Black Oxide Coating Parts For Your Own Projects 

Some people think this is a paid promotion. THIS IS NOT A PAID PROMOTION. This is a product I found on the internet and decided to give it a try. So what you are seeing is my first time using it. I've reordered it several times and trust me have paid each time. My video is unbiased. Discussion about the product and your results using different techniques are welcome. We are all here to learn from one another. Any rudeness will get your comments removed and blocked. THE OIL BASED SEALANT IS PROVIDED BY CASWELL. THIS IS A COLD APPLICATION. THIS IS DIFFERENT THAN A HOT APPLICATION. SinCe this video has become popular and comments and questions are constantly repeated... PLEASE READ BELOW MASK USE WAS DURING MASK MANDATES A OVER A YEAR AGO --- LOOK AT THE PUBLISH DATE. There are two general types of blackening for iron and steel: hot blackening and room temperature blackening (or cold blackening).1 Hot blackening can be done from generic mixtures of caustic soda, sodium nitrite / nitrate, wetting agents and stabilizers or from proprietary mixtures.The result of the process is a dark black iron oxide finish with both good durability and corrosion resistance.The hot blackening process however, uses toxic chemicals and operates at about 140°C (284°F) for 45 min. Working at temperatures well above the boiling point of water leads to major problems, particularly when replacement water is introduced. Hot blackening is a polluting, energy consuming and time consuming process.In order to reduce the hazards of hot blackening, and to save energy, proprietary cold blackening solutions have been developed.2 They are operated at room temperature, and are based on different chemistries, so they are substantially less hazardous. Further, room temperature blackening processes are simple and safe to operate. They are becoming more and more attractive. On the other hand, room temperature blackening is not a true black oxide process.Rather it involves the application of a copper-selenium compound. This compound is not always an acceptable substitute for black oxide, as it does not look as durable as the one obtained with a hot blackening process. However it works fairly well for low budget and certain applications. Parts that I make in quanities over 100 items get hot blackened by professional companies set up do to these processes and deal with the harsh chemicals.

I worked in a research and development fabrication shop back in the seventies and we used to blacken our parts. We always heated our parts before we put them in the solution. They always darkened evenly and quickly we took them out and neutralized them dried them in immediately sprayed them with oil. We never had any complaints from anybody. I mostly work with copper and zinc now so I love playing with the chemicals.

I love this channel, it's so refreshing to see authentic people like Paul on RU-vid who know their stuff and love what they do.

I love Caswell’s products. They’re about an hour from me and are a wealth of knowledge when it comes to polishing, plating, etc. They’ve been in business for a long time and it’s easy to actually get a person on the phone for help. A real company, with real people, selling & shipping real products from Lyons, NY.

I just tried this for the first time today and will be using this all the time. I even inserted the bolt into the threads, removed and checked. Its very durable.

I bake my parts before sandblasting to burn off oils so they don't get in my sand. I use a weed burner propane torch and turn it down until there is no blue flame hitting the parts. I put the parts on top of a piece of steel box tube to keep them off the concrete and keep them heated until they start to smoke. Keep them at about that temp until there is no more smoke. Sand blast and continue with your coating of choice.

Reminds me of a Hurst Shifter of the late 60s to mid 70s. I was expecting gun parts but shifter remind me of good times...lol! I will be trying the products and thank you for sharing.

Been working on cars and bikes forever now (47yr old) and this was something I’ve heard of but never seen applied thank you I’m gonna try this

Looks good. Going forward, after degreasing you may try heating the parts in an oven to ‘gas out’ any remaining oils. If oil surfaces, degrease and repeat heating. I think at a temp of 315 - 350 F?

Great video Paul, I use the exact same chemicals when I'm restoring old carburetors with steel bases it's held up well. If you want a slightly glossier finish seal with WD-40.

I owned a black oxide processing company for over 15 years I used hot black oxide process. One thing I like to correct you is your doing a controlled rusting process. If your not keep oil on your parts they will rust (iron oxide red rust).out in the industry there are a couple of things that can be used to stop this red oxide one being oil and the other is a wax type sealant. I used water soulable oil in my five tank process. My chemicals I used were from Heatbath corporation My process was as follows Uniclean 1008 degreaser at 195 degrees then ambient water rinse then Pentrate ultra (black oxide ) chemical at 285 degrees then another ambient water rinse and finally water soluble oil ant 100 degrees.

I just wanted to to say THANK YOU for taking the time and the grief, in order to provide us with FREE process' that one normally would be looking to pay for. As I am sure you already know........there are a LOT of people out there with fast fingers and slow thinkers!

I didn't know this process could be done at home. Thank you for posting it. it will come in handy.

The cross contamination was driving me crazy ,but you pulled it off in the end. Subscribed

Glad to see you back. Always enjoy your videos! 👍

So glad you are back on. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.

