bluing steel with a torch

Bear in mind not to touch the walls of your container as you don't want to disturb the process of what's happening! You are a fantastic resource for all of us here. Heating it again to a lower temperature will not introduce additional martensite. $3.59. Heat the gun parts. The List Price is the suggested retail price of a new product as provided by a manufacturer, supplier, or seller. This answer was tested with a utility knife blade and it drilled through with ease. I wore latex gloves, as Brownells recommended, but used a pot holder to handle the hot barrel, and that may have been the source. Slow rust blueing can take a week or more to accomplish, but it is a durable blue job like no other. "dateModified": "2022-03-27", The parts must be observed constantly for colour change. Can a softly tempered piece be re-tempered harder without going through the hardening procedure again? 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. This is all from memory so I might have left some stuff out. 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). You can also heat the oil to create different effects. They melt at, oh, somewhere about 280F. 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. You turn up your nose at crap guns? In the hot salt process, you will need, oh, four to six tanks, only one of which will be the heated blueing salts. I used Express Blue #1 on lots of guns, where I want something less labor intensive than slow rust blueing (which I wont describe here): most steel wool isnt oil-free. Also: Do not allow the solution to run, drip or sag. Mark the sharpened edge with a crayon. 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. It is named after the blue-black appearance of the resulting protective finish. 3D Printed Futuristic Space Age Wall Clock. That surface rust on the barrel could be polished off easily. Ferrari installs valve seats in their aluminum cylinder heads via robot. 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. If the magnet doesnt stick, its ready to be pulled away from the heat. 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. it would appear these sights are drifted into dovetails. Bluing is a passivation process in which steel is partially protected against rust using a black oxide coating. By using this service, some information may be shared with YouTube. Its for mild steel, which must be greased, oiled or otherwise coated with something to stop it from rusting almost immediately. I have cut and polished 4 pieces of mild steel to demonstrate different colour stages. But the article was very informative. Just dont do it. Fortunately, this is easily had at any hardware store: WD-40 is a water displacing product, not a lubricant (contrary to widespread advertising). on Introduction, Hello my name is Joe and Im doing a project where Im trying to achieve the same outcome. "sameAs": 3 years ago It would be a good idea to get some gloves on. 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!). Initially case hardening was used but did not offer any aesthetics. While the rod may heat some by conduction, it wouldn't get hot enough to start the color-forming process. You might be able to start at 320 grit. Fume bluing is another process similar to rust bluing. 35% Potassium nitrate (aka saltpeter), http://castboolits.gunloads.com/archive/index.php/t-36054.html. 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. Participated in the Explore Science Contest. If everything appears good, then you can transfer the components into a hot water tank. Then you sight down the barrel and you see dips and waves in the barrel profile. } 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). Dont. 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. Gee, Im thinkin Duro or cero coat maybe even Krylon might be a good enough.. Gas burners can usually do the job for this. Add in the 250F+ temperatures of the salts when they hit your skin, and youre both burned thermally and chemically in seconds. DG thank you. 6 years ago. Glad that there are folks like you around. Hunter Rising is a wikiHow Staff Writer based in Los Angeles. Most waters in the Rockies clear out to the west coast will have high(er) dissolved solids in them. I didnt drop outta my mommas womb being able to do this stuff. | 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. All those materials the leather and bone the coal where sources of carbon and other trace elements. His enthusiasm for handling firearms and hunting gear inspired him to create the Shooting Mystery blog. 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. Seriously, this is interesting and thank you for posting it, but I hope to never be in a position where I need to use either of these techniques! 2 years ago It provides the stainless steel surface with a layer of protection, giving rust and corrosion resistance while reducing potential glare as well. The inside barrel was saved by the fact it was so full of lead fouling. "mainEntityOfPage": "https://shootingmystery.com/blue-stainless-steel-beginners/", There is something really rewarding about this technique. "author": "Christopher Graham", Mess. Were committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Hot NaOH is so alkaline it is great as dissolving organic materials. Spray down the whole barreled action with copious amounts of WD-40, inside and out. Dont pour water in to your bath! Not only does it give you an alchemical feeling of satisfactionbut it also gives the metal a finish to stop corrosion. 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. 