Christopher Graham writes all the content and reviews on this site with the help of his team of hunters and shooters. Did you make this project? Most cold blueing agents contain some selenium dioxide in them to enable to them to react at room temps. 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.. on Introduction. If the magnet doesnt stick, its ready to be pulled away from the heat. The downsides are: the safety issue, which I laid out above, and which youve made clear. 3 years ago. 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 The de-greasing you do directly affects the uniformity of the browning or blueing. 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. Submerge in water and scrape edge. Note that it has to be a different tank from the one you used for Step 2. Wear safety glasses and gloves while working with hot metal. "description": "If you want to find out how to blue stainless steel, then you've come to the right place. You MUST plug your barrels, gas cylinders, remove your pistons, etc. kitty litter (I would recommend the unused variety). Notify me of follow-up comments by email. My dad keeps his in a big safe with large desiccant packs that he threw in there. After that, slowly and steadily stir the solution in the tank to dissolve the salt. Theres a reason I didnt pursue a career in chemistry. It provides the stainless steel surface with a layer of protection, giving rust and corrosion resistance while reducing potential glare as well. 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? WHERE or when would the torch get used? If youre interested, just ask and I can provide more details. Different colors can be achieved through variations of this method including quenching in oil instead of water. If you have a wood or phenolic handle, use a propane torch to heat the blade only for about two minutes. A few safety items: The hot washing soda tank typically used in gunsmith shops is caustic washing soda, and if you leave the gun in long enough, youll start to see corrosion on the gun before you get to the blueing step. Salts. 5. Above you can see some example pictures of the colour shades that can be achieved with this techniques.Have fun doing it! Pull it out of the tank and place on a drain rack. It repeats the process adn by the time the head moves on to the next station all the parts are seated presumably for the life of the head. They should start gassing up approximately 2 to 3 minutes after exposure. Make sure the piece is chemically clean, sandblasting followed by power wire brushing is good then stop heating when you hit purple because the heat will travel. I have in the past few years became more and more. Its much cheaper anyways. After It turns out I have. And I work alone in my shop, and lack the required (IMO) safety facilities that are needed. I can't stress how important the degreasing step is! Examples of this finish are common on older pocket watches whose hands exhibit what is called 'peacock blue', a rich iridescent blue. Copyright 2023 Flixsterz. Black iron wire You will need black iron wire to tie around any object you Keep them in that state while you heat them but be sure to not boil up the tank. Just dont do it. 4 years ago It can soften up some paints and plastics. Shooting Mystery is reader-supported. $36.73. The parts must be observed constantly for colour change. Fill a heat-safe container with water or oil deep enough to submerge your steel. Larger flames produce less heat while smaller flames produce a higher heat. 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. Follow the instructions. Take them out after a couple of minutes and then wipe them clean to remove excess oil. The name of the process actually comes from the blue-black appearance of the black iron oxide. Most knives, rifle receivers and barrels are heated to at least 1200F and cooled and drawn at 490F-700F. I have always wondered about storage in gun soft cases or the foamed Hard cases, and humid or dry, heat and cold. 3D Printed Futuristic Space Age Wall Clock. -something to hold your object with i.e. Dont drop or try to bend the steel once its removed. Its a good process, but it isnt a 1:1 replacement for blueing. It cannot rust any further. 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. "dateModified": "2022-03-27", Thermometers and stirring tools are also needed, as well as something to heat up the tanks. To shrink, I assumed you heated the steel plate only, to expand the hole in it. Also remember, by adjusting the heat you can get whatever color you want. Besides those, you must also have water displacing oil and cleaning solution (Dicro-Clean 909). Its essential to keep stirring the tank to prevent the forming of hot and cold areas. Then you pull it out and scrape off the oil along the blade edge. Add 5 lbs of regular table salt to the water. (Its Crystalline Potassium Nitrate 100%) $6.18 I like parkerization on some of my milsurps. You dont want to affect the hardness of your steel in critical areas like actions, bolts, bolt lugs, barrels, chambers, etc. LOGIX 20910 Butane Torch, Cooking Torch, Torch for Creme Brulee, Refillable, 9.6 oz, Blue Steel . Do all the prep you would for express or rust blueing, especially degreasing. It also looks good on AK type weapons of which I have three to park. Safety is the number one priority so protect your body as much as possible. When youre using hot blueing salts, youd better be on top of your game, or you can seriously injure yourself. "url": "https://shootingmystery.