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? 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. Were committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. 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. [ Heat the Steel. The usual mistake on buffing wheels is using too coarse a compound, and then the wheel becomes quite aggressive in removing material. Next comes the main part. The differing rate of cooling for each area produced a different color creating that rainbow effect. The head is fixtured and and an arm holding the valve seat moves the the proper location. I think DGs method is a lot safer than mine. It can soften up some paints and plastics. Dang it all. There can be different layers you have to apply. Various processes are used for the oxidizing process. What did you use for polishing your pieces and Im guessing you polished then added the chemicals after?Thanks, Joe, Question Think big scars. Most knives, rifle receivers and barrels are heated to at least 1200F and cooled and drawn at 490F-700F. Brilliant blues. This is how Colt made their rifles and pistols prior to Civil War you can read all about the process. Ive used this method in a pinch to make a tap from a cheap mild steel bolt to chase out galled female threads. "@context": "http://schema.org/", Ill detail why. : Make sure it is made from Mild Steel or Titanium. Fill a heat-safe container with water or oil deep enough to submerge your steel. Only 3 left in stock - order soon. I really appreciate you taking the time to share it DG. 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. Now you slide the cold rod in, and the plate cools, gripping the rod. ")You're ABSOLUTELY right. 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. Last Updated: May 13, 2022 This is an alternative method for creating the black oxide coating. Youll want to clamp on the barrel directly under the sight youre about to drift out. Wear disposable nitrile gloves, work in adequate ventilation, bag and dispose of all rags/towels used in the process in their own bags, and quickly. Heating up a tank on the kitchen stove. 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). 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. it washes off with water. Note that it has to be a different tank from the one you used for Step 2. wikiHow marks an article as reader-approved once it receives enough positive feedback. 2mm wire has a circumference of ~0.25in. The torch comes in when you first apply the Express Blue. Youll get a dark spot right there. They should start gassing up approximately 2 to 3 minutes after exposure. One can generally use the same solution to brown as to blue. Itll take perhaps 20 minutes to really dry down. Use a coffee can or similarly shaped container as your quenching chamber. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. References Any more advice is welcome SteelJunkee Joined May 6, 2018 Messages 891 I had to sand and restain the stock, and sanded the barrel from 120 down to 400 grit the pitting was so bad. To remove pitting and keep the barrel profile intact requires skill with a file, and that requires hands-on training. I can then get the temp to be 600F spot-on in a lead melting pot. An ideal temperature is 180 degrees Fahrenheit but it also depends on the manual. Besides those, you must also have water displacing oil and cleaning solution (Dicro-Clean 909). Gas burners can usually do the job for this. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 13 in 1 Metal Shell Welding Torch Nozzle Tip Cleaner For Welder Soldering at the best online prices at eBay! But the article was very informative. It had been thoroughly degreased before my first attempt, but in trying to repair a poor result, I apparently contaminated it a bit. It does provide good rust resistance, which is improved with oil. That way, you can still use your oven for the rest of the evening. A couple bottles of aged bourbon minimum. Fortunately, this is easily had at any hardware store: WD-40 is a water displacing product, not a lubricant (contrary to widespread advertising). Alternatively, You could store them in a hard case (like a pelican with a purge) and throw some desiccant packs in there as well. Historically, razor blades were often blued steel. The steel was mild steel and had very little carbon content. When the liquid stops bubbling, remove the metal from the container and wipe off any excess liquid. 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. Excessive buffing on stainless steel could result in a grainy appearance so do it with care. Not blessed with a climate controlled safe. "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). A few safety items: My first time wasnt a stunning success. "width": "1500", Heres instructions from Mark Lee Supplies on using their Express Blue #1. I have done a cold blue on a very rusted .22 for a friend. You will get it. Water is great for rapidly quenching the hot metal, but it could cause thin steel to distort or crack. These processes were later abandoned by major firearm manufacturers as it often took parts days to finish completely, and was very labor-intensive. Free shipping. for 6-8 hours. 2023 All Rights Reserved by Shooting Mystery. 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 only way to do that is to heat it until the metal de-magnetises, quench it again, and then temper to the desired hardness. 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. Use your torch to bring up on Step 1. Use it to try out great new products and services nationwide without paying full pricewine, food delivery, clothing and more. When you add water to a hot salt tank, you get an explosion of steam, and you need to develop some skill in adding the water with a very fine copper pipe on your water hose to prevent steam blow-outs spattering salts all over you. Theres a reason why I buy up clapped-out guns and stuff where people look at me with a WTF?! As a small thank you, wed like to offer you a $30 gift card (valid at GoNift.com). 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. If you havent done it before, wait until I mention some items about it. Use hemostats to hold a cleaning patch wetted with the solution and apply in nice, long, even strokes. Treating with an oiled coating enhances the protection offered by the bluing. 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?). 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. You might need two applications to clean up more deeply rusted spots. "@type": "ImageObject", 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. Bluing is often a hobbyist endeavor, and there are many methods of bluing, and continuing debates about the relative efficacy of each method. 5 years ago, I found that heating will turn steel silver ~> gold ~> violet ~> blue. 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. 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. 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! Usually, you can find the manufacturers recommended ratio in the product manual. Use ice cubes. You might also want to read our article on how to easily darken stainless steel or blacken stainless steel for more ways to personalize your gear. ", Reply WD-40, as mentioned earlier, is a water-displacing oil compound not a penetrating lube, and for preventing rust, WD-40 actually works pretty well, but it doesnt last like cosmoline or waxy oils used for long-term rust prevention. Its a pretty straightforward process. kitty litter (I would recommend the unused variety). All those materials the leather and bone the coal where sources of carbon and other trace elements. 