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. Oxides come after its been heated to a red heat and cooled. You want to be in the range of 600 to 650F. Battery acid is childs play compared to blueing salts. just fyi, the old school method of case hardening steel is to get the piece so hot that a magnet will no longet stick to it and quickly quench it in used motor oil. Depending on what solution you use, the tank temperature must be maintained somewhere between 240 and 310 degrees Fahrenheit. Get it Feb 25 - 27. on Introduction. Repeat 3 times. Blue Metal Shell 13 in 1 Welding Torch Nozzle Tip Cleaner For Welder Soldering. -An old container filled with your chosen degreaser (unleaded petrol), -Your desired polished metal object/s (very important! Often it does provide an adequate cosmetic touch-up of a gun's finish when applied and additionally oiled on a regular basis. There are 10 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. It will instantly vaporize into steam and splash all over you. You have entered an incorrect email address! Where/how did you think I got to the point I could make nice guns? If the solution is still boiling vigorously, then you can expect the bluing to happen naturally. The parts are then boiled in distilled water, blown dry, then carded, as with rust bluing. 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! If you want it smoother/shinier, you can polish up to 600 grit, with wet-or-dry paper. "Bluing" is the process of oxidizing steel to create a durable, corrosion-resistant layer. That means 50-60 revolutions to make a foot. Drill bits and gun barrels are common examples. For the color change to be uniform you have to remove the grease, oil, paint etc or it looks blotchy. -A heat source. Your container should be relatively larger than your object. So basically, youll want the rifle in the vise with the muzzle pointed to your left. "https://www.facebook.com/Shooting-Mystery-110244180901951", I have at least three cold blue solutions in my shop including Oxpho-blue, 44-40 and others. "url": "https://shootingmystery.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/How-to-Blue-Stainless-Steel-in-5-Easy-Steps.jpg" At 700, you start losing your blues and the steel starts becoming a wispy silvery-blue, not a dark brilliant blue. Commercial products are widely sold in small bottles for cold bluing firearms, and these products are primarily used by individual gun owners for implementing small touch-ups to a gun's finish, to prevent a small scratch from becoming a major source of rust on a gun over time. I like parkerization on some of my milsurps. However, due to the unique qualities of stainless steel, you cant simply blue the material however way you like. Work on a metal or steel surface, such as an anvil, to avoid any fire hazards. 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. Salts. Some people might not have a tank long enough to contain a barreled action to boil out. 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. Oil-free steel wool is also sold by woodworking shops. Also remember, by adjusting the heat you can get whatever color you want. The downsides are: the safety issue, which I laid out above, and which youve made clear. This will keep the bluing from adhering to the sharpened edge. There are many methods you can use to blue the steel. You can make your own desiccant packs with kitty litter (I would recommend the unused variety). I just had my first experience rust browning a barrel. Blue or Black rust is complete passivation of the steel surface Fe3O4. Fill a heat-safe container with water or oil deep enough to submerge your steel. Being prepared is important if you can not measure the temp. Add 5 lbs of regular table salt to the water. : Make sure it is made from Mild Steel or Titanium. ")You're ABSOLUTELY right. If youre using acetone to de-oil, dont be afraid to do it more than once. this article statement Degrease and heat the items to be blued in a steel pan to about 700F. 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. It takes practice. kitty litter (I would recommend the unused variety). Cold blues will This is not necessary as long as you can hold your item appropriately and not cover where it is to be heated. If you are new to the subject and are in need of detailed instructions, then youve come to the right place. You can then use a soft brush to gently remove all the residue of the cleaning solution on the components. Different colors can be achieved through variations of this method including quenching in oil instead of water. Accidental exposure to the chemicals could result in serious injuries. 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. 2023 All Rights Reserved by Shooting Mystery. WHERE or when would the torch get used? Do all the prep you would for express or rust blueing, especially degreasing. Be patient in the first few minutes as the metal needs to reach the temperatures where it changes colour! Examples of this finish are common on older pocket watches whose hands exhibit what is called 'peacock blue', a rich iridescent blue. When the first patch gets really funky, then drop that in your plastic garbage container (remember, these patches have been soaked in acid solutions! Alternatively. You can use a heat gun, a blow dryer, or a torch for this. 2mm wire has a circumference of ~0.25in. 