bluing steel with a torch

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. No. Heating white, degreased steel to 550 to 600F results in brilliant colors. 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!). Heat the gun parts. This answer was tested with a utility knife blade and it drilled through with ease. 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. 3 years ago. Your 700F temp is too high, IMO. Remove any previous finish. SO, DG; unless I missed it, I am assuming the torch is used separate from heating the tank/ container with the boiling solution. Its oiled in production to keep it from rusting on store shelves. 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 like 1.5 wide shop cloth myself). Now, using the information above, you should have little problem bluing your firearms on your own. 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 [ Did you ever find out what oil they were using? You heat the outside member only when you do a shrink fit.). -An old container filled with your chosen degreaser (unleaded petrol), -Your desired polished metal object/s (very important! Both refer to the same chemical process for providing true gun bluing.[1]. As a small thank you, wed like to offer you a $30 gift card (valid at GoNift.com). I dont have that much blueing to do in my shop, so I dont use hot salts. The object on the left is a custom mild steel potentiometer knob! Its much cheaper anyways. If you are new to the subject and are in need of detailed instructions, then youve come to the right place. The parts are then boiled in distilled water, blown dry, then carded, as with rust bluing. Once you strip the blue & rust, then you can see what youre dealing with. Stainless steel can only tolerate hot bluing and a limited amount of chemicals. The parts are then oiled and allowed to stand overnight. It is vastly appreciated even by those of us who will probably never use it. A Pocket Sundial From a Broken Pocket Watch! High temperatures and dangerous chemicals mean that a moment of carelessness can make you pay a heavy price. This method was adopted by larger firearm companies for large scale, more economical bluing. Sometimes at this point, I come just a fraction away from the heat to go through colours a bit slower. At least one of the cold bluing solutions contains selenium dioxide. Reply Participated in the Explore Science Contest. Often it does provide an adequate cosmetic touch-up of a gun's finish when applied and additionally oiled on a regular basis. You should note that the blue layer is rather delicate so dont treat it roughly. Then, use a pair of tongs to carry the steel to a container filled with water or vegetable, and submerge the hot metal in the liquid. This is how Colt made their rifles and pistols prior to Civil War you can read all about the process. 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 The reason I ask is that when you heat steel that is in the white to 600F, you get a brilliant blue all on its own. Heat the gun parts. NaOH will quickly and completely dissolve aluminum. Reply Put all the components into the tank and wait for 5 15 minutes. I have done a cold blue on a very rusted .22 for a friend. It does provide good rust resistance, which is improved with oil. -A heat source. This step should be done before heating the steel, as the steel should be quenched immediately after removing from heat. Just dont do it. 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 difference is immersion in boiling water for bluing. "Bluing" is the process of oxidizing steel to create a durable, corrosion-resistant layer. Sign up for wikiHow's weekly email newsletter. 2mm wire has a circumference of ~0.25in. However, if the bluing effect isnt satisfactory, then you can try giving the components an acid bath (using Hydrochloric Acid). Youll want to clamp on the barrel directly under the sight youre about to drift out. Never know when it will come in handy. "width": "1500", The practice of bluing steel takes time and an exquisite eye for detail. Take them out after a couple of minutes and then wipe them clean to remove excess oil. this produces better, less turbulant gas flow, which will reduce heat traces. If everything appears good, then you can transfer the components into a hot water tank. 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. Ive cut and pasted this to my notes on the cloud. How do I do this? Central Texas. This process was repeated until the desired depth of color was achieved or the metal simply did not color further. Red rust is Fe2O3, and is incomplete rust it will continue allowing the surface to corrode over time hence the oil or wax. 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. Enjoy! Note that it has to be a different tank from the one you used for Step 2. (NaOH from Ebay soap supplies). You need to adjust the boiling point of the salts for your altitude. 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. First, let us go through a couple of bluing concepts that you have to know in order to achieve the desired result. 