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Shootinglogo.png" Now you slide the cold rod in, and the plate cools, gripping the rod. In place of using a hot bath (although at a lower temperature) chemically induced method, it is possible through controlling the temperature to heat steel precisely such as to cause the formation of black oxide selectively over the red oxide. Battery acid is childs play compared to blueing salts. It is slow rust blueing. Try it on some unimportant pieces first. If you look at the temps that Tenifur(SP) and Melonite(sp) and early Pakerizing processes used this is nothing. This finish allows them to be stored in high-moisture conditions, like sports bags, without rusting. And thats about everything you need to know about stainless steel bluing. However, the chemicals from the bluing process can accomplish uneven staining on aluminium and polymer parts. Various processes are used for the oxidizing process. I can keep a Krylon can always handy for touch-ups. Being prepared is important if you can not measure the temp. Degrease a pad of 0000 steel wool with acetone. This article has been viewed 914,567 times. Participated in the Explore Science Contest. You want to be in the range of 600 to 650F. "https://www.reddit.com/user/theshootingmystery" All tip submissions are carefully reviewed before being published. Keep heating the steel until you notice a blue color form on the metal. I think DGs method is a lot safer than mine. As I'm bluing round pieces I slowly and evenly rotate the piece over the flame to equally disburse the heat. For more information on using a blowtorch and protecting the steel, scroll down! The tank of distilled water you heat with a camp stove, the kitchen stove (Im not responsible for marital discord and disruptions of conjugal relations) or some other much larger heat source to a boil. Tenifer get's up to (1077F) last I checked and was the 5th step in Glock heat treating after that they Pakerize it. Youre a gunsmith who has a lot of nice guns! "keywords": ["how to blue stainless steel"], Put all the components into the tank and wait for 5 15 minutes. this article statement 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]. Get it Feb 25 - 27. An iron wire, stainless dipper, and part basket are required to handle the guns components and adjust the bluing solution as well. Heat the area you'd like to drill just until it starts to glow red, then allow it to cool slowly. Ive dealt with strong acids and strong bases in lab work, and I fear the strong bases more. How do I do this? Not only does it give you an alchemical feeling of satisfactionbut it also gives the metal a finish to stop corrosion. I use a pickling paste. This is not advisable. You can then u. se a soft brush to gently remove all the residue of the cleaning solution on the components. You then oil or wax over the finish when youre done. It greatly helped me to learn how to blue a gun perfectly at home. ], 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. The steel is also used for producing great police flashlights with awesome durability. Central Texas. Prepare the components of the metal surface before you attempt to blue using your tools. The differing rate of cooling for each area produced a different color creating that rainbow effect. Add in the 250F+ temperatures of the salts when they hit your skin, and youre both burned thermally and chemically in seconds. Degrease and heat the items to be blued in a steel pan to about 700F. Your 700F temp is too high, IMO. 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). Its oiled in production to keep it from rusting on store shelves. Bluing, being a chemical conversion coating, is not as robust against wear and corrosion resistance as plated coatings, and is typically no thicker than 2.5 micrometres (0.0001 inches). When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Add the two together and you have what is akin to rocket fuel in your face a way of oxidizing almost any organic material with insufficient water for cooling into a furious flame. Depending on the manufacturers manual, youll have to prepare roughly 6 to 8 tanks to perform the bluing effectively and efficiently. "image": { Both refer to the same chemical process for providing true gun bluing.[1]. 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. I like using acetone to strip the heavy oil on guns, because it lightens up the oils and makes them easier to strip with a water-based cleaner. 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). 99. Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered. It is a difficult product to apply evenly, offers minimal protection and is generally best used for small fast repair jobs and touch-ups.[2][3]. Next, suspend the components in a cleaning solution tank to get rid of dirt, oil, grease, and crud. This signifies that the steel is tempered. Its nice when something can be re-used a time or two, especially when used in diversified ways. The List Price is the suggested retail price of a new product as provided by a manufacturer, supplier, or seller. While still hot and while wearing rubber gloves rub the bluing compound Into the steel with the steel wool. 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. Browning a gun gives you a nice, even brown patina finish of red rust on a gun. Use hemostats to hold a cleaning patch wetted with the solution and apply in nice, long, even strokes. Higher carbon contents will take longer to heat. The bottom of the crucible is opened allowing the contents to drop into the rapidly bubbling water. journeyman. In my case I drilled/threaded the metal piece and made a holder with a threaded end. 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. "sameAs":