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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). At least one of the cold bluing solutions contains selenium dioxide. Depending on what solution you use, the tank temperature must be maintained somewhere between 240 and 310 degrees Fahrenheit. A non-linear resistance property of the blued steel of razor blades, foreshadowing the same property later discovered in semiconductor diode junctions, along with the ready availability of blued steel razor blades, led to the use of razor blades as a detector in crystal set AM radios that were built by servicemen (as foxhole radios) or by prisoners of war during World War II.[8]. "https://www.reddit.com/user/theshootingmystery" For more information on using a blowtorch and protecting the steel, scroll down! "Bluing" is the process of oxidizing steel to create a durable, corrosion-resistant layer. Wipe them down with WD-40 on a regular basis. The parts are then boiled in distilled water, blown dry, then carded, as with rust bluing. That means 50-60 revolutions to make a foot. "https://www.facebook.com/Shooting-Mystery-110244180901951", This is a great source that you can learn lots of information from and I'll advise it to to a handfuls of others. 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. Bluing is a passivation process in which steel is partially protected against rust using a black oxide coating. I wasnt planning on doing it for a few months. 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. This method must not be used on critically heat-treated parts such as receivers, slides or springs. -An old container filled with your chosen degreaser (unleaded petrol), -Your desired polished metal object/s (very important! It is also used by machinists, to protect and beautify tools made for their own use. No. However, oil may spill and create a fire hazard if the steel is put into the oil too quickly. The tempering reduces the amount of martensite and thus makes the steel softer. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. ], on Introduction. Isn't the point of the acetone to degrease, why would i grease? It is caused by a layer of oxide that forms when the steel is heated. This finish allows them to be stored in high-moisture conditions, like sports bags, without rusting. 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. Slow rust blueing can take a week or more to accomplish, but it is a durable blue job like no other. I have to finish my M76 and Galil first and buy the materials. ", informative and did not use technical language and concepts that would have left me floundering and none the wiser. Participated in the Explore Science Contest. Dont pour water in to your bath! There can be different layers you have to apply. The parts must be observed constantly for colour change. . 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). Brownells has a product that will strip blueing and rust (Fe3O4 and Fe3O2, respectively) and not corrode the underlying steel.Remove the barrel & action from the stock. I can then get the temp to be 600F spot-on in a lead melting pot. That would be a hot salt blueing mix. When heat treating a forged blade you get the whole knife glowing, then submerge just the blade in the oil for 8 seconds. You are nitre blueing here. In colloquial use, thin coatings of black oxide are often termed 'gun bluing', while heavier coatings are termed 'black oxide'. Ventilation is important. You should note that the blue layer is rather delicate so dont treat it roughly. It can soften up some paints and plastics. } 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. to blue / heat anodize stainless steel Bluing is also used for providing coloring for steel parts of fine clocks and other fine metalwork. Holy crap, did that reaction hurt like hell. This process leaves a deep blue-black finish. ", steel". Many double-barreled shotguns are soft soldered (lead) or silver brazed together and many of the parts are attached by that method also. "@type": "ImageObject", Ferrari installs valve seats in their aluminum cylinder heads via robot. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. A Pocket Sundial From a Broken Pocket Watch! Large scale industrial hot bluing is often performed using a bluing furnace. Use ice cubes. Thats one way to get dyspeptic to write articles! 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. Also, the results you indicate are typical of still having some oil on the gun. 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' Think big scars. Ive gotten hot blue salts on me splashed into my hair. They should start gassing up approximately 2 to 3 minutes after exposure. *700F is very close to the heat treatment temperature of some steels. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Bluing Stainless Steel: What You Can and Cant Do - Forging World 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. Still, you will find that cold blues dont last. Please be careful with the cold bluing solutions. 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. My current rifle builds are going to be parkerzied. Similarly, stainless steel parts may be immersed in a mixture of nitrates and chromates, similarly heated. Not blessed with a climate controlled safe. "https://www.pinterest.com/theshootingmystery/", It does provide good rust resistance, which is improved with oil. WHERE or when would the torch get used? Usually, you can find the manufacturers recommended ratio in the product manual. : Make sure it is made from Mild Steel or Titanium. Have proper ventilation and use proper modern safety gear! 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. Blued Pivot Steel 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. These include hot bluing, cold bluing, niter bluing, 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. 'Browning' is controlled red rust Fe2O3, and is also known as 'pluming' or 'plum brown'. In the automotive world this is a common practice. The cross section and size of parts affect the outcome of the finish and time it takes to achieve. Use a coffee can or similarly shaped container as your quenching chamber. Soft, low-carbon steel was used, but strong materials were needed for the receivers of firearms. Bluing Both refer to the same chemical process for providing true gun bluing.