Being prepared is important if you can not measure the temp. This crucible was heated to 730C (1,350F) for up to 6hours (the longer the heat was applied the thicker the case hardening). It will first turn gold, then orange, then red, purple, blue and then dark grey! Your container should be relatively larger than your object. (And taking, out of *your* hide). Very helpful! Thank you all who had a part in the production of this important information! This is all from memory so I might have left some stuff out. Still, you will find that cold blues dont last. If there is any finish left on the metal, it will interfere with the bluing pr It is usually sold in a 1lb bottle for $3, you'll need 3 or 4 pounds probably. The colours range through straw, gold, brown, purple, blue, teal, then black. Heat the gun parts. Then, you can put the components back into the bluing tank and increase the temperature until you see the blued steel. When heat treating a forged blade you get the whole knife glowing, then submerge just the blade in the oil for 8 seconds. Bluing is also used for providing coloring for steel parts of fine clocks and other fine metalwork. Ive gotten hot blue salts on me splashed into my hair. {"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":"
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\n<\/p><\/div>"}. Contemporary heat-treatable steels did not exist or were in their infancy. 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. 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. However, due to the unique qualities of stainless steel, you cant simply blue the material however way you like. Usually, you can find the manufacturers recommended ratio in the product manual. Its a good process, but it isnt a 1:1 replacement for blueing. 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. 3.3k. 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. Bluing is a process usually used by gun owners and firearms manufacturers to improve the aesthetic value of their weapons. Prepare the components of the metal surface before you attempt to blue using your tools. Do this outside, so you can do this next part: Just whip the steel wool at arms length to extract the excess acetone. }. The downsides are: the safety issue, which I laid out above, and which youve made clear. Blue Bluing Steel Cold blueing solutions usually just dont wear well. 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. We use cookies to make wikiHow great. When the liquid stops bubbling, remove the metal from the container and wipe off any excess liquid. I plan on doing this on a couple of older beaters first. While still hot and while wearing rubber gloves rub the bluing compound Into the steel with the steel wool. 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. Also thanks DG! 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. You can also heat the oil to create different effects. It is generally employed on smaller parts such as pins, screws, sights, etc. I like parkerization on some of my milsurps. Acetone is also useful for de-greasing the barreled action. 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 ? Remove any previous finish. "publisher": { steel You can get a IR non-contact thermometer for less than $20 at Harbor Freight. I thought there was something that could help improve the colors but wasnt sure until I came across this. You have to apply the bluing fluid. 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. Picture Information. "name": "Shooting Mystery", Theres nothing I see as super-dangerous about blueing other than trying to do hot salt blueing without all the correct safety equipment and precautions. The mixed fumes of the acids produce a uniform rust on the surface of the parts (inside and out) in about 12 hours. 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. There's also blued hardware available, like nuts, bolts, screws, and hinges. 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. Treating with an oiled coating enhances the protection offered by the bluing. Hunter Rising is a wikiHow Staff Writer based in Los Angeles. I can't stress how important the degreasing step is! "@type": "Organization", 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. Again, dont mess around with these chemicals and only handle them with extreme attention. On another thread, we can go into nitre blueing, which is basically heating pins/screws/bits/bobs to 600F in a molten salt bath. You work on nice guns! kitty litter (I would recommend the unused variety). Color case hardening is the predecessor of all metal coloring typically employed in the firearms industry. When youre done and have neutralized & washed off the Express Blue #1 solution, you then should spray down the barrel with water-displacing oil. You need to constantly be adding in a bit of water to bring the boiling point back down into the range you need. Then remove it from the degreaser, don't be tempted to wipe it off with anything. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 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. 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). Often it does provide an adequate cosmetic touch-up of a gun's finish when applied and additionally oiled on a regular basis. 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. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Degrease and heat the items to be blued in a steel pan to about 700F. 