A few disclaimers:
If you are looking for a show quality finish, this isn't it. There is no way, that I know of, to make cold bluing look as good as a hot bluing job.
Cold bluing is not as durable as hot bluing. Be prepared to touch up the finish often.
The Chemicals are bad for your health.
If I haven't discuraged you yet, then get a beer and a cigar, and i'll tell you how I went about it. There are several ways to skin this cat, but this is how I do cold bluing, if some one has a better way please share it.
1. READ and FOLLOW any safty precautions that come with your bluing chemicals.
2. Throughly degrease your knife, I use Birchwood Casey's Gun Scrubber for this. This is basicly spray brake cleaner. Wipe the cleaner off while it is still liquid, I use paper towels.
3. Buff the blade with fine steel wool, I use 0000.
4. Degrease again. Note any time you touch the blade with your fingers, you need to degrease.
5. Apply an even coat of the bluing solution. I like cotton balls for this, but paper towels or Q-tips will work. Let it sit on the blade for the recommended time, usually 30-60 seconds.
6. Remove the bluing solution. The paste I used says to wipe it off with a clean towel, but I have found that washing the blade off in hot water gives better results. Dry when done.
7. Buff the first coat with the steel wool, try to get as even a finish as you can. The cold blue is very soft so don't over polish, especially at edges, just try to even it out.
8. Wash and dry like before.
9. Repeat steps 5-8 for a total of 3 or 4 coats.
10. Use the rust protectant of your choice, I use Sheath.
11. The finish will start to harden in about 24 hrs. I like to wait 24-48hrs, then I repeat the whole process.
For this project I used Birchwood Casey's Perma Blue Paste, which I had left over from touching up my IPSC gun sights. I have had better results from a Hoppe's kit, but this is what I had on hand. I did get some blue streaks in the finish, which I think I can polish out in a few days, after it has hardend. The brass bolster and inlays were discolored by the paste, but when I buffed the blade, they shined up nicely. In fact they look really good against the blued blade, and I wish there was more of it.
When all else fails, read the directions on the package.
My M-J is a little more "woods friendly" now that the blade is darkened, which was my objective. If I decide later on that I want it polished, all I need to do is polish it with some Flitz metal polish, this and a little elbow grease will remove cold bluing.
I'll try to get some pictures of the M-J this weekend if I can, but it pretty much looks like the picture in the new Photo gallery. Great idea Blackdog!
If you have any questions or comments, please post them.
p1445
If you are looking for a show quality finish, this isn't it. There is no way, that I know of, to make cold bluing look as good as a hot bluing job.
Cold bluing is not as durable as hot bluing. Be prepared to touch up the finish often.
The Chemicals are bad for your health.
If I haven't discuraged you yet, then get a beer and a cigar, and i'll tell you how I went about it. There are several ways to skin this cat, but this is how I do cold bluing, if some one has a better way please share it.
1. READ and FOLLOW any safty precautions that come with your bluing chemicals.
2. Throughly degrease your knife, I use Birchwood Casey's Gun Scrubber for this. This is basicly spray brake cleaner. Wipe the cleaner off while it is still liquid, I use paper towels.
3. Buff the blade with fine steel wool, I use 0000.
4. Degrease again. Note any time you touch the blade with your fingers, you need to degrease.
5. Apply an even coat of the bluing solution. I like cotton balls for this, but paper towels or Q-tips will work. Let it sit on the blade for the recommended time, usually 30-60 seconds.
6. Remove the bluing solution. The paste I used says to wipe it off with a clean towel, but I have found that washing the blade off in hot water gives better results. Dry when done.
7. Buff the first coat with the steel wool, try to get as even a finish as you can. The cold blue is very soft so don't over polish, especially at edges, just try to even it out.
8. Wash and dry like before.
9. Repeat steps 5-8 for a total of 3 or 4 coats.
10. Use the rust protectant of your choice, I use Sheath.
11. The finish will start to harden in about 24 hrs. I like to wait 24-48hrs, then I repeat the whole process.
For this project I used Birchwood Casey's Perma Blue Paste, which I had left over from touching up my IPSC gun sights. I have had better results from a Hoppe's kit, but this is what I had on hand. I did get some blue streaks in the finish, which I think I can polish out in a few days, after it has hardend. The brass bolster and inlays were discolored by the paste, but when I buffed the blade, they shined up nicely. In fact they look really good against the blued blade, and I wish there was more of it.
When all else fails, read the directions on the package.
My M-J is a little more "woods friendly" now that the blade is darkened, which was my objective. If I decide later on that I want it polished, all I need to do is polish it with some Flitz metal polish, this and a little elbow grease will remove cold bluing.
I'll try to get some pictures of the M-J this weekend if I can, but it pretty much looks like the picture in the new Photo gallery. Great idea Blackdog!
If you have any questions or comments, please post them.
p1445
