Question about bluing steel

Willie71

Willie71

Warren J. Krywko
Joined
Feb 23, 2013
Messages
12,214
I am making a dagger right now and am planning to use a blued steel guard. I have been googling this all week, and there are a few products out there that possibly could work. I am not set up for hot bluing, so I would be either doing a cold blue, or will have to pay someone to do it. Does anyone have any recommendations for a cold product or process that would work and be durable, or should I send it out?
 
Hey Willie,

I have cold blued a few pieces with the gun blue from Cabelas, you can check them out or bring a piece to test it on if you like - fire me an email
 
Any of the cold blues sold at gun shops or from knife suppliers will work.

Another popular method is to fire blue the guard. Sand and polish it to the final finish after fitting the tang. Hold the guard by sticking a piece of ground down bar stock or a big screwdriver in the slot. Heat with a torch slowly and evenly, watching the color change. Bring it up to that beautiful purple blue and remove the heat. If it isn't right, just sand lightly and re-do it. Practice on some scrap to get the feel of it.
 
Thank you both. I was looking at the Cabelas product and will probably order it in. Glad to know it worked. I have torch blued steel before. I wasn't sure how durable it would be though.
 
bladsmth said:
Another popular method is to fire blue the guard. Sand and polish it to the final finish after fitting the tang. Hold the guard by sticking a piece of ground down bar stock or a big screwdriver in the slot. Heat with a torch slowly and evenly, watching the color change. Bring it up to that beautiful purple blue and remove the heat. If it isn't right, just sand lightly and re-do it. Practice on some scrap to get the feel of it.
Click to expand...

This is what Roger Hatt told me when I asked him about it at the S. Alberta Hammer-in, and what I intend to try on an upcoming dagger of my own. If I recall correctly, he just uses a little propane torch. I think the keys seem to be 1) having everything buffed/sanded to final finish and 2) having everything 100% clean. I think oil or fingerprints would make it hard to get the color even.
 
I'll torch it first, and if I'm not happy with that, I'll order a chemical blue.
 
Thanks for reminding me Travis........ scrub everything well with dish soap and rinse in HOT water. Dry off with clean paper towels, then wipe off with denatured alcohol. Do not touch it after that. Handle with a clean paper towel.
 
Neither heat blue, nor cold blue will last under use. The heat blue will wear off pretty quick, and the cold blue will wear and turn gray. You would have to get it fitted, and then have it hot blued before final installation.
 
Try Fc and then super blue,it goes almost black.Try it on a piece of scrap,I think you'll like it.
Eddie
 
I agree with LRB about durability--- actually I don't feel any bluing is all that durable.

A professional hot blue, or a traditional rust blue are (IME) a heck of a lot more durable than cold blue and torch blue... but they're all just a surface treatment and can be scratched, ground, worn, etc.

In some applications a simple cold blue is a good choice though (IMHO), as it's usually pretty easy to touch it up when needed.
 
chknifemaker said:
just a noob question but what blued steel look like
Click to expand...

Um.... Blue... :p ;) j/k :)

Actually, it depends on quite a few things--- the material, the surface finish prior to bluing, how it's blued, and how it's treated post bluing.

Most gun barrels are an example of a professional bluing... either with salts, or a rust blue. They rarely look blue, but rather almost black.

If you google "nitre blued" you should come up with some examples of parts that have been blued in Nitre salts, and these will be everything from a light straw color, to purple, to several shades of blue... typically a very brilliant, bright blue. It makes for some pretty colors, but folks usually either love 'em or hate 'em with not much in between.
 
I have had good luck with Birchwood-Casey's PermaBlue. It'll give a nice, near-black coloring. Like Nick said, it's really easy to touch up if need be.
 
bladsmth said:
Any of the cold blues sold at gun shops or from knife suppliers will work.

Another popular method is to fire blue the guard. Sand and polish it to the final finish after fitting the tang. Hold the guard by sticking a piece of ground down bar stock or a big screwdriver in the slot. Heat with a torch slowly and evenly, watching the color change. Bring it up to that beautiful purple blue and remove the heat. If it isn't right, just sand lightly and re-do it. Practice on some scrap to get the feel of it.
Click to expand...

I'm curious, have you seen this done with stainless? I would think you could get some really neat ambers, blues, browns. I've TIG welded for many years and a nicely shielded and executed TIG pass on stainless can be quite beautiful. I wonder if you'd have to do it under mixed atmosphere/argon to keep it from flashing too fast.

NickWheeler said:
I agree with LRB about durability--- actually I don't feel any bluing is all that durable.

A professional hot blue, or a traditional rust blue are (IME) a heck of a lot more durable than cold blue and torch blue... but they're all just a surface treatment and can be scratched, ground, worn, etc.

In some applications a simple cold blue is a good choice though (IMHO), as it's usually pretty easy to touch it up when needed.
Click to expand...

I was just thinking about durability when I read your post. I wonder if you could stabilize the surface with something like CA and give it some extra life. It would probably take some very touchy sanding to finish out.
 
So who has tried blackening steel with beeswax?
 
There's a pretty good thread around here somewhere on blueing your knives; I'll see if I can dig it up.

Look into rust blueing (a hot blue), its how I put the finish on my opinel and can be done with a saucepotsaucepot.

The recipe I liked best and riped from the thread involved heating hydrogen peroxide and adding salt until fully saturated, plus vinegar. I think the proportion was 2/3 H2O2 and 1/3 Vinegar.

Idk. I improvised by heating hot suace for vinegar/salt content + garlic pepper for salt + hydrogen peroxide in a suace pot.

I just eyeballed it and added more of whatever i thought it needed when evapiration occured.

Cover the metal in the hot sololution (i kept at a rolling boil) and it will foam up with rust instantly.

Wash and scrub with old toothbrush under the sink and keep repeating until yiu reach desired color.

My results achieved an almost brown bue whike the original recipe achieved a jet black color.

Make sure the steel is completely clean and nuetralize by scrubbing with baking soda after finished.

Ill post a pic of my Opi in a minute.
 
Here's a pic of my rust blued Opinel, my Edc knife, after nearly a year of pocket carry and a rough life including being ran through an industrial dishwasher.

Compare the carbon blade to the stainless collar around the pivot.

This is how it looks without any oil on it:
 
8XRG6aK.jpg
Here's a pic of my rust blued Opinel, my Edc knife, after nearly a year of pocket carry and a rough life including being ran through an industrial dishwasher.

Compare the carbon blade to the stainless collar around the pivot.

This is how it looks without any oil on it:
 
Rust bluing is not a "hot blue." Professional hot bluing is done at around 400 degrees.
Rust bluing is done with oxidizing chemicals to promote red rust. The red rust is carded with a wire wheel or steel wool, and the piece submerged in boiling water to turn the red rust black. The process is repeated as many times as it takes to achieve the color you want. Rust bluing is a satin finish, and is as durable as any bluing process.
Cold bluing is usually a copper sulphate solution which plates the metal with tarnished copper.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top