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. For hazzalandy: carbon content has nothing to do with the color process, it is only the temperature you heat to, and to a lesser extent, the time spent hot. Just take them from the comments he posts. Then you sight down the barrel and you see dips and waves in the barrel profile. "Bluing" is the process of oxidizing steel to create a durable, corrosion-resistant layer. The torch comes in when you first apply the Express Blue. the cost of the burners or heaters to heat up all these tanks really only practical if you have natural gas available Bluing (steel) - Wikipedia It is caused by a layer of oxide that forms when the steel is heated. I wasnt planning on doing it for a few months. 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. Keep a grade B fire extinguisher nearby in case of a fire. Interesting and informative as always. All blued parts still require oiling to prevent rust. I have at least three cold blue solutions in my shop including Oxpho-blue, 44-40 and others. I had to sand and restain the stock, and sanded the barrel from 120 down to 400 grit the pitting was so bad. There are 10 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. Dont touch the metal with your bare hands since it could cause severe burns. 35% Potassium nitrate (aka saltpeter), http://castboolits.gunloads.com/archive/index.php/t-36054.html. Water is great for rapidly quenching the hot metal, but it could cause thin steel to distort or crack. "https://www.pinterest.com/theshootingmystery/", And thats about everything you need to know about stainless steel bluing. By using our site, you agree to our. occasionally I'll buff it afterwards. "I am nearly 16 and can not wait until I have my drivers license. Try it on some unimportant pieces first. A few safety items: Dont want to get any of the liquid on you its 700F. 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. 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. Just let any residual matter evaporate/dry. At 700, you start losing your blues and the steel starts becoming a wispy silvery-blue, not a dark brilliant blue. This is how Colt made their rifles and pistols prior to Civil War you can read all about the process. When youre done, attach the thermometer to the tank and fire up the burner. After I have always wondered about storage in gun soft cases or the foamed Hard cases, and humid or dry, heat and cold. 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 It is one smoooooth profile, from one end to the other. Its a good process for processing lots of guns, but I simply cannot recommend it for people who just want to do a gun here or a gun there.. I didnt drop outta my mommas womb being able to do this stuff. I pulled the temp off the top of my head. 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. As mentioned, cold bluing can be done at room temperature with decent results. WebBluing is a passivation process in which steel is partially protected against rust using a black oxide coating. You might need two applications to clean up more deeply rusted spots. So you will get a shinier finish. Historically, razor blades were often blued steel. Dont. Hardened steel prevents knife blades from dulling and tools from bending and breaking. The bottom of the crucible is opened allowing the contents to drop into the rapidly bubbling water. you may benefit from the use of a gas lense as well. If youre interested, just ask and I can provide more details. Referring to the post that started all of this; Dyspeptic Gunsmith says: You should keep guns in a safe, if you can. The "turning blue" process has nothing to do with hardening of the steel, or its compression. Im not responsible for marital discord as a result of gun projects attempted on the kitchen stove. 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. Could I use stainless steel earrings that I have got? The parts are then oiled and allowed to stand overnight. 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. Just remove the blue/rust, degrease, dry, then blue/card/boil-out/oil/drain. Mea culpa. Fortunately, this is easily had at any hardware store: WD-40 is a water displacing product, not a lubricant (contrary to widespread advertising). Reply 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. Red rust is Fe2O3, and is incomplete rust it will continue allowing the surface to corrode over time hence the oil or wax. 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. 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. "author": "Christopher Graham", It can soften up some paints and plastics. 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). You can experiment ultimately what oils to use. NaOH will quickly and completely dissolve aluminum. Hes claiming that method is more durable than Blue alone. 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. So unless you have sufficient equipment and skill, its advised to let a professional perform the bluing for you. 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. 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). Old school smiths use something called washing soda to strip oil off guns. That would be a hot salt blueing mix. Do NOT wipe/touch your metal with anything after degreasing as the whole purpose of cleaning was then for nothing. Heat the area with a torch until it stops sweating. What is your opinion of the 2 to 1 lye and potassium nitrate bluing solution? -something to hold your object with i.e. 