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. "description": "If you want to find out how to blue stainless steel, then you've come to the right place. After three coats, washing and drying, the finish was not too bad, considering I was (and am) a rank amateur. Again, dont mess around with these chemicals and only handle them with extreme attention. To obtain oil-free steel wool, get some acetone in a container (say, an old, clean yogurt container you were going to throw away anyway). I rarely use them. Excessive buffing on stainless steel could result in a grainy appearance so do it with care. Mess. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Its nice when something can be re-used a time or two, especially when used in diversified ways. this article statement Heat the gun parts. The content is not meant to be a replacement for professional service advice. These work by depositing a coating of copper selenide on the surface. "url": "https://shootingmystery.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/How-to-Blue-Stainless-Steel-in-5-Easy-Steps.jpg" wikiHow marks an article as reader-approved once it receives enough positive feedback. It is generally employed on smaller parts such as pins, screws, sights, etc. Now you slide the cold rod in, and the plate cools, gripping the rod. Blue Metal Shell 13 in 1 Welding Torch Nozzle Tip Cleaner For Welder Soldering. For the final step, we let the components cool down in water displacing oil. Be patient in the first few minutes as the metal needs to reach the temperatures where it changes colour! Ill wait for and look forward to your article! Heat the area you'd like to drill just until it starts to glow red, then allow it to cool slowly. Black oxide provides minimal protection against corrosion, unless also treated with a water-displacing oil to reduce wetting and galvanic action. Brand: Logix. This is not advisable. 1/16-inch pivot wire has a circumference of ~0.2in. Steps to Hot Blue Steel with a Torch The actual temperature of the steel depends on the carbon content inside. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. February 20, 2016 at 16:12. Right now I'm working on excavator replacement pins! Question 8 years ago I can keep a Krylon can always handy for touch-ups. For this Instructable I'm using thread cutting oil. Following the treatment in the bluing tank, relocate the components to a cold water tank. 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. Polish to at least 400 grit. Hopefully these concepts suggest caution and diligence for what you are doing. 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. A couple bottles of aged bourbon minimum. Not blessed with a climate controlled safe. This will remove all the traces of the bluing solution and other chemicals. The inside barrel was saved by the fact it was so full of lead fouling. What did you use for polishing your pieces and Im guessing you polished then added the chemicals after?Thanks, Joe, Question The book claims they used wait for it "boiling gasoline" not making this up to clean them. 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 "https://twitter.com/Shoot1ngMystery", 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. 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. I wore latex gloves, as Brownells recommended, but used a pot holder to handle the hot barrel, and that may have been the source. Hes claiming that method is more durable than Blue alone. Just let any residual matter evaporate/dry. 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). Work on a metal or steel surface, such as an anvil, to avoid any fire hazards. "Rust bluing" and "fume bluing" provide the best rust and corrosion resistance as the process continually converts any metal that is capable of rusting into magnetite (Fe3O4). Fill a heat-safe container with water or oil deep enough to submerge your steel. Being prepared is important if you can not measure the temp. You can get a IR non-contact thermometer for less than $20 at Harbor Freight. I wouldn't recommend either. With HSS you're looking for 2500-3000rpm, M35 or M42 cobalt bits 3000-3600rpm, and carbide 10k-12krpm. There are also methods of cold bluing, which do not require heat. These include hot bluing, cold bluing, niter bluing, and so on. The differential cooling causes patterns of colors to appear as well as hardening the part. If you drop a piece of paper in there, or hydrocarbon compounds (like oil or grease on your part). After spending most of his career as a firearms expert and enthusiast, he retreated to the great outdoors to raise his family in peace and quiet. Blow torches only heat a small concentrated area. So you will get a shinier finish. Should something happen, seek medical help right away. Use it to try out great new products and services nationwide without paying full pricewine, food delivery, clothing and more. Heres instructions from Mark Lee Supplies on using their Express Blue #1. 6 years ago. There's also blued hardware available, like nuts, bolts, screws, and hinges. Metal Finishing Guru. I have also had good results with 5w/30 motor oil, I've also used two-stroke oil with good results. "mainEntityOfPage": "https://shootingmystery.com/blue-stainless-steel-beginners/", You work on nice guns! 