"@type": "ImageObject", Browning a gun gives you a nice, even brown patina finish of red rust on a gun. } Once you get the colour you want, go outside to your oil container and fully quench your object into the oil! WebBluing is a passivation process in which steel is partially protected against rust using a black oxide coating. 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. Next wash your piece in your chosen degreaser for a minute or so to get rid of all grease/fingerprints that was on the metal. Blue NaOH is nasty stuff. 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. This article has been viewed 914,567 times. You can make a Caustic Soda KNO3 water bath: 65% Lye (aka sodium hydroxide) The mixed fumes of the acids produce a uniform rust on the surface of the parts (inside and out) in about 12 hours. 1. polish it very well 2. clean very well 3. quick dip in dilute FeCl (4:1) is what I use 4. rinse in cold running water and pat Hopefully these concepts suggest caution and diligence for what you are doing. However, rust bluing small areas often match, blend, and wear better than any cold bluing process. Just let any residual matter evaporate/dry. 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. You risk a big fire that is self sustaining by the reaction itself. The ideal setup is a pair of long sleeve gloves along with splash goggles and a face mask. Hunter holds a BFA in Entertainment Design from the University of Wisconsin - Stout and a Minor in English Writing. These work by depositing a coating of copper selenide on the surface. Youll get a dark spot right there. You are nitre blueing here. The actual temperature of the steel depends on the carbon content inside. Hot blueing salts attack soft solders on guns, so it isnt to be done on old shotguns and some older rifles. Thermometers and stirring tools are also needed, as well as something to heat up the tanks. This is an alternative method for creating the black oxide coating. Stainless steel can only tolerate hot bluing and a limited amount of chemicals. 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. Blue or Black rust is complete passivation of the steel surface Fe3O4. There can be different layers you have to apply. When Im polishing on barrels, I polish lengthwise. However, the chemicals from the bluing process can accomplish uneven staining on aluminium and polymer parts. Robert Farago is the former publisher of The Truth About Guns (TTAG). Thats one way to get dyspeptic to write articles! blue steel Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. The rod was heated and the plate 2" square was inserted and the rod shrunk onto it. Dont pour water in to your bath! A couple bottles of aged bourbon minimum. I'm trying to be positive and constructive, and think this is: for an amateur to stick a very hot torch-heated metal object into a plastic container filled with oil is simply dumb (ok, more polite: "irresponsible") at best, highly dangerous at worst. This is all from memory so I might have left some stuff out. Before you start, it might do you well to mark the sight base on each side of the dovetail with a Sharpie marker, so you can see when the sight begins to move. Now you slide the cold rod in, and the plate cools, gripping the rod. 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. By using this service, some information may be shared with YouTube. Itll evaporate rather rapidly, but still, dont whip it at cars or house finishes. You turn up your nose at crap guns? Drill bits and gun barrels are common examples. Heating up a tank on the kitchen stove. Large scale industrial hot bluing is often performed using a bluing furnace. "datePublished": "2022-03-27", 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. It is named after the blue-black appearance of the resulting protective finish. You can then use a soft brush to gently remove all the residue of the cleaning solution on the components. When polishing something like the above rifle/shotgun, youve got a pretty light coat of rust, without severe pitting. Hardening will cause it to be more brittle, which could cause the hammer to chip and cause injury. I believe the change of color is due to a growing thickness of an oxide layer. Old school smiths use something called washing soda to strip oil off guns. The hotter the steel, the further the oxygen can diffuse through the oxide coating, so the coating builds thicker before it protects the steel from further oxidation. 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. 4 years ago Heat the gun parts. If a bank transfer is made but no receipt is uploaded within this period, your order will be cancelled. 1. You will need:-2x containers (one of them preferably being metal for the oil)-oil -unleaded petrol/Acetone/Terpentine/Rubbing alcohol or any goo Interesting and informative as always. Work on a metal or steel surface, such as an anvil, to avoid any fire hazards. Cold bluing is not particularly resistant to holster wear, nor does it provide a large degree of rust resistance. Use Hot Bluing And Cold Bluing To Give Your Steel That Follow the instructions. Free shipping. For this reason, it is considered not to add any appreciable thickness to precisely-machined gun parts. In my case I drilled/threaded the metal piece and made a holder with a threaded end. You can experiment ultimately what oils to use. The potassium nitrate will liquefy at around this temperature and blue your items at a relatively quick speed. I rarely use them. Itll take perhaps 20 minutes to really dry down. Theres a reason I didnt pursue a career in chemistry. 