[1]. Most cold blueing agents contain some selenium dioxide in them to enable to them to react at room temps. If you need to use a blow torch, focus the flame tip on the area you want hardened. The content is not meant to be a replacement for professional service advice. Add in the 250F+ temperatures of the salts when they hit your skin, and youre both burned thermally and chemically in seconds. Your 700F temp is too high, IMO. Metal 1. Hot blueing is a good process, especially if you have a lot of iron to shove through the blueing process quickly. 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. Battery acid is childs play compared to blueing salts. Reply *Potassium Nitrate is an oxidizer. Hot NaOH is so alkaline it is great as dissolving organic materials. 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. 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. YouTube - Nitre bluing a few gun parts. Bluing is a process usually used by gun owners and firearms manufacturers to improve the aesthetic value of their weapons. This is all from memory so I might have left some stuff out. Acetone is also useful for de-greasing the barreled action. If your barrel has heavier pitting, now were into filing to remove pitting, and thats something I cant teach people in mere text. Probably the main one is the content of so-called "carbon, "I was looking at making a set of plate armor and I wanted to see how to harden the breastplate. Quenched steel is harder, but it becomes more brittle. the cost of the burners or heaters to heat up all these tanks really only practical if you have natural gas available Safety notes: Dont use an aluminum pan. For the chemical, the bluing solution should be either Oxynate No. Bear in mind not to touch the walls of your container as you don't want to disturb the process of what's happening! List Price: $18.64 $18.64. If the sights need to be stripped & blued, follow the same procedure, but dont polish on them. Oh mas oui.Express blueing, slow rust blueing, hot salt blueing, nitre blueing, carbona blueing all are better than cold blueing. Once the steel is clean, you can begin heating it up. 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. Different colors can be achieved through variations of this method including quenching in oil instead of water. However, if the bluing effect isnt satisfactory, then you can try giving the components an acid bath (using Hydrochloric Acid). In the hot salt process, you will need, oh, four to six tanks, only one of which will be the heated blueing salts. There are many methods you can use to blue the steel. 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. 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. 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. Shooting Mystery is reader-supported. Initially case hardening was used but did not offer any aesthetics. Theres nothing wrong with your method, but is is very hazardous, especially to people who have never done anything like it before. The object on the left is a custom mild steel potentiometer knob! The process isnt intended for bronze. The plate turned blue just like you ible and I was told this was an effect of compression fitting.the rod didn't change colour even though it had the heat applied to it so was it actually the compression fit that changed the plates colour. 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. As I'm bluing round pieces I slowly and evenly rotate the piece over the flame to equally disburse the heat. Fe3O4 requires chemicals and/or heat to push the iron to full oxidation. And thats about everything you need to know about stainless steel bluing. You can use a heat gun, a blow dryer, or a torch for this. Quenching the steel rapidly cools it so the alloys inside harden together. Ill be saving this for the future. I wore latex gloves, as Brownells recommended, but used a pot holder to handle the hot barrel, and that may have been the source. 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. Then wipe off all excess oil and look at your beautiful finished object! Referring to the post that started all of this; Dyspeptic Gunsmith says: very easy way to get a blue finish on steel - Fit and Finish When the first patch gets really funky, then drop that in your plastic garbage container (remember, these patches have been soaked in acid solutions! After 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. 1/16-inch pivot wire has a circumference of ~0.2in. I have also had good results with 5w/30 motor oil, I've also used two-stroke oil with good results. You heat the outside member only when you do a shrink fit.). This is an alternative method for creating the black oxide coating. Above you can see some example pictures of the colour shades that can be achieved with this techniques. Very true. This method was adopted by larger firearm companies for large scale, more economical bluing. Rust bluing is also used on shotgun barrels that are soldered to the rib between the barrels, as hot bluing solutions melt the solder during the bluing process. Depending on the manufacturers manual, youll have to prepare roughly 6 to 8 tanks to perform the bluing effectively and efficiently. The robot gives the steel valve seat a quick blast with liquid nitrogen and drops the seat right in place. Old school smiths use something called washing soda to strip oil off guns. Picture Information. You can make your own desiccant packs with kitty litter (I would recommend the unused variety). Even a fingerprint will affect the consistency of the colour. For more information on using a blowtorch and protecting the steel, scroll down! $36.73. Every true outdoorsmans dream! 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). 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. Mix equal parts of cream and liquid Brownells Oxpho Blue. The usual mistake on buffing wheels is using too coarse a compound, and then the wheel becomes quite aggressive in removing material. This answer was tested with a utility knife blade and it drilled through with ease. 