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! When the first patch gets really funky, then drop that in your plastic garbage container (remember, these patches have been soaked in acid solutions! I think DGs method is a lot safer than mine. 2. 'Browning' is controlled red rust Fe2O3, and is also known as 'pluming' or 'plum brown'. Before operating your torch, read all instructions so you know how to handle it safely. % of people told us that this article helped them. Cooking off the more volatile hydrocarbons leaving the heavier ones produces a different effect yet again. Use your torch to bring up 2. There is something really rewarding about this technique. I had to sand and restain the stock, and sanded the barrel from 120 down to 400 grit the pitting was so bad. If you are referring to torch bluing, the Here is a simple way to get a blued finish on steel. Have proper ventilation and use proper modern safety gear! "Cold" bluing is generally a selenium dioxide based compound that colours steel black, or more often a very dark grey. Mix equal parts of cream and liquid Brownells Oxpho Blue. 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. You can make a Caustic Soda KNO3 water bath: 65% Lye (aka sodium hydroxide) [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. "sameAs": Ships from and sold by Direct-Wholesale. 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. 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. As I'm bluing round pieces I slowly and evenly rotate the piece over the flame to equally disburse the heat. It turns out I have. Acetone is also useful for de-greasing the barreled action. "headline": "How to Blue Stainless Steel in 5 Easy Steps: Complete Guide", Hardened steel prevents knife blades from dulling and tools from bending and breaking. You should keep guns in a safe, if you can. Heat the area with a torch until it stops sweating. Technically speaking, bluing is more or less a conversion of red iron oxide (Fe2O3) to black iron oxide (Fe3O4). Many older browning and bluing formulas are based on corrosive solutions (necessary to cause metal to rust), and often contain cyanide or mercury salts solutions that are especially toxic to humans. The cabinet is then sealed. 3.3k. Browning a gun gives you a nice, even brown patina finish of red rust on a gun. "datePublished": "2022-03-27", This is one of the reasons rust and fume bluing are generally more rust-resistant than other methods. They should start gassing up approximately 2 to 3 minutes after exposure. Fill the tank with a suitable amount of water then add in the bluing salt using the correct ratio. You can experiment ultimately what oils to use. Once it's cooled down, take the object out of the oil and place it on a piece of paper/cloth and let it set for about 20 minutes. This article has been viewed 914,567 times. LOGIX 20910 Butane Torch, Cooking Torch, Torch for Creme Brulee, Refillable, 9.6 oz, Blue Steel . *Potassium Nitrate is an oxidizer. Quenching the steel rapidly cools it so the alloys inside harden together. Keep a grade B fire extinguisher nearby in case of a fire. It is caused by a layer of oxide that forms when the steel is heated. You can improve your results by doing two things: 1. I plan on doing this on a couple of older beaters first. 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). Use ice cubes. Heat the Steel. Either that or the steel wool. . "@type": "ImageObject", 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. "@type": "Article", He has more than three years of experience writing for and working with wikiHow. If the sights need to be stripped & blued, follow the same procedure, but dont polish on them. Very helpful! Wipe them down with WD-40 on a regular basis. The name of the process actually comes from the blue-black appearance of the black iron oxide. YouTube - Nitre bluing a few gun parts. That way, you can still use your oven for the rest of the evening. Last Updated: May 13, 2022 *700F is very close to the heat treatment temperature of some steels. "author": "Christopher Graham", 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). Why do you bother with all this crap?. 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. This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Hunter Rising. 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. 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. In the hot salt process, you will need, oh, four to six tanks, only one of which will be the heated blueing salts. 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 "dateModified": "2022-03-27", 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). Try it on some unimportant pieces first. fascinated with blacksmithing, but have not had an income to even get it started. Below is a link to a video I found on YouTube that shows the process. In the automotive world this is a common practice. 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. 