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. Isn't the point of the acetone to degrease, why would i grease? After that, slowly and steadily stir the solution in the tank to dissolve the salt. very easy way to get a blue finish on steel - Fit and Finish However, rust bluing small areas often match, blend, and wear better than any cold bluing process. Premium fencing blades are often offered with a blued finish. Bluing is a passivation process in which steel is partially protected against rust using a black oxide coating. wikiHow marks an article as reader-approved once it receives enough positive feedback. 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. 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. The robot gives the steel valve seat a quick blast with liquid nitrogen and drops the seat right in place. http://www.lowes.com/pd_188198-316-HG-66420_0__?productId=4764059 It is slow rust blueing. I saw you reference a coleman stove and propane tank for heating solution. You want 0000 steel wool for carding between coats. Ive dealt with strong acids and strong bases in lab work, and I fear the strong bases more. Aluminium (Al) and polymer parts cannot be blued, and no corrosion protection is provided. ")You're ABSOLUTELY right. DG thank you. 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. on Introduction. Safety is the number one priority so protect your body as much as possible. Wait for a day to let the bluing properly cure before you do anything else to it. Next, suspend the components in a cleaning solution tank to get rid of dirt, oil, grease, and crud. 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. -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). Initially case hardening was used but did not offer any aesthetics. With a simple heating and quenching process, you can make your steel last for much longer! Glad that there are folks like you around. Heat the area you'd like to drill just until it starts to glow red, then allow it to cool slowly. Bluing Only 3 left in stock - order soon. Large scale industrial hot bluing is often performed using a bluing furnace. 4 years ago 3D Printed Futuristic Space Age Wall Clock. It takes practice. 3 years ago. You can blue heat-treated parts with no ill effects. 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! 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. Hot bluing is the current standard[6] in gun bluing, as both it and rust bluing provide the most permanent degree of rust-resistance and cosmetic protection of exposed gun metal, and hot bluing takes less time than rust bluing. 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. } Most waters in the Rockies clear out to the west coast will have high(er) dissolved solids in them. I handed a buddy my wallet and cell phone, and stepped under the safety shower and got wet. The content is not meant to be a replacement for professional service advice. Share it with us! on Introduction. Metal Finishing Guru. OK, now with the sights out and the trigger group off, you can put on the rust/blue remover on the barrel/action. 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 Put all the components into the tank and wait for 5 15 minutes. When youre using hot blueing salts, youd better be on top of your game, or you can seriously injure yourself. 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! Then wipe off all excess oil and look at your beautiful finished object! Heating up a tank on the kitchen stove. Use a steel tool to stir (remember the fumes). Take them out after a couple of minutes and then wipe them clean to remove excess oil. Another good test for determining when the steel is ready is seeing if a magnet sticks to its surface. I use it, oh so cautiously in making my biodiesel. Todos los derechos reservados. "url": "https://shootingmystery.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/How-to-Blue-Stainless-Steel-in-5-Easy-Steps.jpg" An iron wire, stainless dipper, and part basket are required to handle the guns components and adjust the bluing solution as well. This finish allows them to be stored in high-moisture conditions, like sports bags, without rusting. I believe the change of color is due to a growing thickness of an oxide layer. "https://www.facebook.com/Shooting-Mystery-110244180901951", Keep a fire extinguisher near your workstation in case of a fire. How to remove discoloration from heat? - Forums - Miller Welding 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. The higher temperatures of the other processes as well as their caustic nature could weaken the soldered joints and make the gun hazardous to use. Submerge in water and scrape edge. 2. 6 years ago. In the hot salt process, you will need, oh, four to six tanks, only one of which will be the heated blueing salts. That way, you can still use your oven for the rest of the evening. Fume bluing is another process similar to rust bluing. The tempering reduces the amount of martensite and thus makes the steel softer. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. A Pocket Sundial From a Broken Pocket Watch! The steel is also used for producing great police flashlights with awesome durability. How to Blue Stainless Steel in 5 Easy Steps: Complete Guide They should send you a stipend for your time.