This article has been viewed 914,567 times. 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. "url": "https://shootingmystery.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Shootinglogo.png" The book claims they used wait for it "boiling gasoline" not making this up to clean them. In the hot salt process, you will need, oh, four to six tanks, only one of which will be the heated blueing salts. Fill the tank with a suitable amount of water then add in the bluing salt using the correct ratio. To heat this, I use a Coleman camp stove and a 15# jug of LPG gas. That seems wasteful. "mainEntityOfPage": "https://shootingmystery.com/blue-stainless-steel-beginners/", 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. If you need to use a blow torch, focus the flame tip on the area you want hardened. 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. NaOH is nasty stuff. 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. - Ballachy", "Bluing of Steel by Heat Treatment: Why and How it Happens? One can generally use the same solution to brown as to blue. Thats how vigorously we de-grease guns before starting blueing. Fortunately, this is easily had at any hardware store: WD-40 is a water displacing product, not a lubricant (contrary to widespread advertising). Next, suspend the components in a cleaning solution tank to get rid of dirt, oil, grease, and crud. 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. Heating it again to a lower temperature will not introduce additional martensite. How to Blue Bluing Steel Using Oven Or Torch and Oil Method. "description": "If you want to find out how to blue stainless steel, then you've come to the right place. Theres a reason why I buy up clapped-out guns and stuff where people look at me with a WTF?! 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. ", not only fun, but also profitable. That surface rust on the barrel could be polished off easily. You need to constantly be adding in a bit of water to bring the boiling point back down into the range you need. Thank you, DG! In my case I drilled/threaded the metal piece and made a holder with a threaded end. Then you pull it out and scrape off the oil along the blade edge. Acetone is also useful for de-greasing the barreled action. If a bank transfer is made but no receipt is uploaded within this period, your order will be cancelled. Heat the area with a torch until it stops sweating. Blue 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. 1/16-inch pivot wire has a circumference of ~0.2in. If youre interested, just ask and I can provide more details. "logo": { Salts. "datePublished": "2022-03-27", Dont mess with hot salts. Its for mild steel, which must be greased, oiled or otherwise coated with something to stop it from rusting almost immediately. As mentioned, cold bluing can be done at room temperature with decent results. Have proper ventilation and use proper modern safety gear! However, oil may spill and create a fire hazard if the steel is put into the oil too quickly. It is named after the blue-black appearance of the resulting protective finish. Ships from and sold by Direct-Wholesale. Most knives, rifle receivers and barrels are heated to at least 1200F and cooled and drawn at 490F-700F. 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. Many double-barreled shotguns are soft soldered (lead) or silver brazed together and many of the parts are attached by that method also. Drill bits and gun barrels are common examples. 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. Prepare the components of the metal surface before you attempt to blue using your tools. "@type": "ImageObject", Your container should be relatively larger than your object. You might be able to start at 320 grit. -something to hold your object with i.e. "Bluing" is the process of oxidizing steel to create a durable, corrosion-resistant layer. 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 . ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. There are 10 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. 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. Hopefully these concepts suggest caution and diligence for what you are doing. Keep a grade B fire extinguisher nearby in case of a fire. If the sights need to be stripped & blued, follow the same procedure, but dont polish on them. 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. 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. So basically, youll want the rifle in the vise with the muzzle pointed to your left. 2. Very helpful! Dont leave cold blue solutions around anywhere pets or kids could get at them. I used Brownells Plum Brown, a product that requires that the barrel be heated to 275 degrees to activate the reaction. This is a great source that you can learn lots of information from and I'll advise it to to a handfuls of others. 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. It is slightly caustic, so be careful you dont leave it on the gun for long. Use Hot Bluing And Cold Bluing To Give Your Steel That Turn the heat on and give a good regular stirring until it gets very hot and starts to steam. Friction, as from holster wear, quickly removes cold bluing, and also removes hot bluing, rust, or fume bluing over long periods of use. For more information on using a blowtorch and protecting the steel, scroll down! Although the steel parts, such as anOrdains watch hands, are near enough miniscule, each This is not necessary as long as you can hold your item appropriately and not cover where it is to be heated. Heating white, degreased steel to 550 to 600F results in brilliant colors. My advice to people here: Unless youre a professional, and youre working in a shop with all the required safety gear (a cold water shower within a couple feet of the tanks, and an eyewash station next to the tanks, and someone working in the same shop every moment youre working on the salt tanks), DONT. YouTube - Nitre bluing a few gun parts. Ive learned a LOT. Robert Farago is the former publisher of The Truth About Guns (TTAG). 2023 All Rights Reserved by Shooting Mystery. I found through my bluing adventure that different oils do act slighty different but ultimately everything I've used has done the job. By using our site, you agree to our. The inside barrel was saved by the fact it was so full of lead fouling. Go on and start bluing! Great column, and thanks for all the responses to various questions and comments. The downsides are: the safety issue, which I laid out above, and which youve made clear. It is caused by a layer of oxide that forms when the steel is heated. I want to add rainbow color to safety razor blades that would be used again, how can I do this? And for the next (after the next) installment, how to do hard case coloring. WebHeat the blade for 15 to 20 minutes in an oven set on 325 Fahrenheit if the handle is metal. it takes a long time to heat up a long (ie barreled action length) tank that is, oh, three barrels wide. This will remove all the traces of the bluing solution and other chemicals. You can improve your results by doing two things: 1. Just take them from the comments he posts. Being prepared is important if you can not measure the temp. 