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. SO, DG; unless I missed it, I am assuming the torch is used separate from heating the tank/ container with the boiling solution. Keep them in that state while you heat them but be sure to not boil up the tank. Its much cheaper anyways. Either of these two methods is called 'hot bluing'. This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Hunter Rising. You then oil or wax over the finish when youre done. It is generally employed on smaller parts such as pins, screws, sights, etc. The name of the process actually comes from the blue-black appearance of the black iron oxide. I wouldn't recommend either. Hot blueing is a good process, especially if you have a lot of iron to shove through the blueing process quickly. It's easy to get it too hot, too quickly - especially with an O/A or oxy-propane torch. The parts are then oiled and allowed to stand overnight. Make sure to check every nook and cranny of the components so that you can find any discoloration or blemishes. Picture Information. 3 years ago. So unless you have sufficient equipment and skill, its advised to let a professional perform the bluing for you. 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. Youll want to clamp on the barrel directly under the sight youre about to drift out. (meaning oxygen atoms are able to attach themselves to the outer layer of the steel)We did this with an electromagnet! Any more advice is welcome SteelJunkee Joined May 6, 2018 Messages 891 Wear thick gloves so you dont burn yourself. Blow torches only heat a small concentrated area. Is the torch used to heat metal ..ONLY.with Cold bluing? "image": { I can see my wife walking in and shaking her headabout as vigorously as when I asked if I could use the dishwasher to clean some tools. The usual mistake on buffing wheels is using too coarse a compound, and then the wheel becomes quite aggressive in removing material. "publisher": { As a small thank you, wed like to offer you a $30 gift card (valid at GoNift.com). (Its Crystalline Potassium Nitrate 100%) $6.18 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. 2. For the final step, we let the components cool down in water displacing oil. My first time wasnt a stunning success. If you cant, just get them out of the case and allow air to circulate around them. 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. It is also used by machinists, to protect and beautify tools made for their own use. 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 . Hopefully these concepts suggest caution and diligence for what you are doing. When youre using hot blueing salts, youd better be on top of your game, or you can seriously injure yourself. Bluing is often a hobbyist endeavor, and there are many methods of bluing, and continuing debates about the relative efficacy of each method. If you are referring to torch bluing, the 1. A few safety items: Its easy enough to color metal with a torch, but it has always been a hit-or-miss process for me, and when it was a big hit, I was rarely able to re-create how it got that way. JUST DONT. 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. } Metal Finishing Guru. Steps to Hot Blue Steel with a Torch For this Instructable I'm using thread cutting oil. 99. The steel will pull some of the carbon out of the oil while quenching and harden the outer portion of the metal. With a simple heating and quenching process, you can make your steel last for much longer! 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. Tenifer get's up to (1077F) last I checked and was the 5th step in Glock heat treating after that they Pakerize it. This is as deadly as the lye-based hot salts, but more for the temperature of a large batch of salts. Use a backing block of wood or even a Pink Pearl rubber eraser. As I'm bluing round pieces I slowly and evenly rotate the piece over the flame to equally disburse the heat. Drift the sights back in from the right side of the barrel. Should something happen, seek medical help right away. If you tempered the steel with a blow torch, set the metal on an anvil or another large steel surface to conduct the heat. This article was very, "I've been working with steel since I was a child, and reviewing these proper methods and skills makes my projects, "It surely educated me on several points. Then wipe off all excess oil and look at your beautiful finished object! What is your opinion of the 2 to 1 lye and potassium nitrate bluing solution? WebBluing is a passivation process in which steel is partially protected against rust using a black oxide coating. Keep a fire extinguisher near your workstation in case of a fire. Rinse them in a cold water tank after. Next, suspend the components in a cleaning solution tank to get rid of dirt, oil, grease, and crud. I have also had good results with 5w/30 motor oil, I've also used two-stroke oil with good results. You can experiment ultimately what oils to use. Just take them from the comments he posts. The wire is extremely small in diameter, so you have to take that into consideration. The ideal setup is a pair of long sleeve gloves along with splash goggles and a face mask. In the automotive world this is a common practice. This is one of the reasons rust and fume bluing are generally more rust-resistant than other methods. Just let any residual matter evaporate/dry. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Your 700F temp is too high, IMO. 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]. It is named after the blue-black appearance of the resulting protective finish. ", Contemporary heat-treatable steels did not exist or were in their infancy. Modern home hobbyist versions of this process typically use a hydrogen peroxide and salt solution, sometimes with vinegar, for the rusting step to avoid the need for more dangerous acids.