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. To remove pitting and keep the barrel profile intact requires skill with a file, and that requires hands-on training. "url": "https://shootingmystery.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/How-to-Blue-Stainless-Steel-in-5-Easy-Steps.jpg" In this case cooking oil, rather than gun oil, acts to displace water and prevent rust. I believe the change of color is due to a growing thickness of an oxide layer. 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). I want to add rainbow color to safety razor blades that would be used again, how can I do this? I have at least three cold blue solutions in my shop including Oxpho-blue, 44-40 and others. It will first turn gold, then orange, then red, purple, blue and then dark grey! High temperatures and dangerous chemicals mean that a moment of carelessness can make you pay a heavy price. The part you want to place in the receiving part is cold often just placed in a freezer for a few hours. The inside barrel was saved by the fact it was so full of lead fouling. 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. . }, I thought there was something that could help improve the colors but wasnt sure until I came across this. Then you can express blue it with a propane torch and a tank of boiling water. Blue or Black rust is complete passivation of the steel surface Fe3O4. 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). One of the reasons I hand-polish up to 600 and buff only above that is that when you see one of my barrels (by holding it up to a light source, and sighting down the barrel from the muzzle at your eye to the breech out at arms length), you see no dips, waves, ripples, etc. With HSS you're looking for 2500-3000rpm, M35 or M42 cobalt bits 3000-3600rpm, and carbide 10k-12krpm. After three coats, washing and drying, the finish was not too bad, considering I was (and am) a rank amateur. The parts are then boiled in distilled water, blown dry, then carded, as with rust bluing. When youre using hot blueing salts, youd better be on top of your game, or you can seriously injure yourself. "https://www.reddit.com/user/theshootingmystery" Use a smaller toaster oven if your piece of steel fits inside. on Introduction. Gee, Im thinkin Duro or cero coat maybe even Krylon might be a good enough.. "@context": "http://schema.org/", But the article was very informative. February 20, 2016 at 16:12. "Bluing" is the process of oxidizing steel to create a durable, corrosion-resistant layer. Ventilation is important. 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. And thats about everything you need to know about stainless steel bluing. Bluing involves an electrochemical conversion coating resulting from an oxidizing chemical reaction with iron on the surface selectively forming magnetite (Fe3O4), the black oxide of iron. 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. Most waters in the Rockies clear out to the west coast will have high(er) dissolved solids in them. Where/how did you think I got to the point I could make nice guns? I have done a cold blue on a very rusted .22 for a friend. They melt at, oh, somewhere about 280F. 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. No. If you tempered the steel with a blow torch, set the metal on an anvil or another large steel surface to conduct the heat. Prepare the components of the metal surface before you attempt to blue using your tools. 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]. When youre done and have neutralized & washed off the Express Blue #1 solution, you then should spray down the barrel with water-displacing oil. What is your opinion of the 2 to 1 lye and potassium nitrate bluing solution? If the magnet doesnt stick, its ready to be pulled away from the heat. 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 ? The de-greasing you do directly affects the uniformity of the browning or blueing. I now want to reverse the process so I can drill and tap the metal tip. This is not necessary as long as you can hold your item appropriately and not cover where it is to be heated. That means 50-60 revolutions to make a foot. While the rod may heat some by conduction, it wouldn't get hot enough to start the color-forming process. Even with safety glasses and a full-face shield, a rubber apron, rubber boots, etc it is possible to get salts into your eyes and all over the rest of you. 84 or Du-Lite 3-0. Hot NaOH is so alkaline it is great as dissolving organic materials. 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. The rust then turns to black-blue Fe3O4. This signifies that the steel is tempered. When putting water in your boil-out tank, use distilled water if you have water with high mineral content. The book claims they used wait for it "boiling gasoline" not making this up to clean them. The ideal setup is a pair of long sleeve gloves along with splash goggles and a face mask. Did you ever find out what oil they were using? 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!). I handed a buddy my wallet and cell phone, and stepped under the safety shower and got wet. Following the treatment in the bluing tank, relocate the components to a cold water tank. Keep them in that state while you heat them but be sure to not boil up the tank. Once you get the colour you want, go outside to your oil container and fully quench your object into the oil! Only 3 left in stock - order soon. My first time wasnt a stunning success. 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. 