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. 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. Most knives, rifle receivers and barrels are heated to at least 1200F and cooled and drawn at 490F-700F. I wore latex gloves, as Brownells recommended, but used a pot holder to handle the hot barrel, and that may have been the source. I am simply trying to learn anything and everything that there is to know about it. You can not do this method with Aluminium because it won't reach the temperatures required for bluing, it will just melt. There can be different layers you have to apply. Itll evaporate rather rapidly, but still, dont whip it at cars or house finishes. Hes claiming that method is more durable than Blue alone. I thought there was something that could help improve the colors but wasnt sure until I came across this. Ill go into parkerization later this week. That means 50-60 revolutions to make a foot. Safety is the number one priority so protect your body as much as possible. 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. Hardening will cause it to be more brittle, which could cause the hammer to chip and cause injury. LOGIX 20910 Butane Torch, Cooking Torch, Torch for Creme Brulee, Refillable, 9.6 oz, Blue Steel . Most waters in the Rockies clear out to the west coast will have high(er) dissolved solids in them. Metal parts that look black or blue-black are usually blued (rather than painted). The usual mistake on buffing wheels is using too coarse a compound, and then the wheel becomes quite aggressive in removing material. Dont touch the metal with your bare hands since it could cause severe burns. Are you sure you want to heat the steel to 700F in that early step? Work on a metal or steel surface, such as an anvil, to avoid any fire hazards. this produces better, less turbulant gas flow, which will reduce heat traces. You can use a heat gun, a blow dryer, or a torch for this. They have their place, but doing a whole gun with them isnt that place. This answer was tested with a utility knife blade and it drilled through with ease. That seems wasteful. It is vastly appreciated even by those of us who will probably never use it. WebBluing is a passivation process in which steel is partially protected against rust using a black oxide coating. Another good test for determining when the steel is ready is seeing if a magnet sticks to its surface. Bluing also helps to maintain the metal finish by resisting superficial scratching, and also helps to reduce glare to the eyes of the shooter when looking down the barrel of the gun. NaOH is nasty stuff. It also looks good on AK type weapons of which I have three to park. Its oiled in production to keep it from rusting on store shelves. Oil-free steel wool is also sold by woodworking shops. It turns out I have. 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 . This is a great source that you can learn lots of information from and I'll advise it to to a handfuls of others. Technically speaking, bluing is more or less a conversion of red iron oxide (Fe2O3) to black iron oxide (Fe3O4). 2. Cold bluing is not particularly resistant to holster wear, nor does it provide a large degree of rust resistance. 8 years ago Wear thick gloves and a face mask before you quench your steel so the water or oil doesnt splash onto your hands. After that, slowly and steadily stir the solution in the tank to dissolve the salt. on Introduction. You can reassemble the gun after. THANKS DG. There are 10 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. Take them out after a couple of minutes and then wipe them clean to remove excess oil. I wouldn't recommend either. What I forgot to mention in all of this is a detail that seems mundane, but it critically important: Wear cotton gloves. References 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 I didnt pursue a career in chemistry. When youre done and have neutralized & washed off the Express Blue #1 solution, you then should spray down the barrel with water-displacing oil. -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. - Ballachy", "Bluing of Steel by Heat Treatment: Why and How it Happens? [ 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. This crucible was heated to 730C (1,350F) for up to 6hours (the longer the heat was applied the thicker the case hardening). Then wipe off all excess oil and look at your beautiful finished object! Christopher Graham writes all the content and reviews on this site with the help of his team of hunters and shooters. Answer "width": "1500", Hot blueing is a good process, especially if you have a lot of iron to shove through the blueing process quickly. Heat the area you'd like to drill just until it starts to glow red, then allow it to cool slowly. Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 914,567 times. *Potassium Nitrate is an oxidizer. Glad that there are folks like you around. It is always essential to remove all oils from metals you want to blue, even if the cold blueing solution claims you dont need to do so. Approved. It takes practice. Why do you bother with all this crap?. In fact most guides no matter their material cast iron to bronze and often bearing races are installed the same way. The color is oxide, but I believe you can scrape it off. Higher carbon contents will take longer to heat. Dont. The cross section and size of parts affect the outcome of the finish and time it takes to achieve. I dont have that much blueing to do in my shop, so I dont use hot salts. WebThe gun bluing process Start with 1 gallon of water and add it to a deep fryer that has been thoroughly cleaned. Let them cool down as you take a closer look at the bluing effect. Robert Farago is the former publisher of The Truth About Guns (TTAG). It is one smoooooth profile, from one end to the other. Im talking like 90+ minutes to heat the salt bath to 285F. 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. Im not responsible for marital discord as a result of gun projects attempted on the kitchen stove. Brilliant blues. RF: Expect a write-up from me on Rust blueing and parkerizing in the next couple of weeks. Before operating your torch, read all instructions so you know how to handle it safely. Oil and grease really are the enemy because youre trying to (literally) corrode the metal. Hot blueing salts attack soft solders on guns, so it isnt to be done on old shotguns and some older rifles. It does provide good rust resistance, which is improved with oil. 