Man good too see you back! Great video I've used caswell for years.

In the past I used Caswell's nickle plating kits for small parts, and it worked well. Just like you experienced, cleanliness and oddities in the base metal can affect the results. Thanks for the video. I've been considering the black oxide kits, but was hoping to see someone else's results first. Those parts looked great!

This is way better than the process of Parkerizing

Nice work. Your end product looks good & professional. A small insignificant point is that while cast iron has pores, steel does not.

Always pre-clean before blasting clean again prior to using a scuff pad or sandpaper then clean again. Reason for the multiple cleaning is when you blast without cleaning & or sanding/scuffing you are putting oils into the pits or scratches of the metal. Wipe dry if need to after using parts brake cleaner. Try using a oil silicone remover that’s used in auto painting.

Terrific teacher! Engaging, complete and very useful. Thanks, man.

This is the type of uncle I would expect staying near the next block, where I can visit and assist everyday 😊🍀

I did some giant vintage scissors last year. I spent about 2 weeks grinding and polishing out the steel, I mean skin pinchers. Then after the oxide coating, I polished them with steel wool then coated them again. You can't tell that I took a grinder to them. They have an original shiny black finish just like they had from the factory. It's probably how they did it.

Great vids! I appreciate the time and effort spent in making these for the benefit of many viewers you are handing on your honed skills to many DIYS and younger people. I wish these tutorials were around when I was young it would have saved me years learning the hard way. You have a rare natural talent for teaching and getting the message across clearly with sincere thanks Alan Australia

For best results DO NOT use brake cleaner to clean your parts. Use a water based degreaser such as Caswell SP Degreaser. Follow directions. Spotting and shading will be greatly reduced/eliminated. Glass bead blast parts whenever possible. Generally, the softer the steel, the better the results. Caswell now has a primer for hardened parts that I am currently testing. Best regards!

NICE! I stumbled across this video. By chance, I am presently already in the process of ordering a comprehensive Caswell setup for unrelated projects.

Another great video. I just ordered one of your how to manuals this morning from Amazon. I can't wait to read it cover to cover and tear my mustang transmission apart this summer and rebuild it. Thanks for all the information and tips.

Use a commercial degreaser scrub with a soft metal brush, rinse and scrub with distilled water, then steam clean (use distilled water in steamer) and dry in a convection oven at 225°F (toaster oven for smaller parts) for 20-30 minutes depending on part size and mass, up to 60 minutes or 275° at 20-40 minutes and let them cool in the oven, any impregnated oils or contaminants will form a dry scale,rinse with steam or distilled water, scrub them off with a clean non scratching scouring pad and distilled water (green scotch-brite pad for steel) and dry with a fresh paper towel.

I was getting ready to comment on your questionable technique, but glad I waited to end and saw that you caught it yourself and made mention of your bad practice of not lining up your tanks in the order they are used , minimizing dripping sealer into oxidizing solution and visa versa .also cross contamination via dipping gloves hands in solution. Very interesting and useful video. Glad I caught it.

Absolute talent yields Absolutely amazing results. Thank you for sharing your experience and talent.

Thank you for posting, very straight forward and clearly explained.

Great video. If I may add. I do restoration on old guns. You can get a bluing paste that works fantastic and you can just use a few paper towels to wipe it down. Good job on this video. Very educational. Keeper going!

I use a charcoal grill to heat treat metal parts red hot then quench them in used motor oil. It turns them black with an oily coating making them rust proof.

Love your videos! Thank you for sharing your knowledge.

Thank you . I’m glad to find your channel.

Great video! Thanks. One could use a metal minnow bucket for the sealer too. It also has a strainer. About the same price as yours though.. but I happen to have one that I don't use so free for me. 😁

Great video! Well articulated, smoothly flowing, and concise. This is my first time here, and I'm sure I'll be back. Thanks!

I’m liking that quite a bit thank you I’m going to refinish a bunch of parts with that black oxide thank you!!

This video was very impressive and helpful. The options for anyone willing to do the job themselves is really great and convenient, but with an initial investment. Thank you for putting this out and demonstrating how this works! 👍

I've done it with straight Muratic Acid using water only for rinsing.

Interesting , I watched this to compare with the black oxide I used to do back in 1976 when I worked at a metal plating company . I was in charge of Black oxide and a few semi exotic plating's . When I ran parts we used titanium hooks , racks or baskets to hold parts for most plating and we did several different plating types . The actual corrosive salt and water for black oxide was kept at 280F degrees but with the salt it raises the boiling temperature such that 280 isn't actually boiling , close but not quite . then it goes straight into the penetrating oil while it's still hot . The prep work is a bit different but anything that removes rust and any contaminates is good , as a plating shop we had things like electro cleaners , ultrasonic cleaners , bead blasters (aka vapor hones) , 5% Muriatic acid bath (great for removing rust) and others acids and cleaners depending on the material being plated . I wonder how well the plating you demonstrated in this video compares to the results with the hot salt method .

