metal. There are 10 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. After the Civil War they switched to another process. Alternatively. 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). This is not advisable. "image": { A non-linear resistance property of the blued steel of razor blades, foreshadowing the same property later discovered in semiconductor diode junctions, along with the ready availability of blued steel razor blades, led to the use of razor blades as a detector in crystal set AM radios that were built by servicemen (as foxhole radios) or by prisoners of war during World War II.[8]. If you have very light, fine pitting, you can polish this out. BUT like so many power tools on guns, it is possible to create expensive screw-ups to fix on guns with power tools, and buffing wheels are no exception. Examples of this finish are common on older pocket watches whose hands exhibit what is called 'peacock blue', a rich iridescent blue. Modern home hobbyist versions of this process typically use a hydrogen peroxide and salt solution, sometimes with vinegar, for the rusting step to avoid the need for more dangerous acids.[7]. Why do you bother with all this crap?. Heating white, degreased steel to 550 to 600F results in brilliant colors. [4], Bluing can also be done in a furnace, for example for a sword or other item traditionally made by a blacksmith or specialist such as a weapon-smith. "description": "If you want to find out how to blue stainless steel, then you've come to the right place. Add in the 250F+ temperatures of the salts when they hit your skin, and youre both burned thermally and chemically in seconds. Brilliant blues. Blue Metal Shell 13 in 1 Welding Torch Nozzle Tip Cleaner For Welder Soldering. to blue / heat anodize stainless steel Just dont do it. Polish to at least 400 grit. I have always wondered about storage in gun soft cases or the foamed Hard cases, and humid or dry, heat and cold. How to Blue Bluing Steel Using Oven Or Torch and Oil Method How to Blue Bluing Steel Using Oven Or Torch and Oil Method. However, if the bluing effect isnt satisfactory, then you can try giving the components an acid bath (using Hydrochloric Acid). Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 13 in 1 Metal Shell Welding Torch Nozzle Tip Cleaner For Welder Soldering at the best online prices at eBay! Take them out after a couple of minutes and then wipe them clean to remove excess oil. The reason why blued guns rust is that something was allowed to attack the surface blueing and get through it to new steel or the blueing job wasnt deep enough to complete passivate the surface from red rust. What is your opinion of the 2 to 1 lye and potassium nitrate bluing solution? Often it does provide an adequate cosmetic touch-up of a gun's finish when applied and additionally oiled on a regular basis. The process was to coat the gun parts in an acid solution, let the parts rust uniformly, then immerse the parts in boiling water to convert the red oxide Fe2O3 to black oxide Fe3O4, which forms a more protective, stable coating than the red oxide; the boiling water also removes any remaining residue from the applied acid solution (often nitric acid and hydrochloric acid diluted in water). Next, suspend the components in a cleaning solution tank to get rid of dirt, oil, grease, and crud. Its much cheaper anyways. "author": "Christopher Graham", Also: Do not allow the solution to run, drip or sag. Most cold blueing agents contain some selenium dioxide in them to enable to them to react at room temps. 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. I can't stress how important the degreasing step is! Mea culpa. for 6-8 hours. Now you slide the cold rod in, and the plate cools, gripping the rod. Always wear goggles and gloves when operating a propane blow torch. I use it, oh so cautiously in making my biodiesel. "@type": "ImageObject", 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. All About Bluing Steel Stainless Steel Necessary Gears and Tools Procedure Step 1: Ready the bluing tank Step 2: Process the components of the gun Step 3: Suspend Shooting Mystery is an independent website that provides content for informational purposes only. Both refer to the same chemical process for providing true gun bluing.[1]. 84 or Du-Lite 3-0. Mix equal parts of cream and liquid Brownells Oxpho Blue. You'll probably be fine following these instructions - you'll probably be OK driving home a little drunk, too. ", https://mgs.edu/making-chisels-skips-newsletter/, http://www.technologystudent.com/equip1/heat1.htm. Because so many people are trying to do this sort of thing on the cheap, thats when I start thundering in my warnings about safety. Add 5 lbs of regular table salt to the water. 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. New guns are typically available in blued finish options offered as the least-expensive finish, and this finish is also the least effective at providing rust resistance, relative to other finishes such as Parkerizing or hard chrome plating or nitriding processes like Tenifer. 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. Ive dealt with strong acids and strong bases in lab work, and I fear the strong bases more. All those materials the leather and bone the coal where sources of carbon and other trace elements. We use cookies to make wikiHow great. 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. "height": "800", ", Learn more Steel is a common durable alloy, and while most steel used in tools is already tough, you can harden it even more to prevent wear and tear. I have to finish my M76 and Galil first and buy the materials. To remove them, you put the action/barrel into a sturdy vise (padded with soft jaws) and you use a piece of brass rod to drift the sights out. Large scale industrial hot bluing is often performed using a bluing furnace. 