1. If you have very light, fine pitting, you can polish this out. There's also blued hardware available, like nuts, bolts, screws, and hinges. Enjoy! Similarly, stainless steel parts may be immersed in a mixture of nitrates and chromates, similarly heated. So you said the polishing is key for the coloring process. 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. 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. Your 700F temp is too high, IMO. on Introduction. Wait for a day to let the bluing properly cure before you do anything else to it. If cold bluing is the only practical option, the area should be kept oiled to extend the life of the coating as much as possible. 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? "I have very limited knowledge as to how metal can be manipulated for different applications. In order to confirm the bank transfer, you will need to upload a receipt or take a screenshot of your transfer within 1 day from your payment date. 4 Ways to Blue Steel - wikiHow Dont want to get any of the liquid on you its 700F. It is hazardous. So you will get a shinier finish. If you are referring to torch bluing, the 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). It's worth noting that there can be some additives in motor oil that release hydrocarbons when burnt which is a known carcinogens to the body (in other words: Bad Stuff!). That means 50-60 revolutions to make a foot. At 700, you start losing your blues and the steel starts becoming a wispy silvery-blue, not a dark brilliant blue. Drift the sights back in from the right side of the barrel. 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. Thanks for the lesson, DG. I've never done anything like this but want to try. It is slow rust blueing. It will instantly vaporize into steam and splash all over you. Todos los derechos reservados. you may benefit from the use of a gas lense as well. Gee, Im thinkin Duro or cero coat maybe even Krylon might be a good enough.. For the color change to be uniform you have to remove the grease, oil, paint etc or it looks blotchy. Rust bluing was developed between hot and cold bluing processes, and was originally used by gunsmiths in the 19th century to blue firearms prior to the development of hot bluing processes. 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. Treating with an oiled coating enhances the protection offered by the bluing. My dad keeps his in a big safe with large desiccant packs that he threw in there. for 6-8 hours. 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. Brand: Logix. Vegetable oil has a higher boiling point, so the hot steel will take longer to cool and reduce the chance of it cracking. Also Dont get the 275-300F bath on you. Here is a simple way to get a blued finish on steel. The colours range through straw, gold, brown, purple, blue, teal, then black. I have done a cold blue on a very rusted .22 for a friend. Great column, and thanks for all the responses to various questions and comments. 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). Trust me, I'm speaking from experience :) ). After Wait for 10 15 minutes and then take out the components. Again, dont mess around with these chemicals and only handle them with extreme attention. The bottom of the crucible is opened allowing the contents to drop into the rapidly bubbling water. However, due to the unique qualities of stainless steel, you cant simply blue the material however way you like. it would appear these sights are drifted into dovetails. 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. Dang it all. very easy way to get a blue finish on steel - Fit and Finish Question Ive gotten hot blue salts on me splashed into my hair. Use a steel tool to stir (remember the fumes). All those materials the leather and bone the coal where sources of carbon and other trace elements. Thanks, 8 years ago The parts must be observed constantly for colour change. They should start gassing up approximately 2 to 3 minutes after exposure. 2mm wire has a circumference of ~0.25in. to blue / heat anodize stainless steel : Make sure it is made from Mild Steel or Titanium. Heres instructions from Mark Lee Supplies on using their Express Blue #1. Youll need some shop rolls, ranging from 180 to 400 grit (typical 4-packs are 180, 240, 320 and 400 grit, in 1, 1.5 or 2. Its the corrosive gift that just keeps on giving. I thought there was something that could help improve the colors but wasnt sure until I came across this. Red rust is Fe2O3, and is incomplete rust it will continue allowing the surface to corrode over time hence the oil or wax. Technically speaking, bluing is more or less a conversion of red iron oxide (Fe2O3) to black iron oxide (Fe3O4). If the solution is still boiling vigorously, then you can expect the bluing to happen naturally. DIY Gun Bluing Heat the gun parts. Add in the 250F+ temperatures of the salts when they hit your skin, and youre both burned thermally and chemically in seconds. Its nice when something can be re-used a time or two, especially when used in diversified ways. You will get it. It does provide good rust resistance, which is improved with oil. Do this outside, so you can do this next part: Just whip the steel wool at arms length to extract the excess acetone. This article received 28 testimonials and 92% of readers who voted found it helpful, earning it our reader-approved status. I had to sand and restain the stock, and sanded the barrel from 120 down to 400 grit the pitting was so bad. Blacksmith products to this day may occasionally be found made from blued steel by traditional craftsmen in cultures and segments of society who use that technology either by necessity or choice.