I remember you rebuilding a standard transmission for Eric the carguy. Awesome

That is just terrific! I am definitely going to give this a try! Thanks so much for posting this video.

Caswell plating is a great company. They also make the best gas tank sealer.

Great video! I use cold blue-type processes for gun parts. I’ve been reading about these kits and want to try one out. You might be interested in a company called EPI. They have similar products for black oxide finishes (room temp, mid temp, and high temp). They have a few other product options you may find useful for some of those hardened parts. Thanks again for the great demo.

I watch youtube almost exclusively - lots of DIY. You, sir, are brilliant at these videos. Almost every word that comes out of your mouth is useful while making it look casual. I hope you make more and push out these of DIY yakkidy-yaks who are clueless half the time. I believe I know exactly how to black-oxide parts the best way possible for a DIYer after watching.

Hey Paul great tutorial, OMG this is soooo easy to do. I never knew it was this easy, thank you.

Hi Paul Built a few Transmissions with your expertise and parts. I restore Carburetors. I do the plating and Dichromate conversion. I use the black oxide for screws cast iron bases. I use to manganese phosphate but the black oxide is no heat so it makes it quicker. You can buy the chemical from EPI. That is were Caswell buys it from. I use Insta black 333 and E tech 501 oil. They have a new product insta black 335 which I am going to try. I buy gallon qty. It is cheaper than buying from caswell.

You're back!! Greetings from Germany!!!

Another great video man! Love the old school shifters and all the info you've had on 4 speeds!

Looks great. I need this process for some projects too. Thanks.

The black oxide concentrate looks like a copper sulfate solution. On an aside we used to blacken metal with a torch and some old drain oil.

Great video! This product is exactly what I've been looking for! Excellent explanation of coloring process and tips about cross contamination of the process liquids! Thanks for your time and sharing your knowledge! 👍

I learned a lot from you with this video. You explained it all very thoroughly thank you for making it. I'm going to give it a try now.

Thank for watching the video. I welcome constructive comments about how other people do this process. No links, no emails or phone numbers please. We can all learn from one another. Rude comments, rude replies are deleted and you get blocked.

"Cold Black" is different from hot dipped "Blacken" process. I've been blackening parts for nearly 50 years in a hot dip process and it is much more durable. This process will do for a quick finish but will rub off if handled. For a hot dip process on ferrous steel you must reach 290 degrees fahrenheit and seal in oil. The key ingredient is sodium hydroxide (lye). The vendor I use is Maxim Oil in Dallas and the manufacturer is Heatbath (Superblack 290). I don't blame anyone doing this technique and it is good enough for some uses but for a full-on professional finish there is nothing like a hot dipped process. Also, there is no way stainless will blacken fully. Why would it be necessary? Stainless will not rust or oxidize so why bother?

Nice vid. I’m glad you said something about the cross contamination. Sometimes a video set up isn’t for best results, but ya got to get the shot!

After cold bluing, if you want to avoid a light coat of oil, use a “softer” sealer like wood tung oil. It will dry, but not be overly hard and flaky varnish or lacquer. Acetone or MEK bath and scrub for stripping oils before bluing. They are the purist solvents.

free knowledge... craftsmen giving up their time and knowledge to help those that will listen thank you Paul!!!! will be doing this on my truck for sure now that i know how to, btw your website has an order :)

Thanks a lot. It was really helpful.

Paul, Great to see all is well. Glad to see you are back on RU-vid. Stay Real.

Quality, quality work Paul that stuff puts a real professional finish to the completed job.

I have tried Caswell Black oxide product It does produce a nice finish quickly BUT It does not produce a lasting finish unless the Protective sealant dip is repeatedly reapplied forever if you don't parts start flash rusting. Also that little bottle doesn't do very many parts before its spent and you need more. My advice AVOID Caswell Cold Black Oxide coatings! I am curious to who you used that was doing a True HOT Black Oxide coatings. I have looked into doing in myself but It takes some specialized equipment and the Temps are 350 or so. I have had good luck with Baking parts to 400-450 and then dipping them in used Motor oil. I have mainly been doing Cadmium plating, Copper and Nickle for most all my stuff any more I enjoy your Transmission videos and have purchased one of your books.

Hey mate I’m a new subscriber thanks for a fantastic basic not to complicated video really liked watching it several times . What sort of sealant did you use was it from Caswell ? . Do you think you can use aluminium with this black oxide process ?