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. I dont have that much blueing to do in my shop, so I dont use hot salts. The cross section and size of parts affect the outcome of the finish and time it takes to achieve. Then you pull it out and scrape off the oil along the blade edge. This is a great source that you can learn lots of information from and I'll advise it to to a handfuls of others. Metal It is generally employed on smaller parts such as pins, screws, sights, etc. If you want to blue something fast I have a cheap hot blue method: Lowes stump remover: Once you see it turn golden, the process has started and colours will change fairly quickly! 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. There's also blued hardware available, like nuts, bolts, screws, and hinges. just fyi, the old school method of case hardening steel is to get the piece so hot that a magnet will no longet stick to it and quickly quench it in used motor oil. Aluminium (Al) and polymer parts cannot be blued, and no corrosion protection is provided. Fume bluing is another process similar to rust bluing. "I am nearly 16 and can not wait until I have my drivers license. As a small thank you, wed like to offer you a $30 gift card (valid at GoNift.com). This item: Special Blue Full Metal Butane Torch (Gold) - Refillable Flame Lighter- Culinary Torch - Welding Torch - Adjustable Dual Flame for Desserts, Creme Brulee, BBQ and Baking. Ventilation is important. The object on the left is a custom mild steel potentiometer knob! You want 0000 steel wool for carding between coats. Theres nothing wrong with your method, but is is very hazardous, especially to people who have never done anything like it before. This article received 28 testimonials and 92% of readers who voted found it helpful, earning it our reader-approved status. Rinse them in a cold water tank after. I hope to someday have good knowledge to pass on to people, heh. Ill go into parkerization later this week. Its a good process for processing lots of guns, but I simply cannot recommend it for people who just want to do a gun here or a gun there.. Further, I probably would have used a coarser wet-dry to prep the raw steel (this was a kit Kentucky long rifle) rather than the 1500 grit I used. "https://twitter.com/Shoot1ngMystery", "width": "1500", As mentioned, cold bluing can be done at room temperature with decent results. ", steel". If there is any finish left on the metal, it will interfere with the bluing pr Blued Pivot Steel Vegetable oil has a higher boiling point, so the hot steel will take longer to cool and reduce the chance of it cracking. on Introduction, looks nice but you are using what is known as heat treatment which will darken steel, not using bluing salts as in gun bluing of rifle barrels all in all very nice instructable, Reply Quenching the steel rapidly cools it so the alloys inside harden together. This process leaves a deep blue-black finish. Keep posting like this. No. Bluing only works on steel, cast iron, or stainless steel parts for protecting against corrosion because it changes iron into Fe3O4; it does not work on non-ferrous material. "@type": "Organization", Bluing is most commonly used by gun manufacturers, gunsmiths, and gun owners to improve the cosmetic appearance of and provide a measure of corrosion resistance to their firearms. Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered. 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? kitty litter (I would recommend the unused variety). Though it may seem tricky at first, youll be glad to have figured it out because knowing how to blue stainless steel will come in handy from time to time. Is the torch used to heat metal ..ONLY.with Cold bluing? Its for mild steel, which must be greased, oiled or otherwise coated with something to stop it from rusting almost immediately. Heat the gun parts. There wasnt a whole lot of pain just yet until my buddy took the safety bottle of vinegar solution used to neutralize the alkaline NaOH salts, and then the pain was there. You can then u. se a soft brush to gently remove all the residue of the cleaning solution on the components. 8 years ago Dont mess with hot salts. A few safety items: It can soften up some paints and plastics. Thoroughly degrease the area to be reblued with acetone. Whats the difference between Brown Express and Blue Express? We strongly advise that you only push through with this process if you are absolutely confident that you are able to perform the necessary precautions. Blue Thanks a lot for sharing. The steel was mild steel and had very little carbon content. The "turning blue" process has nothing to do with hardening of the steel, or its compression. After that, slowly and steadily stir the solution in the tank to dissolve the salt. The part that is to race the other is heated normally up to about 220 especially if it is an aluminum casting like a cylinder head. -Something to hold your piece with, make sure it's appropriate to hold it with so it doesn't get too hot in your hands. Knowledge is the power and fear is the opposite of power it cripples the mind and the body and almost always guarantee's a poor decision will be made. Mark the sharpened edge with a crayon. It costs an arm and a leg, and you can buy 0000 so cheaply at Wally World that it makes the acetone method worth your while. To remove pitting and keep the barrel profile intact requires skill with a file, and that requires hands-on training. How to Blue Bluing Steel Using Oven Or Torch and Oil Method. Use ice cubes. It is named after the blue-black appearance of the resulting protective finish. Very true. YouTube - Nitre bluing a few gun parts. It was left in a flannel gun case in the back of a moist closet for 25+ years. Besides those, you must also have water displacing oil and cleaning solution (Dicro-Clean 909). The differing rate of cooling for each area produced a different color creating that rainbow effect. Youll get a dark spot right there. Participated in the Explore Science Contest. Hi SteelJunkee Method is as follows: Fit rod into drill and set at constant speed Clean rods with acetone on clean rag Use butane and propane mix blow torch to achieve colour range Quench in water Dry The weird thing is that they look great for around 4-5 days then deteriorate. Frequent TTAG commenter Dyspeptic Gunsmith saw the gun above in our postA Garden Gun Cultivates a Newfound Fascinationand answered reader questions about blueing/reblueing a gun thusly: If the rust is very fine and there is still substantial blueing left on the gun, you might want to strip the blueing. Are you sure you want to heat the steel to 700F in that early step? Ill detail why. tighter your arc, the less the heat input will be. 