[5]. When the first patch gets really funky, then drop that in your plastic garbage container (remember, these patches have been soaked in acid solutions! Next comes the main part. 6 years ago. I can then get the temp to be 600F spot-on in a lead melting pot. Process that partially protects steel against rust, This article is about the historical uses of black oxide. Fe3O4 requires chemicals and/or heat to push the iron to full oxidation. These include hot bluing, cold bluing, niter bluing, and so on. While still hot and while wearing rubber gloves rub the bluing compound Into the steel with the steel wool. 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. I saw you reference a coleman stove and propane tank for heating solution. fascinated with blacksmithing, but have not had an income to even get it started. I used Brownells Plum Brown, a product that requires that the barrel be heated to 275 degrees to activate the reaction. 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. An iron wire, stainless dipper, and part basket are required to handle the guns components and adjust the bluing solution as well. This is not necessary as long as you can hold your item appropriately and not cover where it is to be heated. It turns out I have. By using our site, you agree to our. Historically, razor blades were often blued steel. Note: I know a plastic container is pictured but always use a metal one! this produces better, less turbulant gas flow, which will reduce heat traces. The List Price is the suggested retail price of a new product as provided by a manufacturer, supplier, or seller. Most cold blueing agents contain some selenium dioxide in them to enable to them to react at room temps. Various processes are used for the oxidizing process. Cold blueing solutions usually just dont wear well. "dateModified": "2022-03-27", Go on and start bluing! This process is also the only process safely used to re-blue vintage shotguns. How to Hot Blue Steel with a Torch- A Step-by-Step Guide Wipe them down with WD-40 on a regular basis. The object on the left is a custom mild steel potentiometer knob! You wouldnt need salts. 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). Use ice cubes. 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. "I am nearly 16 and can not wait until I have my drivers license. A few safety items: tighter your arc, the less the heat input will be. Rust bluing is also used on shotgun barrels that are soldered to the rib between the barrels, as hot bluing solutions melt the solder during the bluing process. The usual mistake on buffing wheels is using too coarse a compound, and then the wheel becomes quite aggressive in removing material. It also looks good on AK type weapons of which I have three to park. Im talking like 90+ minutes to heat the salt bath to 285F. Im asking because theres a guy on YouTube recommending Brown Express first, then several layers of Blue over that. Both refer to the same chemical process for providing true gun bluing.[1]. -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. 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. First, let us go through a couple of bluing concepts that you have to know in order to achieve the desired result. How to Blue (Bluing) Steel Using Oven Or Torch and Oil Method OOMAN 2.28K subscribers Subscribe 872 112K views 4 years ago My apologies for the background ")You're ABSOLUTELY right. I wasnt planning on doing it for a few months. -An old container filled with your chosen degreaser (unleaded petrol), -Your desired polished metal object/s (very important! In the automotive world this is a common practice. I just had my first experience rust browning a barrel. 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. Bluing also helps to maintain the metal finish by resisting superficial scratching, and also helps to reduce glare to the eyes of the shooter when looking down the barrel of the gun. There are many simple ways to achieve good bluing. 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). Wear thick gloves so you dont burn yourself. % of people told us that this article helped them. OK, Buffing wheels, which Im making their own break-out response from the blueing salt issue: Buffing wheels are useful things in a gun shop. Bluing is also used for providing coloring for steel parts of fine clocks and other fine metalwork. My current rifle builds are going to be parkerzied. Sign up for wikiHow's weekly email newsletter. Still, you will find that cold blues dont last. Haha. Gas burners can usually do the job for this. Youll want to clamp on the barrel directly under the sight youre about to drift out. (Its Crystalline Potassium Nitrate 100%) $6.18 While the rod may heat some by conduction, it wouldn't get hot enough to start the color-forming process. Brilliant blues. I hope to someday have good knowledge to pass on to people, heh. The book claims they used wait for it "boiling gasoline" not making this up to clean them. 3D Printed Futuristic Space Age Wall Clock. I wore latex gloves, as Brownells recommended, but used a pot holder to handle the hot barrel, and that may have been the source. The parts can often be put together with little or no forces need and friction lock together and the one parts shrinks and the other part expands. Participated in the Explore Science Contest. Just take them from the comments he posts. Cold blueing is OK for touchups, at best. Always wear goggles and gloves when