Three Options For Bluing Steel

i've used three different blueing techniques on my projects i thought a comparison of these three would be interesting i scored some fender washers from home depot to use for the comparison i mark them as follows cold for cold bluing flame for flame or heat bluing and rust for rust blowing i soaked the washers in vinegar for a couple days to burn off the zinc plating i stuck one of those super strong magnets to the washer and found a socket that would fit over it this made it easier for me to hold the washers while i sanded and polish them chuck and i went ahead and flitched a fourth washer here's a rundown of the cold bluing process the best way to guarantee success with cold bluing is making sure the part is clean i wear a fresh pair of rubber gloves and i use denatured alcohol to clean the item when you think you have it really clean go on ahead and clean it again then rinse the part in tap water dry it and apply the bluing solution with a cotton ball i'm using birchwood casey's perma blue here but i've also had success with super blue i let the bluing solution soak on the part for about a minute then rinse it with tap water here's the washer rinsed and dried i found that to get a dark even finish multiple coats are required i use super fine steel wool to buff the part between coats sometimes the bluing can be blotchy the steel wool will even the coloring out the part has to be cleaned again rinsed and dried before applying more bluing solution i always use a new cotton ball for each application i ended up applying three coats of the bluing solution to the washer after buffing out the final application with super fine steel wool i soak the part in oil at least overnight but a couple of days is better i've been using non-detergent 30 weight oil for this but any oil should work okay now let's check out flame bluing i've also seen it referred to as heat bluing basically you heat the steel until it turns blue and then dunk it in oil i'm using a propane torch and canola oil again any oil would probably work can you see the washer starting to turn blue i think steel turns blue between 500 and 600 degrees fahrenheit keep in mind that this may be hot enough to alter the temper of a heat treated part rust bluing is the process of converting red oxide to black oxide this was the traditional finish used by early gunsmiths i soaked the cleaned washer in vinegar for several minutes dried it off and then brushed on a solution of hydrogen peroxide and kosher salt i heated a quarter cup of hydrogen peroxide and dissolved most of a tablespoon of kosher salt into it the solution reacts with the steel very quickly instant patina to speed up the drying time i used mrs magdad's hair dryer i dropped the washer into boiling distilled water the red oxide turns black pretty quickly i let the washer boil for about five minutes then i took it out dried it off and buffed it with steel wool i cleaned it with denatured alcohol and applied a second coat i found that it takes many coats to get a decent blued finish here's the washer going into the boiling water for the last time i soaked the washer with the non-detergent 30 weight oil after buffing it with steel wool so here's the three washers each blued with a different technique although the cold bluing solutions can be expensive i find that this method gives me the best results unlike the other two methods cold bluing can be selectively applied to parts of an item and cold bluing will not affect the heat treatment of the steel flame bluing is super easy and i've been able to achieve nice results because it requires heating the part above 500 degrees it would not be a good method for heat treated steel parts rust blueing is fun i feel like an old world alchemist making a brush on rust potion and then magically turning it black i've seen gunsmiths use this process to achieve amazing results on antique firearms i just don't think it's very practical for the type of projects i usually work on i have been asked if bluing provides any corrosion protection remember that the last step for all three techniques was a long soaking oil i think it's the thin film of oil that protects the part i hung the three washers plus the one chuck and i flitched on a board the shiny metal washer has a coat of johnson's paste wax and the three blue washers were soaked in oil and then wiped dry i mixed one teaspoon of kosher salt in one cup of tap water i gave the four washers an even spritzing of the saltwater solution here's a close-up just after i sprayed them and here's the washers after 24 hours the salt just dried on the surface the wax and oil film seem to protect the washers equally well i have also been asked how abrasion resistant bluing is i was able to easily scratch through the bluing on each washer with my pocketknife i also lightly scrubbed each washer with a piece of scotch brite the scotch brite had no trouble getting through the bluing to bare metal here's the damage on each washer i hope you found this comparison helpful thanks for watching i decided to go ahead and scratch and scotch-brite the shiny finished washer too you

Channel: 357magdad

Views: 96,999

Keywords: flitz, heat blue, flame blue, rust blue, cold blue, permablue, superblue, birchwood casey

Id: QkcKGgHGRo8

Length: 9min 58sec (598 seconds)

Published: Sun Dec 13 2020