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. Dont scrub the solution onto the gun, just run a patch that is not dripping wet down one complete run on the barrel/action in one smooth stroke. Theres nothing I see as super-dangerous about blueing other than trying to do hot salt blueing without all the correct safety equipment and precautions. Reply COPYRIGHT 2021, THETRUTHABOUTGUNS.COM. -A heat source. 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. 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. Safety notes: Dont use an aluminum pan. The potassium nitrate will liquefy at around this temperature and blue your items at a relatively quick speed. . To harden steel, start by heating the metal directly with a blow torch until it turns a cherry red color. The loose oxide was then carded (scrubbed) off, using a carding brush - a wire brush with soft, thin (usually about 0.002in (0.051mm) thick) wires - or wheel. If everything appears good, then you can transfer the components into a hot water tank. That surface rust on the barrel could be polished off easily. Ive used this method in a pinch to make a tap from a cheap mild steel bolt to chase out galled female threads. Just remove the blue/rust, degrease, dry, then blue/card/boil-out/oil/drain. 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. Glad that there are folks like you around. Larger flames produce less heat while smaller flames produce a higher heat. Bluing Stainless Steel: What You Can and Cant Do - Forging World Fortunately, this is easily had at any hardware store: WD-40 is a water displacing product, not a lubricant (contrary to widespread advertising). Then wipe off all excess oil and look at your beautiful finished object! On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. And then there is the difference between general care and storage vs available daily carried protection pistols living in a some sort of Holster (nylon or leather) , good, bad, take them out or leave them in? So you said the polishing is key for the coloring process. 4 years ago While still hot and while wearing rubber gloves rub the bluing compound Into the steel with the steel wool. Dont want to get any of the liquid on you its 700F. the cost of all the tanks you need for rinse & boil-out Keep a fire extinguisher near your workstation in case of a fire. Red rust is Fe2O3, and is incomplete rust it will continue allowing the surface to corrode over time hence the oil or wax. The steel will pull some of the carbon out of the oil while quenching and harden the outer portion of the metal. $3.59. blue steel After "publisher": { Ferrari installs valve seats in their aluminum cylinder heads via robot. Dang it all. Wipe them down with WD-40 on a regular basis. He has more than three years of experience writing for and working with wikiHow. Bluing - Finishes for Metal - I Forge Iron Ive gotten hot blue salts on me splashed into my hair. You can not do this method with Aluminium because it won't reach the temperatures required for bluing, it will just melt. Being prepared is important if you can not measure the temp. 1. You need to adjust the boiling point of the salts for your altitude. Share it with us! % of people told us that this article helped them. Ill wait for and look forward to your article! How to colour steel with heat (hot oil finish) is a simple but effective way of achieving a desired colour of choice.The colours are fantastic and often come out in a beautiful two-tone shine. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. You should keep guns in a safe, if you can. It would be a good idea to get some gloves on. This is often achieved without chemicals by simply heating the steel until a blue oxide film appears. It also looks good on AK type weapons of which I have three to park. Use a backing block of wood or even a Pink Pearl rubber eraser. Theres a reason why I buy up clapped-out guns and stuff where people look at me with a WTF?! The ideal setup is a pair of long sleeve gloves along with splash goggles and a face mask. Youll want to clamp on the barrel directly under the sight youre about to drift out. 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 It will instantly vaporize into steam and splash all over you. 2. Remember the oil is probably gonna release some smoke/fumes once the piece is quenched so as said before: please do this step in a well ventilated area. Thermal Bluing - The Process of Heat Treating Watch Hands You have entered an incorrect email address! 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. SO, DG; unless I missed it, I am assuming the torch is used separate from heating the tank/ container with the boiling solution. If I remember right they then heated them up a bit and applied fish oil orignal and I think latter switching to linseed oil to protect the finish and give it that wet look. The color is not oxides, when steel is heated at relatively low heats (300-600 degrees Fahrenheit) it changes colors from light yellow to a deep blue, after 600 it turns back to a steel color. Above you can see some example pictures of the colour shades that can be achieved with this techniques. Once you strip the blue & rust, then you can see what youre dealing with. 'Browning' is controlled red rust Fe2O3, and is also known as 'pluming' or 'plum brown'. The downsides are: the safety issue, which I laid out above, and which youve made clear. Alternatively, You could store them in a hard case (like a pelican with a purge) and throw some desiccant packs in there as well. Thats one way to get dyspeptic to write articles! And thats about everything you need to know about stainless steel bluing. Another good test for determining when the steel is ready is seeing if a magnet sticks to its surface. Theyll usually go in from the right, and be drifted out from the left (ie, drifting them from left to the right as the muzzle is pointed away from you).
bluing steel with a torch