operating a propane blow torch. Bluing may be applied by immersing steel parts in a solution of potassium nitrate, sodium hydroxide, and water heated to the boiling point, 275310F (135154C) depending on the recipe. Keep heating the steel until you notice a blue color form on the metal. Friction, as from holster wear, quickly removes cold bluing, and also removes hot bluing, rust, or fume bluing over long periods of use. Then you have to heat the metal. Thats how vigorously we de-grease guns before starting blueing. Usually they would pack the parts in crucibles and surround them with leather, wood, coal,bone etcThey would heat them up to 1200F to 1500F and hold them at this temp. If you want to blue something fast I have a cheap hot blue method: Lowes stump remover: Put 600 grit compound on a wheel, use a little too much pressure and youll be gob-smacked at how fast it can cut material off the gun. Use a smaller toaster oven if your piece of steel fits inside. }. 2. Whats the difference between Brown Express and Blue Express? It can soften up some paints and plastics. "mainEntityOfPage": "https://shootingmystery.com/blue-stainless-steel-beginners/", When putting water in your boil-out tank, use distilled water if you have water with high mineral content. All blued parts still require oiling to prevent rust. He started the site to explore the ethics, morality, business, politics, culture, technology, practice, strategy, dangers and fun of guns. I dont use hot salt blueing because much of my work is on older double guns, which have ribs that are soft-soldered into place. Steps to Hot Blue Steel with a Torch 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]. I wish I had known more about the process, heating (I was working outside on a 60 degree day) I may have to check with my friend to see if it needs reblued again, Im sure he never shot it. Help 'blueing' with OA torch The steel was mild steel and had very little carbon content. Slow rust blueing can take a week or more to accomplish, but it is a durable blue job like no other. Color case hardening is the predecessor of all metal coloring typically employed in the firearms industry. So basically, youll want the rifle in the vise with the muzzle pointed to your left. Hot bluing is the current standard[6] in gun bluing, as both it and rust bluing provide the most permanent degree of rust-resistance and cosmetic protection of exposed gun metal, and hot bluing takes less time than rust bluing. "headline": "How to Blue Stainless Steel in 5 Easy Steps: Complete Guide", Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 914,567 times. If you want it smoother/shinier, you can polish up to 600 grit, with wet-or-dry paper. This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer. They are still sometimes used by gunsmiths to obtain an authentic finish for a period gun of the time that rust bluing was in vogue, analogous to the use of browning on earlier representative firearm replicas. In fact most guides no matter their material cast iron to bronze and often bearing races are installed the same way. How to Blue (Bluing) Steel Using Oven Or Torch and Oil It is vastly appreciated even by those of us who will probably never use it. "https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6dwEQfHK1tk_ZeaA4PniOA/", Have proper ventilation and use proper modern safety gear! So, you start with a clean gun, in the white, you play a propane torch over the gun to get it to the point where the blueing solution just will readily steam, but barely sizzle, and then you brush on the blueing compound. LOGIX 20910 Butane Torch, Cooking Torch, Torch for Creme Brulee, Refillable, 9.6 oz, Blue Steel . I wish this article had come out sooner, since I did not know that 0000 steel wool may have oil in it. $36.73. Check out the video:https://hackaday.io/project/21947-makers-vise/log/60914-coloring-steel-with-magnetism. 2. You can use a heat gun, a blow dryer, or a torch for this. Pull it out of the tank and place on a drain rack. I wouldn't recommend either. I have also had good results with 5w/30 motor oil, I've also used two-stroke oil with good results. When youre done and have neutralized & washed off the Express Blue #1 solution, you then should spray down the barrel with water-displacing oil. "https://theshootingmystery.tumblr.com/", Brownells has steel tanks, and there are some steel/stainless long/thin tanks available from other sources. It had been thoroughly degreased before my first attempt, but in trying to repair a poor result, I apparently contaminated it a bit. Quenching the steel rapidly cools it so the alloys inside harden together. Its a pretty straightforward process. Use a backing block of wood or even a Pink Pearl rubber eraser. Gun companies dont/wont do it because they want to make quick money, and today its all phosphates and bake-on appliance paint (you didnt think a guy who calls Glocks cheez-whiz was going to sing the praises of Duracote or Cerakote, did you?). When heat treating a forged blade you get the whole knife glowing, then submerge just the blade in the oil for 8 seconds. on Step 1. Also buffing wheels pre blue. I use kerosene to wet my paper from 500 on up. No. After three coats, washing and drying, the finish was not too bad, considering I was (and am) a rank amateur. What did you use for polishing your pieces and Im guessing you polished then added the chemicals after?Thanks, Joe, Question kitty litter (I would recommend the unused variety). the cost of the burners or heaters to heat up all these tanks really only practical if you have natural gas available