The part you want to place in the receiving part is cold often just placed in a freezer for a few hours. fascinated with blacksmithing, but have not had an income to even get it started. 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. Mea culpa. While still hot and while wearing rubber gloves rub the bluing compound Into the steel with the steel wool. Is the torch used to heat metal ..ONLY.with Cold bluing? The parts are then boiled in distilled water, blown dry, then carded, as with rust bluing. 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 tempering reduces the amount of martensite and thus makes the steel softer. 4 years ago Hot. Brand: Logix. You can improve your results by doing two things: 1. This answer was tested with a utility knife blade and it drilled through with ease. If youre interested, just ask and I can provide more details. RF: Expect a write-up from me on Rust blueing and parkerizing in the next couple of weeks. it takes a long time to heat up a long (ie barreled action length) tank that is, oh, three barrels wide. Its the corrosive gift that just keeps on giving. But the article was very informative. 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 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. I use kerosene to wet my paper from 500 on up. Ive learned a LOT. 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]. Every true outdoorsmans dream! "@type": "Article", "keywords": ["how to blue stainless steel"], Cooking off the more volatile hydrocarbons leaving the heavier ones produces a different effect yet again. Glad that there are folks like you around. Wear safety glasses and gloves while working with hot metal. Hot bluing should never be attempted on aluminium, as it reacts it usually dissolves in the caustic salt bath. It is usually sold in a 1lb bottle for $3, you'll need 3 or 4 pounds probably. 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 you hold it in front of your heat source until a blue oxide layer covers the whole blade edge. Once the solution reaches its boiling point, turn down the burner to about one-third of the boiling temperature and let it stay there. Below is a link to a video I found on YouTube that shows the process. Heating will make the metal better in absorbing the bluing liquid. Also, the results you indicate are typical of still having some oil on the gun. 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). Quenched steel is harder, but it becomes more brittle. Heat the gun parts. It cannot rust any further. I wasnt planning on doing it for a few months. Youll get a dark spot right there. Think big scars. I have to finish my M76 and Galil first and buy the materials. Just remove the blue/rust, degrease, dry, then blue/card/boil-out/oil/drain. The "turning blue" process has nothing to do with hardening of the steel, or its compression. Try it on some unimportant pieces first. 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. After Dont mess with hot salts. If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. Enjoy! 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. Hardened steel prevents knife blades from dulling and tools from bending and breaking. Rinse them in a cold water tank after. However, there are certain characteristics differences between the materials so knowing clearly how to blue stainless steel is really important. Here is a simple way to get a blued finish on steel. Last Updated: May 13, 2022 Thats how vigorously we de-grease guns before starting blueing. Thoroughly degrease the area to be reblued with acetone. Even a fingerprint will affect the consistency of the colour. Hot blueing is a good process, especially if you have a lot of iron to shove through the blueing process quickly. The object on the left is a custom mild steel potentiometer knob! So unless you have sufficient equipment and skill, its advised to let a professional perform the bluing for you. Only 3 left in stock - order soon. By using our site, you agree to our. How to Blue Bluing Steel Using Oven Or Torch and Oil Method. Ive used this method in a pinch to make a tap from a cheap mild steel bolt to chase out galled female threads. WebHeat the blade for 15 to 20 minutes in an oven set on 325 Fahrenheit if the handle is metal. 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 on Introduction. This crucible was heated to 730C (1,350F) for up to 6hours (the longer the heat was applied the thicker the case hardening). Hunter holds a BFA in Entertainment Design from the University of Wisconsin - Stout and a Minor in English Writing. 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. 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 The actual temperature of the steel depends on the carbon content inside. When heat treating a forged blade you get the whole knife glowing, then submerge just the blade in the oil for 8 seconds. Prepare the components of the metal surface before you attempt to blue using your tools. Participated in the Explore Science Contest. If you look at the temps that Tenifur(SP) and Melonite(sp) and early Pakerizing processes used this is nothing. Most knives, rifle receivers and barrels are heated to at least 1200F and cooled and drawn at 490F-700F. Cold bluing is not particularly resistant to holster wear, nor does it provide a large degree of rust resistance. You work on nice guns! The ideal setup is a pair of long sleeve gloves along with splash goggles and a face mask. Hunter Rising is a wikiHow Staff Writer based in Los Angeles. So you said the polishing is key for the coloring process. Heat the Steel. Its essential to keep stirring the tank to prevent the forming of hot and cold areas. When the liquid stops bubbling, remove the metal from the container and wipe off any excess liquid. They melt at, oh, somewhere about 280F. It's easy to get it too hot, too quickly - especially with an O/A or oxy-propane torch. In comparison, rust, the red oxide of iron (Fe2O3), undergoes an extremely large volume change upon hydration; as a result, the oxide easily flakes off, causing the typical reddish rusting away of iron. for 6-8 hours. 