4.3 out of 5 stars 242 ratings-30% $12.99 $ 12. Old school smiths use something called washing soda to strip oil off guns. How do I do this? Hot blueing salts attack soft solders on guns, so it isnt to be done on old shotguns and some older rifles. 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. No. Are you sure you want to heat the steel to 700F in that early step? 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. The color is oxide, but I believe you can scrape it off. 2. You dont want to affect the hardness of your steel in critical areas like actions, bolts, bolt lugs, barrels, chambers, etc. Just use distilled water. For the final step, we let the components cool down in water displacing oil. Brand: Logix. For the chemical, the bluing solution should be either Oxynate No. "keywords": ["how to blue stainless steel"], Salts. Thermometers and stirring tools are also needed, as well as something to heat up the tanks. The cabinet is then sealed. 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. Then you can express blue it with a propane torch and a tank of boiling water. Thank you so much for sharing such a great article. NaOH is nasty stuff. Aluminium (Al) and polymer parts cannot be blued, and no corrosion protection is provided. Ill be saving this for the future. Either of these two methods is called 'hot bluing'. In colloquial use, thin coatings of black oxide are often termed 'gun bluing', while heavier coatings are termed 'black oxide'. For this reason, it is considered not to add any appreciable thickness to precisely-machined gun parts. Polish to at least 400 grit. When putting water in your boil-out tank, use distilled water if you have water with high mineral content. The name of the process actually comes from the blue-black appearance of the black iron oxide. The mixture is heated to 310 to 321C (590 to 610F) and the parts are suspended in this solution with wire. 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. It cannot rust any further. Hardening will cause it to be more brittle, which could cause the hammer to chip and cause injury. 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. The wire is extremely small in diameter, so you have to take that into consideration. 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. If I remember right they then heated them up a bit and applied fish oil orignal and I think latter switching to linseed oil to protect the finish and give it that wet look. Slow rust blueing can take a week or more to accomplish, but it is a durable blue job like no other. This method must not be used on critically heat-treated parts such as receivers, slides or springs. I dont have that much blueing to do in my shop, so I dont use hot salts. Mix equal parts of cream and liquid Brownells Oxpho Blue. *Potassium Nitrate is an oxidizer. 2. 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 article has been viewed 914,567 times. This is not necessary as long as you can hold your item appropriately and not cover where it is to be heated. Then wipe off all excess oil and look at your beautiful finished object! This will remove all the traces of the bluing solution and other chemicals. There are many simple ways to achieve good bluing. Try it on some unimportant pieces first. I used Brownells Plum Brown, a product that requires that the barrel be heated to 275 degrees to activate the reaction. Dont just leave them on a surface that could corrode or burn), get a new patch into the hemostats, soak, wring out, and keep going. I pulled the temp off the top of my head. Large scale industrial hot bluing is often performed using a bluing furnace. 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. Then you pull it out and scrape off the oil along the blade edge. Accidental exposure to the chemicals could result in serious injuries. If you do not get crazy and over heat the steel there is no reason to be fearful of the process. 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. 1. "Cold" bluing is generally a selenium dioxide based compound that colours steel black, or more often a very dark grey. It is vastly appreciated even by those of us who will probably never use it. Brownells has steel tanks, and there are some steel/stainless long/thin tanks available from other sources. I thought there was something that could help improve the colors but wasnt sure until I came across this. 84 or Du-Lite 3-0. You can also heat the oil to create different effects. Hes claiming that method is more durable than Blue alone. Larger flames produce less heat while smaller flames produce a higher heat. This answer was tested with a utility knife blade and it drilled through with ease. Thanks, 8 years ago Heating will make the metal better in absorbing the bluing liquid. $36.73. "mainEntityOfPage": "https://shootingmystery.com/blue-stainless-steel-beginners/", Robert Farago is the former publisher of The Truth About Guns (TTAG). Hopefully these concepts suggest caution and diligence for what you are doing. 8 years ago Be patient in the first few minutes as the metal needs to reach the temperatures where it changes colour! This process was repeated until the desired depth of color was achieved or the metal simply did not color further. The mixed fumes of the acids produce a uniform rust on the surface of the parts (inside and out) in about 12 hours. 'Browning' is controlled red rust Fe2O3, and is also known as 'pluming' or 'plum brown'. gas coverage is another big one. 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). I've never done anything like this but want to try. For more information on using a blowtorch and protecting the steel, scroll down! Ill go into parkerization later this week. If youre using acetone to de-oil, dont be afraid to do it more than once. }, The de-greasing you do directly affects the uniformity of the browning or 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. http://cdn.spectrumbrands.com/~/media/Spectracide/Files/MSDS/SpectracideStumpRemoverGranulesSDSApr15.ashx. Similarly, stainless steel parts may be immersed in a mixture of nitrates and chromates, similarly heated. 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. it would appear these sights are drifted into dovetails. Picture Information. 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. As I'm bluing round pieces I slowly and evenly rotate the piece over the flame to equally disburse the heat. 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. Use a steel tool to stir (remember the fumes). Browning a gun gives you a nice, even brown patina finish of red rust on a gun. { Did you ever find out what oil they were using? 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). the cost of the burners or heaters to heat up all these tanks really only practical if you have natural gas available It is slow rust blueing. 4 years ago I agree used oil works better and adding some copper and graphite seems to deepen the color and add more purple or plum to it. Wait for a day to let the bluing properly cure before you do anything else to it. 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. 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. 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.