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. My first time wasnt a stunning success. The reason why blued guns rust is that something was allowed to attack the surface blueing and get through it to new steel or the blueing job wasnt deep enough to complete passivate the surface from red rust. Not blessed with a climate controlled safe. This method was adopted by larger firearm companies for large scale, more economical bluing. 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. Have proper ventilation and use proper modern safety gear! That said, heres the truth: The best blueing you can have on a gun is simple, safe to do, but takes a long time. The book claims they used wait for it "boiling gasoline" not making this up to clean them. Black oxide provides minimal protection against corrosion, unless also treated with a water-displacing oil to reduce wetting and galvanic action. 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. 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. Thank you all who had a part in the production of this important information! Your container should be relatively larger than your object. Then you sight down the barrel and you see dips and waves in the barrel profile. 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. Ive cut and pasted this to my notes on the cloud. If you have very light, fine pitting, you can polish this out. If you tempered the steel with a blow torch, set the metal on an anvil or another large steel surface to conduct the heat. The List Price is the suggested retail price of a new product as provided by a manufacturer, supplier, or seller. for 6-8 hours. 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. 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. These minerals (often calcium and magnesium compounds) tend to result in blotchy and uneven results. When the liquid stops bubbling, remove the metal from the container and wipe off any excess liquid. The part you want to place in the receiving part is cold often just placed in a freezer for a few hours. . 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. 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. Gee, Im thinkin Duro or cero coat maybe even Krylon might be a good enough.. Your tanks better be tight, your stands for the tanks better be rigid, youd better have top-of-the-line fire extinguishers (NB the plural) available to you. Bluing is also used in seasoning cast-iron cookware, to render it relatively rust-proof and non-stick. Wear safety glasses and gloves while working with hot metal. 'Browning' is controlled red rust Fe2O3, and is also known as 'pluming' or 'plum brown'. The torch comes in when you first apply the Express Blue. 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. The wire is extremely small in diameter, so you have to take that into consideration. "https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6dwEQfHK1tk_ZeaA4PniOA/", Hi SteelJunkee Method is as follows: Fit rod into drill and set at constant speed Clean rods with acetone on clean rag Use butane and propane mix blow torch to achieve colour range Quench in water Dry The weird thing is that they look great for around 4-5 days then deteriorate. Heat source You will require at least one burner for bluing salts and two hot water burners. Next comes the main part. Alternitavely you can leave it in the oil bath to stabilize. }. Its a good process, but it isnt a 1:1 replacement for blueing. 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. If youre using acetone to de-oil, dont be afraid to do it more than once. 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. This will remove all the traces of the bluing solution and other chemicals. Bluing is a process usually used by gun owners and firearms manufacturers to improve the aesthetic value of their weapons. The ideal setup is a pair of long sleeve gloves along with splash goggles and a face mask. 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. There are also methods of cold bluing, which do not require heat. Initially case hardening was used but did not offer any aesthetics. You can make a Caustic Soda KNO3 water bath: 65% Lye (aka sodium hydroxide) 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. Remove any previous finish. 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 Think big scars. fascinated with blacksmithing, but have not had an income to even get it started. 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' If you are new to the subject and are in need of detailed instructions, then youve come to the right place. Browning a gun gives you a nice, even brown patina finish of red rust on a gun. And for the next (after the next) installment, how to do hard case coloring. 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? Do all the prep you would for express or rust blueing, especially degreasing. 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. It will first turn gold, then orange, then red, purple, blue and then dark grey! 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. February 20, 2016 at 16:12. The salts here will be slightly less corrosive (ie, just the pure KNO3, no lye), but at 600F, you have a big physical risk right in front of you. 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. It was left in a flannel gun case in the back of a moist closet for 25+ years. 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. I have to finish my M76 and Galil first and buy the materials. 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. WebHeat the blade for 15 to 20 minutes in an oven set on 325 Fahrenheit if the handle is metal. Also, the results you indicate are typical of still having some oil on the gun. That way, you can still use your oven for the rest of the evening. Now securely hold your piece with whatever you have chosen. 4.3 out of 5 stars 242 ratings-30% $12.99 $ 12. 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 Should something happen, seek medical help right away. Dont want to get any of the liquid on you its 700F. Color case hardening is the predecessor of all metal coloring typically employed in the firearms industry. Rinse them in a cold water tank after. 