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Cold-bluing damascus
- Thread starter Burchtree
- Start date
- Joined
- Nov 25, 2000
- Messages
- 5,548
Michael, Perma-Blue stinks real bad, forever after.
There are two types I know of that don't. One is C.S.Van Gorden, and Son, Inc. 1-715-568-2612. That's in Wisconsin.
The other is Novum.
http://www.novumsolutions.com/GunBlue.html
I understand that Brownells has some too, but I have no experience with it.
http://www.brownells.com/
What I would do is, clean the blade like you were going to solder on it, then heat it to about 200-220 degrees, and dunk the whole blade in the liquid. You can get a piece of PVC, with an end cap glued on for a tank.
Suspend it in the liquid on wire for several minutes, and then check it.
You might have to card off some surface crud and reimmerse a time or two.
Clean it up at the end, and put it in some boiling water(distilled) with baking soda. That will neutralize it, and keep it from rusting from the blue.
There are two types I know of that don't. One is C.S.Van Gorden, and Son, Inc. 1-715-568-2612. That's in Wisconsin.
The other is Novum.
http://www.novumsolutions.com/GunBlue.html
I understand that Brownells has some too, but I have no experience with it.
http://www.brownells.com/
What I would do is, clean the blade like you were going to solder on it, then heat it to about 200-220 degrees, and dunk the whole blade in the liquid. You can get a piece of PVC, with an end cap glued on for a tank.
Suspend it in the liquid on wire for several minutes, and then check it.
You might have to card off some surface crud and reimmerse a time or two.
Clean it up at the end, and put it in some boiling water(distilled) with baking soda. That will neutralize it, and keep it from rusting from the blue.
- Joined
- Dec 3, 1999
- Messages
- 9,437
The only reason I, or anyone I know of cold blues damascus is to bring out the contrast between the different steels.
Like that billet I sent your way. The 1084 will always etch dark and the 15N20 will stay flashy. In order to get the 1084 even darker, almost black...cold blue works great.
I really like Birchwood Casey's cold blue for this. You etch down to the depth you want, then neutralize that acid. I then clean up with 2000x paper (very lightly) and clean thoroughly. After that I use a Q-tip to apply the cold-blue. It will immediately turn the damascus a very dark blue/green. Let it sit for 30 seconds or so, and then rinse in cold water. Then lightly sand over it with 2000x and LOTS of water. It will bring the highs back to a nice shine, while leaving the recesses very dark.
If you're thinking of blued damascus (where it's at least 2 shades of blue) then it's 99% likely it was hot-blued....which is altogether different.
The billet I sent you really wasn't a shining example of it, because I only etched that billet enough so that the pattern would show and then cold-blued it. If you really want to see how it looks, the steel has to be etched to it's final depth first.
Nick
Like that billet I sent your way. The 1084 will always etch dark and the 15N20 will stay flashy. In order to get the 1084 even darker, almost black...cold blue works great.
I really like Birchwood Casey's cold blue for this. You etch down to the depth you want, then neutralize that acid. I then clean up with 2000x paper (very lightly) and clean thoroughly. After that I use a Q-tip to apply the cold-blue. It will immediately turn the damascus a very dark blue/green. Let it sit for 30 seconds or so, and then rinse in cold water. Then lightly sand over it with 2000x and LOTS of water. It will bring the highs back to a nice shine, while leaving the recesses very dark.
If you're thinking of blued damascus (where it's at least 2 shades of blue) then it's 99% likely it was hot-blued....which is altogether different.
The billet I sent you really wasn't a shining example of it, because I only etched that billet enough so that the pattern would show and then cold-blued it. If you really want to see how it looks, the steel has to be etched to it's final depth first.
Nick