Thread: Cold bluing - wheelchair projects

I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong, this is several coats using the heat, next to a factory Norinco part.
I used blue and rust remover, then alcohol cleaned, rinsed, cleaned with Birchwood casey degreaser, then heated, applied, heated, rinsed.
I tried the last two steps in differing orders and no difference.
If anything the heat makes it less black, as it gives it an iridescent look

Could be an old, hardened, oil quenched chisel is not going to take the blue at all. Try a piece of normal mild steel to practise on.
I always use an abrasive like 600- 1200 even on fairly clean steel, get down to the nitty gritty if you like. A good clue is if you do all the cleanup, then leave the item on the bench, rust should start forming very quickly on the nice clean, shiny, oil free surface.

I find the G96 range of cold blue products seem to work extremely well.

An old trick to remove huckery pitted rust was to scrap it off with brass case....I recently bought a electric rotary tool from the warehouse for about $50... In among the stones, Dremel type bits was a couple off wire wheels AND a brass brush wire wheel....that brass wire wheel removes old rust from pitted bolts etc and leaves nice clean slightly brassy surface....

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

An old trick to remove huckery pitted rust was to scrap it off with brass case....I recently bought a electric rotary tool from the warehouse for about $50... In among the stones, Dremel type bits was a couple off wire wheels AND a brass brush wire wheel....that brass wire wheel removes old rust from pitted bolts etc and leaves nice clean slightly brassy surface....

Yup, I tried hitting it with a brass wheel on the wee rotary tool (Dremel knock off) it didn't get the dark pitting out that you see on old carbon steel knives, you can see the patchy spots quite obviously under the bluing.
I'm not bothered by it, knowing it's the reality of it but if I can make it better on the next go I'd be happy about that.
I'll give it a go with the brass case.
It's a bit of a buggar though, I left stuff like that upstairs and my wheelchair doesn't go off-road
I wanted to get some empty shells to make some knobs and switch tips for a guitar I'm building, it will have to wait until my brother comes to visit

G96 cold blue paste was the winner for me.

Different materials may require different chemicals. Casey's do a super blue/black.
Small items that don't have a critical heat treatment can be blackened by heating quite hot and quenching in used engine oil for an old blackened look

You usually need a few coats, well thats what Ive found anyway. How many did you do

Originally Posted by blip

You usually need a few coats, well thats what Ive found anyway. How many did you do

I tried many coats, not really doing much. Probably 6-7 coats
I've ordered some super blue and will try that out.
If that fails I'll try G96.
I'll try different approaches and consider it a learning experience.

you are doing a great job learning all this and then posting it gives us a head start all the better with your recovery

Originally Posted by Barry the hunter

you are doing a great job learning all this and then posting it gives us a head start all the better with your recovery

Thanks Barry, it's keeping me busy

Chrome content of steel may affect it possibly?

Originally Posted by blip

Chrome content of steel may affect it possibly?

I've tried on a few different steels today with differing results, some darker then others.
I'll have another go once the super blue arrives in the next day or so

For many years I have been playing with my old Remington 522 I think. Lots of rust with minor pits. I wheeled it off. the brass then got smeared on the steel. Scrubbed off with Steel wool.

I find steel wool polishes too glossy. I ended up using some 600 grit emory to take out most of the pitting.

Planning to rust blue it one day.

I have been re bluing an old Marlin 25M as a practice case before i attack some more valuable projects
The perma blu seems OK after 4-5 applications. Putting Breakfree CLP on the freshly blued steel overnight after last application has worked well for me, goes nice and dark.
Have used Brakleen for decreasing as well and that seems to work OK