bluing steel with a torch

I thought there was something that could help improve the colors but wasnt sure until I came across this. for 6-8 hours. "url": "https://shootingmystery.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Shootinglogo.png" "dateModified": "2022-03-27", Woodworkers doing furniture finishing will use 000 and 0000 wool, and they hate oil on their wool for rubbing down oil finishes. Although the steel parts, such as anOrdains watch hands, are near enough miniscule, each Then you can express blue it with a propane torch and a tank of boiling water. I've never done anything like this but want to try. When youre done and have neutralized & washed off the Express Blue #1 solution, you then should spray down the barrel with water-displacing oil. ", not only fun, but also profitable. I wish this article had come out sooner, since I did not know that 0000 steel wool may have oil in it. Mea culpa. Oil binds with the metal and prevent it from getting air/chemicals to corrode. Ill detail why. Pour in some acetone, and while wearing rubber gloves (dishwashing gloves are OK), put in a pad of 0000 steel wool, swish it around and pull it out. 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. Use it to try out great new products and services nationwide without paying full pricewine, food delivery, clothing and more. While the rod may heat some by conduction, it wouldn't get hot enough to start the color-forming process. Remove any previous finish. My dad keeps his in a big safe with large desiccant packs that he threw in there. 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. I have at least three cold blue solutions in my shop including Oxpho-blue, 44-40 and others. "url": "https://shootingmystery.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/How-to-Blue-Stainless-Steel-in-5-Easy-Steps.jpg" YouTube - Nitre bluing a few gun parts. I hope to someday have good knowledge to pass on to people, heh. Prepare the components of the metal surface before you attempt to blue using your tools. 2. If you look at the temps that Tenifur(SP) and Melonite(sp) and early Pakerizing processes used this is nothing. -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). Be patient in the first few minutes as the metal needs to reach the temperatures where it changes colour! If the solution is still boiling vigorously, then you can expect the bluing to happen naturally. Isn't the point of the acetone to degrease, why would i grease? Above you can see some example pictures of the colour shades that can be achieved with this techniques. You dont want to affect the hardness of your steel in critical areas like actions, bolts, bolt lugs, barrels, chambers, etc. This will remove all the traces of the bluing solution and other chemicals. 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). 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. It will first turn gold, then orange, then red, purple, blue and then dark grey! Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 914,567 times. Color case hardening is the predecessor of all metal coloring typically employed in the firearms industry. Thats how vigorously we de-grease guns before starting blueing. this produces better, less turbulant gas flow, which will reduce heat traces. Think big scars. 5. Above you can see some example pictures of the colour shades that can be achieved with this techniques.Have fun doing it! 2. 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. 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. Just let any residual matter evaporate/dry. Ill be buying the stainless tubs and chemicals to do it and go for as close to black as I can get. I have done a cold blue on a very rusted .22 for a friend. Heating up a tank on the kitchen stove. Theres nothing wrong with your method, but is is very hazardous, especially to people who have never done anything like it before. They have their place, but doing a whole gun with them isnt that place. Enjoy! This will keep the bluing from adhering to the sharpened edge. When the first patch gets really funky, then drop that in your plastic garbage container (remember, these patches have been soaked in acid solutions! $36.73. So As one newish to refined firearms ownership, what is the best way to store and protect a pistol or rifle from rusting, especially in areas like Oregon or Washington, Silicon socks, or ? 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. But since this was my first project, with an inexpensive kit as a learning tool, and as I intend to do this again with a much more expensive kit, my trials and errors and your voice of experience will be very useful the next time around. Hopefully these concepts suggest caution and diligence for what you are doing. 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. Ventilation is important. Get it Feb 25 - 27. I had to sand and restain the stock, and sanded the barrel from 120 down to 400 grit the pitting was so bad. Shooting Mystery is reader-supported. 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. Oxides come after its been heated to a red heat and cooled. It would be a good idea to get some gloves on. Mess. 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. } It's easy to get it too hot, too quickly - especially with an O/A or oxy-propane torch. I use kerosene to wet my paper from 500 on up. : Make sure it is made from Mild Steel or Titanium. 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. My apologies for the background noise in the first half of the video We had compressors running where I You should keep guns in a safe, if you can. Copyright 2023 Flixsterz. These work by depositing a coating of copper selenide on the surface. When the liquid stops bubbling, remove the metal from the container and wipe off any excess liquid. You can blue heat-treated parts with no ill effects. -something to hold your object with i.e. "https://twitter.com/Shoot1ngMystery", Apply heat to your object and heat up gently and equally. -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. You can also heat the oil to create different effects. 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. Use a coffee can or similarly shaped container as your quenching chamber. 4 years ago If you cant, just get them out of the case and allow air to circulate around them. Metal parts that look black or blue-black are usually blued (rather than painted). Safety is the number one priority so protect your body as much as possible. Hunter holds a BFA in Entertainment Design from the University of Wisconsin - Stout and a Minor in English Writing. Add 5 lbs of regular table salt to the water. "mainEntityOfPage": "https://shootingmystery.com/blue-stainless-steel-beginners/", 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). Robert Farago is the former publisher of The Truth About Guns (TTAG). 84 or Du-Lite 3-0. { Still, you will find that cold blues dont last. (Its Crystalline Potassium Nitrate 100%) $6.18 WebThe gun bluing process Start with 1 gallon of water and add it to a deep fryer that has been thoroughly cleaned. FigureLLC. 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. 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). Following the treatment in the bluing tank, relocate the components to a cold water tank. Its the corrosive gift that just keeps on giving. I like 1.5 wide shop cloth myself). The name of the process actually comes from the blue-black appearance of the black iron oxide. 2023 All Rights Reserved by Shooting Mystery. If you havent done it before, wait until I mention some items about it. Also remember, by adjusting the heat you can get whatever color you want. You can then use a soft brush to gently remove all the residue of the cleaning solution on the components. 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). Contemporary heat-treatable steels did not exist or were in their infancy. List Price: $18.64 $18.64. You can make your own desiccant packs with kitty litter (I would recommend the unused variety). You risk a big fire that is self sustaining by the reaction itself. You can experiment ultimately what oils to use. Its durable and wears well. Remember the oil is probably gonna release some smoke/fumes once the piece is quenched so as said before: please do this step in a well ventilated area. 4 years ago SO, DG; unless I missed it, I am assuming the torch is used separate from heating the tank/ container with the boiling solution. Either of these two methods is called 'hot bluing'. After the Civil War they switched to another process. Aluminium (Al) and polymer parts cannot be blued, and no corrosion protection is provided. Fortunately, this is easily had at any hardware store: WD-40 is a water displacing product, not a lubricant (contrary to widespread advertising). 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 answer was tested with a utility knife blade and it drilled through with ease. Brilliant blues. If you drop a piece of paper in there, or hydrocarbon compounds (like oil or grease on your part). 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. {"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":"