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. Once you strip the blue & rust, then you can see what youre dealing with. Copyright 2023 Flixsterz. 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. The inside barrel was saved by the fact it was so full of lead fouling. 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). 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. You need to constantly be adding in a bit of water to bring the boiling point back down into the range you need. 2. Great column, and thanks for all the responses to various questions and comments. This is a great source that you can learn lots of information from and I'll advise it to to a handfuls of others. Friction, as from holster wear, quickly removes cold bluing, and also removes hot bluing, rust, or fume bluing over long periods of use. Heating white, degreased steel to 550 to 600F results in brilliant colors. I have in the past few years became more and more. I just had my first experience rust browning a barrel. Reply 'Browning' is controlled red rust Fe2O3, and is also known as 'pluming' or 'plum brown'. The potassium nitrate will liquefy at around this temperature and blue your items at a relatively quick speed. The steel will pull some of the carbon out of the oil while quenching and harden the outer portion of the metal. Heat the area with a torch until it stops sweating. You are a fantastic resource for all of us here. Contemporary heat-treatable steels did not exist or were in their infancy. That can be a pen torch (pictured), a blow torch, a heat gun, a gas hob (which I am going use) or anything that will provide you with enough heat. I found through my bluing adventure that different oils do act slighty different but ultimately everything I've used has done the job. Note that it has to be a different tank from the one you used for Step 2. You can make a Caustic Soda KNO3 water bath: 65% Lye (aka sodium hydroxide) Depending on what solution you use, the tank temperature must be maintained somewhere between 240 and 310 degrees Fahrenheit. 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. Blow torches only heat a small concentrated area. Fill a heat-safe container with water or oil deep enough to submerge your steel. 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. Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered. Polish to at least 400 grit. The melting point for KNO3 is 633F. If youre using acetone to de-oil, dont be afraid to do it more than once. Note: I know a plastic container is pictured but always use a metal one! 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. 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. If you have very light, fine pitting, you can polish this out. The content is not meant to be a replacement for professional service advice. So basically, youll want the rifle in the vise with the muzzle pointed to your left. That would be a hot salt blueing mix. That means 50-60 revolutions to make a foot. 35% Potassium nitrate (aka saltpeter), http://castboolits.gunloads.com/archive/index.php/t-36054.html. It was left in a flannel gun case in the back of a moist closet for 25+ years. Aluminium (Al) and polymer parts cannot be blued, and no corrosion protection is provided. of the steel than do not even try this on something that is anything other than artistic in nature! Did you make this project? Use a smaller toaster oven if your piece of steel fits inside. (And taking, out of *your* hide). It can soften up some paints and plastics. There is something really rewarding about this technique. 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 I rarely use them. Add 5 lbs of regular table salt to the water. Use ice cubes. Even at room temperature, the salts are highly caustic and will eat into your eyes or skin in seconds not minutes. This will remove all the traces of the bluing solution and other chemicals. Color case hardening is the predecessor of all metal coloring typically employed in the firearms industry. This process is also the only process safely used to re-blue vintage shotguns. Right now I'm working on excavator replacement pins! 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. Todos los derechos reservados. If your barrel has heavier pitting, now were into filing to remove pitting, and thats something I cant teach people in mere text. Dont leave cold blue solutions around anywhere pets or kids could get at them. Where/how did you think I got to the point I could make nice guns? 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. 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. Drift the sights back in from the right side of the barrel. 