Just one thing to try, When rinsing, keep fresh clean distilled water in a spray bottle and use the pan to catch the dropoff, that way every single part is rinsed with clean water instead of the rinse tank getting progressively dirtier. Nitpicky but hey, cleanliness is key

Probably a dumb question: Would this product work - in the sense of over the top of - a traditional "cold" gun bluing (Birchwood Casey Super Blue)? Or would you have to kill / acid strip the old bluing and repolish all the metal?

What is the "sealer" being used?

I use stainless steel welding rods to hold our parts and it works great.

Great episode - that Caswell product works well and their Zinc product work also. Passivation liquids Blue for Bright Zinc.

What sealant are you using ?

Also, stick with the Caswell oil that comes with the kit. Cold blackening can be ruined by some strong petroleum distillates. I used oil from my hot black system and had to refinish all my cold blackened parts. Remember, cold black is not a true replacement for hot black.

If you sanded those areas on the one part I think you will find it’s just smoother than the anchor tooth profile of the sand blasting. I’m sure that profile makes it easier to oxidize uniformly.

Sincere thanks. Super helpful video.

wash parts in acid first to clean out the pores of the metal

This is a great video for our products. Very impressed! Thank you

Thanks for the information. I do a lot of little restoration jobs and this may save me some time.

Thank you for showing all of us

How abrasion resistant is the coating? Would have been nice to see on the parts you were going to re-sandblast. On the prep, wondering if soaking in acetone for 15 minutes, then sandblasting with clean and oil free media, then degassing the metal at 250 deg F. for 30 minutes to remove all oils from within the metal would have produced better results on the brackets.

What do you use for the sealant

Very informative and thorough! Thanks. It just popped into my feed and a worthwhile watch.

Dr Paul strikes again - great vid! Nice to see you branching out to other topics. Your genuine, true to life vids are refreshing compared to overproduced and edited ones which would have removed the imperfection and explanation thereof which most of us could encounter in real life. Luv this guy; with his book, parts and vids; I was able to rebuild my first 4 speed and get my 2nd gen Z back on the road which was a bright spot in a blah year. My 17 year old daughter was disappointed when she heard I was ready to put an auto in it due to several crashbox failures. She runs it like a champ now, and is proud of driving a stick car!

black oxide concentrate = selenium dioxide the active ingredient in dandruff shampoo

What are you using as a sealant

Great video. Thanks for the information. We have a project that may require black metal parts. Coming from a true beginner on Black oxide processes this may be the path we take. Thank you again.

Nice work. I know nothing about this product, process, or company. I do consulting work in the coatings industry and know that when blasting for a coating, first remove all oils, grease, wax, ect. Then blast, blow with clean compressed air and apply the coating. If you try to clean with solvent or go any sanding it disturbs the blast prep and creates adhesion issues. In your case, the surface tension from a foreign substance caused the product to move away from and not coat the disturbed area. Nice work. I see where this would be great in the car restoration process

What kind of sealant is that?

Man this is dated two months old, never got notifications, you tube you suck! Thanks for the tutorial.

I would also wash the part with soapy water first, solvents like brake clean do not always remove all contaminants, also a water break test will ensure a perfect result, great video.

Nice, Paul!! I really appreciate the knowledge you share! Thank you 😊

what is the sealant?

Before making comments about masks please look at the date this video was uploaded. YES ... 1 YEAR AGO. At that time no store would allow you in without a mask. I also live in the wonderful state of Florida and now a year later we have no mask mandates and can carry on living life normally. If you feel compelled to make stupid comments about me wearing a mask in this video a year ago your comment simply gets deleted and you blocked from my channel.

Thank you for this simple and helpful video.

Great video, will have to try that out.Thanks for taking the time to do these videos for us.

Blast with aluminum oxide 180 grit. Don't touch the parts with bare hands (wear rubber gloves). A proper water break test consists of dipping the clean part in water and then looking for the water to break off of the dirty areas. I've been in the plating industry (including conversion coatings like black oxide) for almost 20 years. What I described is standard practice at coating facilities.

Paul, measure the chemical first then use the water to remove the chemical from the measuring cup as you measure out the water ! This is not like diluting H2SO4 where you MUST add acid to water never water to acid.

I just paint it directly on with a brush. No dilution. Rinse and spray with oil. Never had an issue.

I've been cold blueing firearms for years and recently found it hard to find materials locally. This stuff looks better than most of the crap I've found at Wally world or gun shows. I'm totally getting some to play with. Your absolutely correct about different grades of steel. Most of the time you can make a riffle barrel look fantastic, but small parts ( the hammer) hardly do anything.

What does he use as “sealant”

I wonder if baking the parts for a bit would help push the oils out like when ya cerakote items..they say to clean them then heat them up then clean again.. I guess it pushes the remaining oils out . Never personally done it but might be worth a try