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. Best Gun Bluing Process that partially protects steel against rust, This article is about the historical uses of black oxide. These processes were later abandoned by major firearm manufacturers as it often took parts days to finish completely, and was very labor-intensive. Use hemostats to hold a cleaning patch wetted with the solution and apply in nice, long, even strokes. Youll get a dark spot right there. You might be able to start at 320 grit. wikiHow is where trusted research and expert knowledge come together. Where/how did you think I got to the point I could make nice guns? Before operating your torch, read all instructions so you know how to handle it safely. 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. By signing up you are agreeing to receive emails according to our privacy policy. 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. It is not nice stuff. How to Blue (Bluing) Steel Using Oven Or Torch and Oil Method OOMAN 2.28K subscribers Subscribe 872 112K views 4 years ago My apologies for the background Bluing may be applied by immersing steel parts in a solution of potassium nitrate, sodium hydroxide, and water heated to the boiling point, 275310F (135154C) depending on the recipe. I guess Ill have to just be happy drying toilet paper. It is generally employed on smaller parts such as pins, screws, sights, etc. Polish to at least 400 grit. There are many simple ways to achieve good bluing. 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. Heat the gun parts. You have entered an incorrect email address! Did you ever find out what oil they were using? Right now I'm working on excavator replacement pins! Besides those, you must also have water displacing oil and cleaning solution (Dicro-Clean 909). 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. They melt at, oh, somewhere about 280F. When youre done and have neutralized & washed off the Express Blue #1 solution, you then should spray down the barrel with water-displacing oil. 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). Put all the components into the tank and wait for 5 15 minutes. 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. You are a fantastic resource for all of us here. Steel Do all the prep you would for express or rust blueing, especially degreasing. Bluing is most commonly used by gun manufacturers, gunsmiths, and gun owners to improve the cosmetic appearance of and provide a measure of corrosion resistance to their firearms. Drop a piece of hot charcoal in it and it will burn in the absence of any atmosphere as the nitrate provides the oxygen for the reaction. Browning a gun gives you a nice, even brown patina finish of red rust on a gun. It is one smoooooth profile, from one end to the other. 3D Printed Futuristic Space Age Wall Clock. By using our site, you agree to our. Whats the difference between Brown Express and Blue Express? 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. If everything appears good, then you can transfer the components into a hot water tank. One can generally use the same solution to brown as to blue. It is named after the blue-black appearance of the resulting protective finish. I've never done anything like this but want to try. Heat the gun parts. That said, heres the truth: The best blueing you can have on a gun is simple, safe to do, but takes a long time. Keep heating the steel until you notice a blue color form on the metal. Blue Metal Shell 13 in 1 Welding Torch Nozzle Tip Cleaner For Welder Soldering. Hopefully these concepts suggest caution and diligence for what you are doing. The ideal setup is a pair of long sleeve gloves along with splash goggles and a face mask. You work on nice guns! Spray down the whole barreled action with copious amounts of WD-40, inside and out. Add 5 lbs of regular table salt to the water. Dont drop or try to bend the steel once its removed. You can improve your results by doing two things: 1. Hopefully these concepts suggest caution and diligence for what you are doing. Thanks for the lesson, DG. Torch Prepare the components of the metal surface before you attempt to blue using your tools. You dont want to affect the hardness of your steel in critical areas like actions, bolts, bolt lugs, barrels, chambers, etc. Remove any previous finish. 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. % of people told us that this article helped them. To temper the steel so it isn't brittle, place it in an oven heated to 375 F for 3 hours, and then it let it cool overnight. 8 years ago The name of the process actually comes from the blue-black appearance of the black iron oxide. The potassium nitrate will liquefy at around this temperature and blue your items at a relatively quick speed. Are you sure you want to heat the steel to 700F in that early step? Mess. Thermal Bluing - The Process of Heat Treating Watch Hands DG thank you. 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. 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!). on Introduction, Hello my name is Joe and Im doing a project where Im trying to achieve the same outcome. http://www.lowes.com/pd_188198-316-HG-66420_0__?productId=4764059 Then you have to heat the metal. 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. The wire is extremely small in diameter, so you have to take that into consideration. 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. Woodworkers doing furniture finishing will use 000 and 0000 wool, and they hate oil on their wool for rubbing down oil finishes. Posted December 21, 2009. Use a backing block of wood or even a Pink Pearl rubber eraser. To heat this, I use a Coleman camp stove and a 15# jug of LPG gas. To harden steel, start by heating the metal directly with a blow torch until it turns a cherry red color. As mentioned, cold bluing can be done at room temperature with decent results. I like parkerization on some of my milsurps. 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.