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. I ended up with some spots where the browning did not take, and a few dull spots, most of which I was able to buff out with steel wool soaked with gun oil. Either of these two methods is called 'hot bluing'. Interesting and informative as always. 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. The robot gives the steel valve seat a quick blast with liquid nitrogen and drops the seat right in place. 6 years ago. it would appear these sights are drifted into dovetails. By using this service, some information may be shared with YouTube. tighter your arc, the less the heat input will be. And thats about everything you need to know about stainless steel bluing. Hopefully these concepts suggest caution and diligence for what you are doing. You want to be in the range of 600 to 650F. Hot NaOH is so alkaline it is great as dissolving organic materials. A few safety items: -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). Ferrari installs valve seats in their aluminum cylinder heads via robot. You can use a heat gun, a blow dryer, or a torch for this. This signifies that the steel is tempered. Wait for 10 15 minutes and then take out the components. 2mm wire has a circumference of ~0.25in. 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. If you want it smoother/shinier, you can polish up to 600 grit, with wet-or-dry paper. These work by depositing a coating of copper selenide on the surface. All those materials the leather and bone the coal where sources of carbon and other trace elements. Then you have to heat the metal. Stainless steel can only tolerate hot bluing and a limited amount of chemicals. Use it to try out great new products and services nationwide without paying full pricewine, food delivery, clothing and more. Very true. You have to apply the bluing fluid. "@type": "ImageObject", Pull it out of the tank and place on a drain rack. Fume bluing is another process similar to rust bluing. 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!). Gas burners can usually do the job for this. Never know when it will come in handy. The bottom of the crucible is opened allowing the contents to drop into the rapidly bubbling water. http://cdn.spectrumbrands.com/~/media/Spectracide/Files/MSDS/SpectracideStumpRemoverGranulesSDSApr15.ashx. The cabinet is then sealed. Soft, low-carbon steel was used, but strong materials were needed for the receivers of firearms. Trust me, I'm speaking from experience :) ). Brilliant blues. They should start gassing up approximately 2 to 3 minutes after exposure. You can blue heat-treated parts with no ill effects. It takes practice. I guess Ill have to just be happy drying toilet paper. Youll want to clamp on the barrel directly under the sight youre about to drift out. How do I harden a steel hammer so that is lasts longer and is more durable? Excellent info. Drop a piece of hot charcoal in it and it will burn in the absence of any atmosphere as the nitrate provides the oxygen for the reaction. 8 years ago To shrink, I assumed you heated the steel plate only, to expand the hole in it. I think DGs method is a lot safer than mine. Bluing is also used for providing coloring for steel parts of fine clocks and other fine metalwork. Were committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Excessive buffing on stainless steel could result in a grainy appearance so do it with care. It is caused by a layer of oxide that forms when the steel is heated. Repeat 3 times. 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. There can be different layers you have to apply. When the first patch gets really funky, then drop that in your plastic garbage container (remember, these patches have been soaked in acid solutions! Add in the 250F+ temperatures of the salts when they hit your skin, and youre both burned thermally and chemically in seconds. "https://www.reddit.com/user/theshootingmystery" FigureLLC. Besides those, you must also have water displacing oil and cleaning solution (Dicro-Clean 909). List Price: $18.64 $18.64. For most of the time, guns that utilize carbon steel components are the prime candidates for bluing but its totally possible to color stainless steel blue as well. Following the treatment in the bluing tank, relocate the components to a cold water tank. Should something happen, seek medical help right away. Brownells has a product that will strip blueing and rust (Fe3O4 and Fe3O2, respectively) and not corrode the underlying steel.Remove the barrel & action from the stock. Please note: As you are working with heat, please be smart, use your common sense, do the bluing process in a well ventilated area and keep a wet towel to hand. 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. Degrease and heat the items to be blued in a steel pan to about 700F. Then, you can put the components back into the bluing tank and increase the temperature until you see the blued steel. *Potassium Nitrate is an oxidizer. They have their place, but doing a whole gun with them isnt that place. You will get it. My dad keeps his in a big safe with large desiccant packs that he threw in there. The List Price is the suggested retail price of a new product as provided by a manufacturer, supplier, or seller. 