This method has worked like a charm for me on a half dozen vintage, formerly rusted and pitted heads. Key is doing the elbow grease to get to bare, clean steel at the start. I do what people who clean bike chains do - soak it in mineral spirits, then denatured alcohol, with clean gloves to avoid fingerprints - even your skin oil will interfere with bluing more than you'd imagine. I've had equally good results with the liquid Super Blue as with the paste - both work great on either "wall hanger" polish jobs or "field surface" jobs for working tools.
I am a gunsmith. Ran a firearms company for over 30 years. You are correct, you need to remove all grease from any metal before bluing. I found Brownells cold bluing gave me the best finish, but for the best finish I used caustic blue. I could replicate old Winchester rust bluing, so they told me.
I use Birchwood Casey's Perma Blue liquid. It works well. And yes I heat up the metal I'm blueing. And rinse with the hottest water that comes out of your tap. I started using this method way back in the 80's. I now use Perma Blue Liquid on axe heads. Works well.
Outstanding and timely. "No gun bluing comments" OK - but here's one anyway: surface prep is EVERYTHING and requires the highest level of skill, which is why best quality work is terribly expensive and a vanishing art. Also, great tip on the motor oil which is how the Brits field darkened their wartime firearms. Heat, dunk, reheat, redunk. Same same. Dirtier oil makes darker finishes.
@@GiantPinhead: How hot does steel need to get in order to take color from used motor oil? Examples on here are showing temper-wrecking levels of heat using torches and forges.
Get you some Brownells Oxpho Blue and you will throw that super blue in the trash! Used together with their browning solution before bluing, you will end up with a deeper, richer blue that actually will protect more like a hot bluing. Great video as always 👍👍👍
The oiling is what really does it. It both gives that nice deep black look but it's also what protects the axe. Blueing on itself actually does next to nothing in terms of rust prevention, it's the oil. Forgot which channel but he did a test with all the bluing methods, chemical cold blueing, hot blueing, rust blueing. And untreated. And found them to do little other than masqading further oxidation and perhaps holding oil slightly better than bare metal. But all the rust protection was just in the oil which was traditionally applied after every blueing. I still absolutely love blueing as it looks amazing in person. The feel, it's just different.
Everything that is done right is time intensive. I used EvapoRust on my about 200 year old broad axe. I scrubbed it with BRILLO, afterwards. I left my broad axe in EvapoRust for a total of 48 hours, scrubbing it with BRILLO, after 24 hours.
My favorite for removing most rust is a vinegar and salt bath. I have a gunsmith friend who does hot blueing and other fellow I know does parkerizing, although I haven't gotten an axe or tomahawk done by them Ive often thought of it. Also, maybe you aren't old enough to remember, but the school buses used to have a small fire axe as part of their safety gear. Those little axes are pretty hard to come by these days but if you can find one they are a neat addition to any collection. I have two, one with a spike and one without.
I used this stuff 30 years ago to to a barrel that still looks fantastic. The bluing turned to a smooth, mirror finish brown over time. I rub it with a old clean wool sock to keep the shine.
Awesome video and thank you for sharing. I've been looking everywhere to try and find something that will show me exactly what effect polishing will have on the blueing process and this has answered my question. I'm loving that black peril look as you described it. I would love to see the polished head done with the variable temperature method and more polishing as you mentioned.
I love axes! Love your channel! I'm a new subscriber. I've been using gun blue for awhile now and I really like what it does to the axe heads. Very cool and interesting video thanks for sharing!
Good demonstration, I think that if you wanted a darker black you could use the birch casey super blue instead of the perma blue. Just a thought. Also I found it interesting when you froze the axes and the motor oil application.
Tipp. Apply the paste with a finger or two directly, wearing the thin rubber gloves. So you don't lose paste in the pad and everything is more evenly distributed.
I believe you have already found out but for others: 170F = 77C. You couldn't hold a 170C piece of metal. 77C feels like a hot (metal) cup of tea. Or freshly boiled (metal) potato.
I scuffed the head of an axe when filing sharpening it. Would you advise going through this whole process of can I do just a bit of a touch up with gun blue and used motor oil?
You have to polish any metal you want to blue. The better the polish, the better the blue. Steel wool has oil on it. You must degrease it before using.
Need new motor oil. That stuff dark dark. Thank you for the bonus will do. Found my grandpas rusted hatchet head in his trunk. He died a couple years back and I just want to do the hatchet justice. It’s a late 40s German hatchet.
Wondering if you have ever tried Brownell's Oxpho- Blue ? I've used it on various tools, firearms, and seem to get a truer - "harder" finish. Thanks for the great video !
If you want it blue, polish the hell out of it. If you want it black, leave it rough. Since I want my axes to have the hammered forge look. I leave them rough.
Hope you don’t take this the wrong way but cleaning with break clean after cleaning with soap is like cleaning yourself with body wipes after taking a shower. Cleaning with an emulsifier is the ultimate degreaser. Cleaning with a solvent always leaves a residue. It may not have any effect on the final finish but solvent is no replacement for an emulsifier.