4 years ago Hunter holds a BFA in Entertainment Design from the University of Wisconsin - Stout and a Minor in English Writing. How do I do this? In literally 10 seconds on a buffing wheel incorrectly applied, I could screw that up to a point where it might take be eight+ hours of hand polishing to recover my prior results. For this Instructable I'm using thread cutting oil. If you want it smoother/shinier, you can polish up to 600 grit, with wet-or-dry paper. Free shipping for many products! However, rust bluing small areas often match, blend, and wear better than any cold bluing process. This will keep the bluing from adhering to the sharpened edge. 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. Do NOT wipe/touch your metal with anything after degreasing as the whole purpose of cleaning was then for nothing. ", informative and did not use technical language and concepts that would have left me floundering and none the wiser. It is usually sold in a 1lb bottle for $3, you'll need 3 or 4 pounds probably. An ideal temperature is 180 degrees Fahrenheit but it also depends on the manual. The ideal setup is a pair of long sleeve gloves along with splash goggles and a face mask. Water is great for rapidly quenching the hot metal, but it could cause thin steel to distort or crack. Note: I know a plastic container is pictured but always use a metal one! "datePublished": "2022-03-27", Ventilation is important. 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. 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. It is caused by a layer of oxide that forms when the steel is heated. Never know when it will come in handy. This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Hunter Rising. The cabinet is then sealed. But the article was very informative. YouTube - Nitre bluing a few gun parts. The practice of bluing steel takes time and an exquisite eye for detail. This is often achieved without chemicals by simply heating the steel until a blue oxide film appears. Think big scars. Keep a grade B fire extinguisher nearby in case of a fire. Submerge in water and scrape edge. It is also used by machinists, to protect and beautify tools made for their own use. "url": "https://shootingmystery.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Shootinglogo.png" Similarly, stainless steel parts may be immersed in a mixture of nitrates and chromates, similarly heated. Keep posting like this. "description": "If you want to find out how to blue stainless steel, then you've come to the right place. $3.59. Dont drop or try to bend the steel once its removed. Follow the instructions. Tenifer get's up to (1077F) last I checked and was the 5th step in Glock heat treating after that they Pakerize it. A Pocket Sundial From a Broken Pocket Watch! Theres a reason why I buy up clapped-out guns and stuff where people look at me with a WTF?! Spray down the whole barreled action with copious amounts of WD-40, inside and out. They melt at, oh, somewhere about 280F. Life is good. Here is a simple way to get a blued finish on steel. The tempering reduces the amount of martensite and thus makes the steel softer. I hope to someday have good knowledge to pass on to people, heh. The mixture is heated to 310 to 321C (590 to 610F) and the parts are suspended in this solution with wire. For the final step, we let the components cool down in water displacing oil. I guess Ill have to just be happy drying toilet paper. Repeat 3 times. 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). Stainless steel can only tolerate hot bluing and a limited amount of chemicals. It cannot rust any further. http://cdn.spectrumbrands.com/~/media/Spectracide/Files/MSDS/SpectracideStumpRemoverGranulesSDSApr15.ashx. While the rod may heat some by conduction, it wouldn't get hot enough to start the color-forming process. 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. He started the site to explore the ethics, morality, business, politics, culture, technology, practice, strategy, dangers and fun of guns. This is not advisable. Polish to at least 400 grit. 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. Next you hold it in front of your heat source until a blue oxide layer covers the whole blade edge. The parts are then boiled in distilled water, blown dry, then carded, as with rust bluing. % of people told us that this article helped them. When putting water in your boil-out tank, use distilled water if you have water with high mineral content. 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. ], OK, now with the sights out and the trigger group off, you can put on the rust/blue remover on the barrel/action. Thanks for always being so willing to share, Sir. Either that or the steel wool. 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. For larger pieces of steel, you need to use a. Slow rust blueing can take a week or more to accomplish, but it is a durable blue job like no other. If there is any finish left on the metal, it will interfere with the bluing pr The part that is to race the other is heated normally up to about 220 especially if it is an aluminum casting like a cylinder head. There's also blued hardware available, like nuts, bolts, screws, and hinges. Even at room temperature, the salts are highly caustic and will eat into your eyes or skin in seconds not minutes. *700F is very close to the heat treatment temperature of some steels. 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. I think DGs method is a lot safer than mine. The steel was mild steel and had very little carbon content. "headline": "How to Blue Stainless Steel in 5 Easy Steps: Complete Guide", 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. | Alpha Detroit", "NRA Family | Gun Manufacturing: Browning vs. Bluing", http://mypeculiarnature.blogspot.com/2014/08/quick-rust-bluing-back-in-black.html, "Radio Kits and Designs for Old and New Styles", "Coating, Oxide, Black, for Ferrous Metals (MIL-DTL-13924D)", "Phosphate and black oxide coating of ferrous metals (MIL-HDBK-205A)", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bluing_(steel)&oldid=1142351288, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles that may contain original research from October 2020, All articles that may contain original research, Articles needing additional references from October 2020, All articles needing additional references, Articles lacking in-text citations from September 2014, Articles with multiple maintenance issues, Articles with dead external links from July 2017, Articles with permanently dead external links, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 1 March 2023, at 22:58.