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]. Hopefully these concepts suggest caution and diligence for what you are doing. Central Texas. Very helpful! On another thread, we can go into nitre blueing, which is basically heating pins/screws/bits/bobs to 600F in a molten salt bath. 5 years ago, I found that heating will turn steel silver ~> gold ~> violet ~> blue. When putting water in your boil-out tank, use distilled water if you have water with high mineral content. This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Hunter Rising. If the magnet doesnt stick, its ready to be pulled away from the heat. It provides the stainless steel surface with a layer of protection, giving rust and corrosion resistance while reducing potential glare as well. References 3 years ago. Im talking like 90+ minutes to heat the salt bath to 285F. Heres instructions from Mark Lee Supplies on using their Express Blue #1. -A heat source. Why do you bother with all this crap?. 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? 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. Larger flames produce less heat while smaller flames produce a higher heat. It is also used by machinists, to protect and beautify tools made for their own use. It is not nice stuff. - Ballachy", "Bluing of Steel by Heat Treatment: Why and How it Happens? Use your torch to bring up Thanks for always being so willing to share, Sir. The colours range through straw, gold, brown, purple, blue, teal, then black. THANKS DG. I wouldn't recommend either. Ships from and sold by Direct-Wholesale. 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]. With a simple heating and quenching process, you can make your steel last for much longer! If the sights need to be stripped & blued, follow the same procedure, but dont polish on them. If everything appears good, then you can transfer the components into a hot water tank. Question Depending on the manufacturers manual, youll have to prepare roughly 6 to 8 tanks to perform the bluing effectively and efficiently. You dont want to affect the hardness of your steel in critical areas like actions, bolts, bolt lugs, barrels, chambers, etc. Be patient in the first few minutes as the metal needs to reach the temperatures where it changes colour! . Ill be saving this for the future. These include hot bluing, cold bluing, niter bluing, and so on. Keep them in that state while you heat them but be sure to not boil up the tank. 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. My first time wasnt a stunning success. WebThe gun bluing process Start with 1 gallon of water and add it to a deep fryer that has been thoroughly cleaned. This is not advisable. 2. Haha. If you are referring to torch bluing, the LOGIX 20910 Butane Torch, Cooking Torch, Torch for Creme Brulee, Refillable, 9.6 oz, Blue Steel . this article statement Use a backing block of wood or even a Pink Pearl rubber eraser. 4.3 out of 5 stars 242 ratings-30% $12.99 $ 12. I like 1.5 wide shop cloth myself). Put all the components into the tank and wait for 5 15 minutes. 3 years ago 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. 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. You risk a big fire that is self sustaining by the reaction itself. Now, using the information above, you should have little problem bluing your firearms on your own. Heat the gun parts. Higher carbon contents will take longer to heat. Check out the video:https://hackaday.io/project/21947-makers-vise/log/60914-coloring-steel-with-magnetism. This method must not be used on critically heat-treated parts such as receivers, slides or springs. 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. I believe the change of color is due to a growing thickness of an oxide layer. I can keep a Krylon can always handy for touch-ups. I've never done anything like this but want to try. 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. With HSS you're looking for 2500-3000rpm, M35 or M42 cobalt bits 3000-3600rpm, and carbide 10k-12krpm. No one can even tell you what the heat treat is on a 1895 Mauser for instance yet we do not wet ourselves before we shoot one! If you tempered the steel with a blow torch, set the metal on an anvil or another large steel surface to conduct the heat. Treating with an oiled coating enhances the protection offered by the bluing. Above you can see some example pictures of the colour shades that can be achieved with this techniques. 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. So you will get a shinier finish. "width": "1500", ", the wrong quality steel. For the final step, we let the components cool down in water displacing oil. ], ")You're ABSOLUTELY right. Free shipping. Its durable and wears well. I don't understand why you are submerging it in oil? Different colors can be achieved through variations of this method including quenching in oil instead of water. It is named after the blue-black appearance of the resulting protective finish. Browning a gun gives you a nice, even brown patina finish of red rust on a gun. Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 914,567 times. Its nice when something can be re-used a time or two, especially when used in diversified ways. If you havent done it before, wait until I mention some items about it. kitty litter (I would recommend the unused variety). Alternatively, You could store them in a hard case (like a pelican with a purge) and throw some desiccant packs in there as well. You should keep guns in a safe, if you can.