Cold bluing or cold blackening seems to be an accepted method of
protecting steel parts in the shop. Add on a sealant or keep the part
oiled and supposedly it will resist rust and corrosion indefinitely.
I have done cold bluing in the ancient past using the gunsmith supplies.
When I was a kid I stripped and refinished and old Sears .22 rifle,
and I built 4 different black powder kit guns that came in the white.
The quantity in gunsmith supplies is rather stingy. The amount in a
bottle is enough to do a fair to good job on one complete firearm and
maybe do some touch up work if you know how to make it blend. Two guns
if you don't make any mistakes.
More recently I've started making tools in my own shop. Many were
intended to be a single use or short run tool. Long reach clamp to hold
a slide bar in a mold until it could be match machined and clamped in
other ways. Long reach tool holder for deep milling. Half round tool
for work stop in the spindle and work positioning. Lots of stuff
really. Mostly I have left them in the white (fine for carbide tools
and some I've made in stainless) because they were made to do a single
job. I didn't throw them away, but I didn't plan for them to be likely
to see future use. It turns out nearly all of them have been much more useful than I originally planned. I need to blacken and oil them I think.
Not wanting to go with a stingy little bottle from a gunsmith supply I
looked at McMaster and MSC. They both stock some form of steel tool
black. It seems expensive, but its a larger quantity than your local
retail bottle of gun blue. How long does it really last? Is the
"sealant" in some of those kits better than just oiling the part? Is it
just oil? I don't mind spending the money. I just want to know its
worth it.
Not wanting to go with a stingy little bottle from a gunsmith supply I
looked at McMaster and MSC. They both stock some form of steel tool
black. It seems expensive, but its a larger quantity than your local
retail bottle of gun blue. How long does it really last? Is the
"sealant" in some of those kits better than just oiling the part? Is it
just oil? I don't mind spending the money. I just want to know its
worth it.
Any ideas or alternatives?
<stans4@prolynx.com> wrote in message news:1177891193.017361.100830@y80g2000hsf.googlegroups.com...
On Apr 29, 5:17 pm, "Al A." <alanga...@comcast.net> wrote:
Hi All,
I am looking to blue some small parts (a flash hider, "claw" type
scope mount, and misc small tools & doo-dads, etc.) and was wondering
what the collective RCM wisdom on cold blueing chemicals is. It is not
necessary that these have a deep polished show-grade finish, these
aren't show-pieces. Mostly looking to have stuff look "finished" and not >>> have rust develop on everything. This is on steel and for occasional
(few times/year) use. I would like a black finish or something close to >>> it.
A perusal of the Brownells catalog and website reveals a number of
different brands and formulations. Any favorites?
Quite a few years ago, I used some of the Birchwood-Casey
bought-it-at-K-Mart stuff, mostly with pretty incosistent and sort of
blah results. Is that about what I can expect from any cold blue?
Any ideas or alternatives?
Thanks for any ideas,
AL A.
Oxpho Blue has been good stuff, it's almost as tough as a hot-salts
job. Downside is that it's miserable to apply evenly over large
surfaces with no practice. If your parts are small enough to dunk, do
that. Works better if the parts are warmed. Parts have to be CLEAN,
no fingerprints. Bronze wool works well to get the smut off
afterwards.
Alternatives, Dicropan IM or the old Herter's Belgian Blue. Both are
kind of pricey to order with HazMat charges. Dicropan gives you a
black finish, the Herter's gives you a real blue. Both take nothing
more than a tank of boiling water and CLEAN parts. You need some way
to card off the deposit, steel wool, bronze wool, rotary brush,
whatever. You can do a whole rifle action in an afternoon. Both are
a lot more resistant to wear than cold blues.
Did I mention you have to have CLEAN parts? Brake cleaner, boiling
TSP, acetone, MEK, TCE, freon head cleaner, carbon tet and dry
cleaning fluid have all been used. Alcohol doesn't cut it for
degreasing, isopropyl or rubbing. If you get spots that won't take,
grease is the culprit. With Oxpho Blue, you can "rub it in" with the
wool to shift the grease, but chances are the surface will be mottled.
Stan
Go with the Oxpho blue, it is about the best cold blue around.
Hi All,
Any ideas or alternatives?
Thanks for any ideas,
AL A.
Hi All,
I am looking to blue some small parts (a flash hider, "claw" type scope mount, and misc small tools & doo-dads, etc.) and was wondering what the collective RCM wisdom on cold blueing chemicals is. It is not necessary
that these have a deep polished show-grade finish, these aren't
show-pieces. Mostly looking to have stuff look "finished" and not have
rust develop on everything. This is on steel and for occasional (few times/year) use. I would like a black finish or something close to it.
A perusal of the Brownells catalog and website reveals a number of
different brands and formulations. Any favorites?
Quite a few years ago, I used some of the Birchwood-Casey
bought-it-at-K-Mart stuff, mostly with pretty incosistent and sort of
blah results. Is that about what I can expect from any cold blue?
Any ideas or alternatives?
wrote:
I'm about to make some welded square tube picture frames and have been >looking into various blueing products. 44/40 runs about $8.50 for 2 oz. >Oxpho-blue runs about $9.50 for 4 oz. Van's Instant is about $10 for 4 oz. >Hoppes runs about 9$ for 4 oz.
I'm wondering what folks here have found to work best on mild steel. Any >hints or tricks?
Sysop: | Keyop |
---|---|
Location: | Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, UK |
Users: | 286 |
Nodes: | 16 (3 / 13) |
Uptime: | 92:04:23 |
Calls: | 6,498 |
Calls today: | 9 |
Files: | 12,100 |
Messages: | 5,277,848 |