[7]. I hope to someday have good knowledge to pass on to people, heh. Mix equal parts of cream and liquid Brownells Oxpho Blue. Are you sure you want to heat the steel to 700F in that early step? This method must not be used on critically heat-treated parts such as receivers, slides or springs. Hot. I guess Ill have to just be happy drying toilet paper. Bluing is also used for providing coloring for steel parts of fine clocks and other fine metalwork. [ WebThe gun bluing process Start with 1 gallon of water and add it to a deep fryer that has been thoroughly cleaned. Submerge in water and scrape edge. . Alternatively, You could store them in a hard case (like a pelican with a purge) and throw some desiccant packs in there as well. wikiHow marks an article as reader-approved once it receives enough positive feedback. 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. 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. you may benefit from the use of a gas lense as well. How to Blue Bluing Steel Using Oven Or Torch and Oil Method. Reply 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' Safety notes: Dont use an aluminum pan. Besides those, you must also have water displacing oil and cleaning solution (Dicro-Clean 909). YouTube - Nitre bluing a few gun parts. With. What I forgot to mention in all of this is a detail that seems mundane, but it critically important: Wear cotton gloves. Heating up a tank on the kitchen stove. If you havent done it before, wait until I mention some items about it. All tip submissions are carefully reviewed before being published. Thats how vigorously we de-grease guns before starting blueing. Even at room temperature, the salts are highly caustic and will eat into your eyes or skin in seconds not minutes. It greatly helped me to learn how to blue a gun perfectly at home. This article has been viewed 914,567 times. You can blue heat-treated parts with no ill effects. 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. 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 The cross section and size of parts affect the outcome of the finish and time it takes to achieve. Free shipping for many products! I dont have that much blueing to do in my shop, so I dont use hot salts. I can then get the temp to be 600F spot-on in a lead melting pot. The de-greasing you do directly affects the uniformity of the browning or blueing. 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. Do NOT wipe/touch your metal with anything after degreasing as the whole purpose of cleaning was then for nothing. That said, heres the truth: The best blueing you can have on a gun is simple, safe to do, but takes a long time. Either that or the steel wool. They have their place, but doing a whole gun with them isnt that place. 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. It is usually inadvisable to use cold bluing as a touch-up where friction is present. Enjoy! for 6-8 hours. Quenched steel is harder, but it becomes more brittle. 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? I now want to reverse the process so I can drill and tap the metal tip. COPYRIGHT 2021, THETRUTHABOUTGUNS.COM. "Cold" bluing is generally a selenium dioxide based compound that colours steel black, or more often a very dark grey. Ill be saving this for the future. 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. 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. Then you can express blue it with a propane torch and a tank of boiling water. the cost of all the tanks you need for rinse & boil-out (You say the rod was heated, but it couldn't have been, as it was on the inside. Very true. Similarly, stainless steel parts may be immersed in a mixture of nitrates and chromates, similarly heated. These processes were later abandoned by major firearm manufacturers as it often took parts days to finish completely, and was very labor-intensive. Use it to try out great new products and services nationwide without paying full pricewine, food delivery, clothing and more. Black oxide provides minimal protection against corrosion, unless also treated with a water-displacing oil to reduce wetting and galvanic action. If you have very light, fine pitting, you can polish this out. Safety is the number one priority so protect your body as much as possible. You work on nice guns! After that, slowly and steadily stir the solution in, Step 2: Process the components of the gun, Wait for 10 15 minutes and then take out the components. "@type": "ImageObject", It does provide good rust resistance, which is improved with oil. In my case I drilled/threaded the metal piece and made a holder with a threaded end. Use your torch to bring up Not every manufacturer puts bittering agents in the solution and as one poison control nurse told me: (t)here is nothing you can do and it aint the good death.. Note that it has to be a different tank from the one you used for Step 2. The rod was heated and the plate 2" square was inserted and the rod shrunk onto it. 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. Dang it all. Follow the instructions. Ill wait for and look forward to your article! He has more than three years of experience writing for and working with wikiHow. It also looks good on AK type weapons of which I have three to park. 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. Friction, as from holster wear, quickly removes cold bluing, and also removes hot bluing, rust, or fume bluing over long periods of use.