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. You have to apply the bluing fluid. The mixed fumes of the acids produce a uniform rust on the surface of the parts (inside and out) in about 12 hours. You have a degreased gun, and now you need to get the metal hot enough that the reaction will oxidize the steel as much as possible. Also, the results you indicate are typical of still having some oil on the gun. Think big scars. Apply heat to your object and heat up gently and equally. Are you sure you want to heat the steel to 700F in that early step? Answer Why do you bother with all this crap?. Dont scrub the solution onto the gun, just run a patch that is not dripping wet down one complete run on the barrel/action in one smooth stroke. It greatly helped me to learn how to blue a gun perfectly at home. 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. -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. 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. They should start gassing up approximately 2 to 3 minutes after exposure. You can not do this method with Aluminium because it won't reach the temperatures required for bluing, it will just melt. 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. "height": "800", Picture Information. High temperatures and dangerous chemicals mean that a moment of carelessness can make you pay a heavy price. If youre interested, just ask and I can provide more details. Youll want to clamp on the barrel directly under the sight youre about to drift out. Theres a reason why I buy up clapped-out guns and stuff where people look at me with a WTF?! ")You're ABSOLUTELY right. journeyman. 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! "dateModified": "2022-03-27", Trust me, I'm speaking from experience :) ). If everything appears good, then you can transfer the components into a hot water tank. Always back your paper when youre polishing over edges and up against features. Craig, torch bluing is a real thing that has been use a lot in the custom gun world, mostly for screw heads but even for complete muzzle loader creations ( the vendor will be quite proud of his work it seems as cost increases considerably to a finished item). 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. When polishing something like the above rifle/shotgun, youve got a pretty light coat of rust, without severe pitting. Whats the difference between Brown Express and Blue Express? Either of these two methods is called 'hot bluing'. Im not responsible for marital discord as a result of gun projects attempted on the kitchen stove. A Garden Gun Cultivates a Newfound Fascination, AZ Judge Dan Slayton Refuses to Reduce $2m Bail in Flagstaff Campus Self Defense Case, State Judge Issues Order Blocking Enforcement of Illinois Firearms Ban Act Statewide, Protecting and Serving: Springfield, IL Police Seized Homeowners Gun After Investigating Her Report of a Prowler UPDATED, Chicagos Failed Mayor Lori Lightfoot Loses in Reelection EffortBadly, http://www.lowes.com/pd_188198-316-HG-66420_0__?productId=4764059, http://cdn.spectrumbrands.com/~/media/Spectracide/Files/MSDS/SpectracideStumpRemoverGranulesSDSApr15.ashx. My current rifle builds are going to be parkerzied. It is hazardous. 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. You have entered an incorrect email address! (NaOH from Ebay soap supplies). 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. You dont want to affect the hardness of your steel in critical areas like actions, bolts, bolt lugs, barrels, chambers, etc. 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. This is one of the reasons rust and fume bluing are generally more rust-resistant than other methods. One can generally use the same solution to brown as to blue. "https://www.facebook.com/Shooting-Mystery-110244180901951", 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. Alternatively. 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 }. Once you strip the blue & rust, then you can see what youre dealing with. Red rust is Fe2O3, and is incomplete rust it will continue allowing the surface to corrode over time hence the oil or wax. You MUST plug your barrels, gas cylinders, remove your pistons, etc. I can see my wife walking in and shaking her headabout as vigorously as when I asked if I could use the dishwasher to clean some tools. "https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6dwEQfHK1tk_ZeaA4PniOA/", Hopefully these concepts suggest caution and diligence for what you are doing. Make sure the piece is chemically clean, sandblasting followed by power wire brushing is good then stop heating when you hit purple because the heat will travel. Cold blueing solutions usually just dont wear well. -A heat source. It provides the stainless steel surface with a layer of protection, giving rust and corrosion resistance while reducing potential glare as well. : Make sure it is made from Mild Steel or Titanium. I found through my bluing adventure that different oils do act slighty different but ultimately everything I've used has done the job. this produces better, less turbulant gas flow, which will reduce heat traces. Then you sight down the barrel and you see dips and waves in the barrel profile. Heat the gun parts. Dont leave cold blue solutions around anywhere pets or kids could get at them. Its much cheaper anyways. So you will get a shinier finish. In colloquial use, thin coatings of black oxide are often termed 'gun bluing', while heavier coatings are termed 'black oxide'. 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). The bottom of the crucible is opened allowing the contents to drop into the rapidly bubbling water. 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. Be patient in the first few minutes as the metal needs to reach the temperatures where it changes colour! this article statement Here is a simple way to get a blued finish on steel. The parts must be observed constantly for colour change. 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. The colours range through straw, gold, brown, purple, blue, teal, then black. "width": "1500", The usual mistake on buffing wheels is using too coarse a compound, and then the wheel becomes quite aggressive in removing material. The melting point for KNO3 is 633F. You can also heat the oil to create different effects. 