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 Im not responsible for marital discord as a result of gun projects attempted on the kitchen stove. The steel was mild steel and had very little carbon content. Christopher Graham writes all the content and reviews on this site with the help of his team of hunters and shooters. Tenifer get's up to (1077F) last I checked and was the 5th step in Glock heat treating after that they Pakerize it. Hunter Rising is a wikiHow Staff Writer based in Los Angeles. -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). Help 'blueing' with OA torch If you have a wood or phenolic handle, use a propane torch to heat the blade only for about two minutes. I wouldnt use this bluing method for these items. Think big scars. I have to finish my M76 and Galil first and buy the materials. However, due to the unique qualities of stainless steel, you cant simply blue the material however way you like. When putting water in your boil-out tank, use distilled water if you have water with high mineral content. I handed a buddy my wallet and cell phone, and stepped under the safety shower and got wet. Oil-free steel wool is also sold by woodworking shops. The parts must be observed constantly for colour change. I have done a cold blue on a very rusted .22 for a friend. However, there are certain characteristics differences between the materials so knowing clearly how to blue stainless steel is really important. Be careful since considerable heat might be generated in the process. JUST DONT. Always back your paper when youre polishing over edges and up against features. However, if the bluing effect isnt satisfactory, then you can try giving the components an acid bath (using Hydrochloric Acid). to blue / heat anodize stainless steel Above you can see some example pictures of the colour shades that can be achieved with this techniques. blue steel It is vastly appreciated even by those of us who will probably never use it. 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 dont use hot salt blueing because much of my work is on older double guns, which have ribs that are soft-soldered into place. 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?). Initially case hardening was used but did not offer any aesthetics. If there is any finish left on the metal, it will interfere with the bluing pr All tip submissions are carefully reviewed before being published. "@context": "http://schema.org/", LOGIX 20910 Butane Torch, Cooking Torch, Torch for Creme Brulee, Refillable, 9.6 oz, Blue Steel . gas coverage is another big one. Keep a fire extinguisher near your workstation in case of a fire. 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? Brilliant blues. 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). It was left in a flannel gun case in the back of a moist closet for 25+ years. Then remove it from the degreaser, don't be tempted to wipe it off with anything. 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. 4 years ago "url": "https://shootingmystery.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/How-to-Blue-Stainless-Steel-in-5-Easy-Steps.jpg" You should keep guns in a safe, if you can. Hot blueing is a good process, especially if you have a lot of iron to shove through the blueing process quickly. For the chemical, the bluing solution should be either Oxynate No. Use hemostats to hold a cleaning patch wetted with the solution and apply in nice, long, even strokes. My current rifle builds are going to be parkerzied. 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.. 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. Mess. Let them cool down as you take a closer look at the bluing effect. For more information on using a blowtorch and protecting the steel, scroll down! Whats the difference between Brown Express and Blue Express? Hunter holds a BFA in Entertainment Design from the University of Wisconsin - Stout and a Minor in English Writing. While the rod may heat some by conduction, it wouldn't get hot enough to start the color-forming process. The practice of bluing steel takes time and an exquisite eye for detail. Before you start, it might do you well to mark the sight base on each side of the dovetail with a Sharpie marker, so you can see when the sight begins to move. That way, you can still use your oven for the rest of the evening. Are you sure you want to heat the steel to 700F in that early step? While still hot and while wearing rubber gloves rub the bluing compound Into the steel with the steel wool. 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. Before operating your torch, read all instructions so you know how to handle it safely. 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]. THANKS DG. Dont. | 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. Higher carbon contents will take longer to heat. You can then u. se a soft brush to gently remove all the residue of the cleaning solution on the components. The object on the left is a custom mild steel potentiometer knob! Mea maxima culpa - and I left my comment up rather than delete the thread (for now) just so I could reply and admit the My Dumb, rather than skulk away cleanly >;-), Question I plan on doing this on a couple of older beaters first. 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. If you are new to the subject and are in need of detailed instructions, then youve come to the right place. The easier of the two methods, hot bluing only requires some degreasing agent, a heating apparatus (a blow torch is perfect for this), and any kind of oil. Larger flames produce less heat while smaller flames produce a higher heat. The rust then turns to black-blue Fe3O4. WHERE or when would the torch get used? 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. The ideal setup is a pair of long sleeve gloves along with splash goggles and a face mask. 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. 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. }. How to Harden Steel: 10 Steps (with Pictures) - wikiHow It does provide good rust resistance, which is improved with oil. Woodworkers doing furniture finishing will use 000 and 0000 wool, and they hate oil on their wool for rubbing down oil finishes. He has more than three years of experience writing for and working with wikiHow. 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. Do NOT wipe/touch your metal with anything after degreasing as the whole purpose of cleaning was then for nothing. You can use a heat gun, a blow dryer, or a torch for this. Aluminium (Al) and polymer parts cannot be blued, and no corrosion protection is provided. A couple bottles of aged bourbon minimum. Where/how did you think I got to the point I could make nice guns? If you havent done it before, wait until I mention some items about it. "width": "1500", I use it, oh so cautiously in making my biodiesel. I just had my first experience rust browning a barrel. Question Again, dont mess around with these chemicals and only handle them with extreme attention. Water is great for rapidly quenching the hot metal, but it could cause thin steel to distort or crack. In this case cooking oil, rather than gun oil, acts to displace water and prevent rust. What I forgot to mention in all of this is a detail that seems mundane, but it critically important: Wear cotton gloves. {"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":"