3D Printed Futuristic Space Age Wall Clock. We have all kinds of rifles and shotguns with recievers made from non-Fe alloys again we do not give it a second though or break out the hardness tester. Its a good process, but it isnt a 1:1 replacement for blueing. It is usually sold in a 1lb bottle for $3, you'll need 3 or 4 pounds probably. I can't stress how important the degreasing step is! "@context": "http://schema.org/", Besides those, you must also have water displacing oil and cleaning solution (Dicro-Clean 909). 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. Although the steel parts, such as anOrdains watch hands, are near enough miniscule, each Bear in mind not to touch the walls of your container as you don't want to disturb the process of what's happening! I hope to someday have good knowledge to pass on to people, heh. 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. There can be different layers you have to apply. 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. When youre using polishing paper, you think that 600 grit is very fine, and it is taking you hours to polish out something to 600. 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 Did you make this project? They melt at, oh, somewhere about 280F. Heating up a tank on the kitchen stove. Step 3: Suspend the components in the bluing solution tank, However, if the bluing effect isnt satisfactory, then you can try giving the components an acid bath (using, Step 4: Rinse the components in a cold water tank then transfer them to a hot one, Step 5: Submerge the components in a tank filled with water displacing oil, Address: 4455 Camp Bowie Blvd, Ste 114 #852, Fort Worth, TX 76107. 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. I wouldnt use this bluing method for these items. Its durable and wears well. 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. 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. 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. Go on and start bluing! occasionally I'll buff it afterwards. I like parkerization on some of my milsurps. (Its Crystalline Potassium Nitrate 100%) $6.18 If you want to blue something fast I have a cheap hot blue method: Lowes stump remover: } Todos los derechos reservados. Thanks for the lesson, DG. The colours range through straw, gold, brown, purple, blue, teal, then black. 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. Initially case hardening was used but did not offer any aesthetics. That would be a hot salt blueing mix. If you want it smoother/shinier, you can polish up to 600 grit, with wet-or-dry paper. on Introduction. After that, slowly and steadily stir the solution in the tank to dissolve the salt. "url": "https://shootingmystery.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Shootinglogo.png" Old school smiths use something called washing soda to strip oil off guns. kitty litter (I would recommend the unused variety). After An ideal temperature is 180 degrees Fahrenheit but it also depends on the manual. it would appear these sights are drifted into dovetails. At the end of this heating process the crucible is removed from the oven and positioned over a bath of water with air forced through a perforated coil in the bottom of the bath. 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. I didnt drop outta my mommas womb being able to do this stuff. Wear thick gloves and a face mask before you quench your steel so the water or oil doesnt splash onto your hands. It, too, must be oiled to provide any significant rust resistance. Fe3O4 requires chemicals and/or heat to push the iron to full oxidation. 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. Here is a video by Clevinger Customs illustrating it: I use the Brownells nitre blueing salts, which are a combination of sodium nitrite, sodium nitrate, and potassium nitrate. 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. Once you get the colour you want, go outside to your oil container and fully quench your object into the oil! The melting point for KNO3 is 633F. 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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. Reply "publisher": { Instead of applying the acid solution directly to the metal parts, the parts are placed in a sealed cabinet with a moisture source, a container of nitric acid and a container of hydrochloric acid. Do NOT wipe/touch your metal with anything after degreasing as the whole purpose of cleaning was then for nothing. I wasnt planning on doing it for a few months. Remove the bolt & trigger group this might require a pin punch on some guns to pull the trigger group.From what little I can see in the picture here . 5 years ago, I found that heating will turn steel silver ~> gold ~> violet ~> blue. While I am certain that I could do it myself, you already have all the bits and parts and stuff so it is worth my dollars to buy a gunsmiths time to have this done for me. Also Dont get the 275-300F bath on you. {"smallUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/8\/81\/Harden-Steel-Step-1-Version-3.jpg\/v4-460px-Harden-Steel-Step-1-Version-3.jpg","bigUrl":"\/images\/thumb\/8\/81\/Harden-Steel-Step-1-Version-3.jpg\/aid1214287-v4-728px-Harden-Steel-Step-1-Version-3.jpg","smallWidth":460,"smallHeight":345,"bigWidth":728,"bigHeight":546,"licensing":"