3D Printed Futuristic Space Age Wall Clock. 2mm wire has a circumference of ~0.25in. Thanks a lot for sharing. Oil-free steel wool is also sold by woodworking shops. It also looks good on AK type weapons of which I have three to park. They have their place, but doing a whole gun with them isnt that place. You can blue heat-treated parts with no ill effects. Either that or the steel wool. "I am nearly 16 and can not wait until I have my drivers license. I wore latex gloves, as Brownells recommended, but used a pot holder to handle the hot barrel, and that may have been the source. 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. For more information on using a blowtorch and protecting the steel, scroll down! Is the torch used to heat metal ..ONLY.with Cold bluing? 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. Get it Feb 25 - 27. You can make your own desiccant packs with kitty litter (I would recommend the unused variety). "https://twitter.com/Shoot1ngMystery", Buffing wheels have their purpose, but they take real skill to use without making a mess of guns, starting with the selection of the wheel (theres, oh, at least six types of buffing wheel), choice of type of compound, choice of grit of compound, choice of wheel speed (many buffers have only one speed, and there are some jobs where you really want a 3-phase motor on your buffer with a VFD to adjust the speed down from 1800 or 3600 RPM) and so on. Have proper ventilation and use proper modern safety gear! Dont pour water in to your bath! 1/16-inch pivot wire has a circumference of ~0.2in. It turns out I have. Bear in mind not to touch the walls of your container as you don't want to disturb the process of what's happening! 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. 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. All blued parts still require oiling to prevent rust. NaOH is nasty stuff. This method was adopted by larger firearm companies for large scale, more economical bluing. Alternatively, you can press the pad of steel wool between your hands over the container of acetone, and then put it on some paper towels to dry. Glad that there are folks like you around. Should something happen, seek medical help right away. "publisher": { 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. 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. This is all from memory so I might have left some stuff out. "@type": "Organization", Its essential to keep stirring the tank to prevent the forming of hot and cold areas. 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). BUT like so many power tools on guns, it is possible to create expensive screw-ups to fix on guns with power tools, and buffing wheels are no exception. It, too, must be oiled to provide any significant rust resistance. Before operating your torch, read all instructions so you know how to handle it safely. Once you see it turn golden, the process has started and colours will change fairly quickly! If you cant, just get them out of the case and allow air to circulate around them. Oxides come after its been heated to a red heat and cooled. It is usually inadvisable to use cold bluing as a touch-up where friction is present. Quenching the steel rapidly cools it so the alloys inside harden together. http://cdn.spectrumbrands.com/~/media/Spectracide/Files/MSDS/SpectracideStumpRemoverGranulesSDSApr15.ashx. - Ballachy", "Bluing of Steel by Heat Treatment: Why and How it Happens? 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. Fill the tank with a suitable amount of water then add in the bluing salt using the correct ratio. However, oil may spill and create a fire hazard if the steel is put into the oil too quickly. The steel was mild steel and had very little carbon content. It takes practice. Hardened steel prevents knife blades from dulling and tools from bending and breaking. How do I harden a steel hammer so that is lasts longer and is more durable? If you look at the temps that Tenifur(SP) and Melonite(sp) and early Pakerizing processes used this is nothing. Think big scars. I have also had good results with 5w/30 motor oil, I've also used two-stroke oil with good results. The blue appearance of the oxide film is also used as an indication of temperature when tempering carbon steel after hardening, indicating a state of temper suitable for springs. An iron wire, stainless dipper, and part basket are required to handle the guns components and adjust the bluing solution as well. 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]. Also buffing wheels pre blue. ", not only fun, but also profitable. 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. Still, you will find that cold blues dont last. This works well for me. Drift the sights back in from the right side of the barrel. Gas burners can usually do the job for this. Itll take perhaps 20 minutes to really dry down. Battery acid is childs play compared to blueing salts. Mark the sharpened edge with a crayon. Rinse them in a cold water tank after. To harden steel, start by heating the metal directly with a blow torch until it turns a cherry red color. I saw you reference a coleman stove and propane tank for heating solution. If there is any finish left on the metal, it will interfere with the bluing pr Dont drop or try to bend the steel once its removed. You should put the brass drift (which you can make out of a piece of brass rod about 1/4 in diameter) on the sight base, and then start tapping the end of the drift with a small hammer. Initially case hardening was used but did not offer any aesthetics. Although the steel parts, such as anOrdains watch hands, are near enough miniscule, each

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