Bluing Steel Parts Tutorial 

Huh, interesting. I'll have to try that!

A heat gun would work to

I saw a restoration video on a winchester model 1906, I just got one. They heated the parts with a hair dryer before bluing. I guess the metal expanda with heat and soaks in the solution better.

Thank you Jim for the info!

Bluing is a form a oxidation so heat will increase the speed of the reaction. The same reason why the hotter you heat steel before quenching in oil the better results you have. This is the case for any chemical reaction more heat will increase the amount of reactions taking place.

does it scratch easily?

@@dougie1110 yes but so do regular bluing i think, the rust prevention is not so good as regular bluing, but its only a Air rifle kept in a holster and only used as family intertainment, and i keep it Well oiled

You're welcome!

Glad you enjoyed it!

Nice!

I really don't know about this process, but he said that the blueing was not painting the surface, instead was creating a reaction on the metal surface. If that is true, how can it get better by adding more layers? For starters, the metal would be sealed with the first layer and the reaction would have already happened. It sounds to me like the oxidation of aluminum. Please enlighten me. I really don't understand.

Try MEK (Methyl Ethyl Katone) that what most people use and you won’t need heat for that process I think.

@@jtcmlt1 The original commenter was referring to “hot” bluing and it is different from “cold” bluing, which is the method used in the video. You can learn more about bluing in its corresponding Wikipedia page: “Bluing (steel)”

@@jtcmlt1 en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluing_(steel)

@@csm5040 Thank you

Do I have to heat the metal for better results ? I read some ppl recommend it

Do you find that it keeps smelling? I have that issue after having applied and rinsed off the excess. I haven't used baking soda.

You are welcome!

Ah nice. I'm sure that gives a more consistent finish.

Ah nice trick.

Yeah, it's easy and cheap!

DEGREASE that part!

@@carfvallrightsreservedwith6649 that comes with surface prep

Good, go for it!

You're welcome!

How did the G2C turn out with the cold blueing? I'm currently in SDI and we're in the Firearms Finishing semester, and I'm wanting to re-blue my Colt National Match 1911. Right now I'm trying to decide which process to use because it's a family heirloom and I want it to look like brand new again.

@paulis7319 Well, I took the slide down to bare metal. I did it as carefully as I was able. After getting down to the bare metal, I coated the slide several times. It came back to life, and all the signs of holster-ware were gone. That Saud, it left an uneven shading despite my best efforts to apply the solution evenly. After another couple of coats, I was able to somewhat smoothe the dull black, so thst it looked evenly applied. I will say that I had new night sights, and when the solution made contact with the sites, the black color ran onto the glow dots. Retrospectively, I'd remove sites; but to me, it seemed to defeat the purpose of fast, removing holster-ware. Next, I soaked the slide in vegetable oil a few hours, and sure enough, most of the dullness brightened up. Certainly, nowhere near factory original. I also noted a week out that where the stamping on the slide is, began to turn brown, as if rust was beginning to develop, kind of a brownish haze. I then reapplied the solution to that area (after being mortified). It solved the issue for now, at least. At the end of the day, I wasn't then, nor am I impressed with the outcome. I'm not sure repeating the process would be anything else but futile. This G2C has some personal meaning to me. Ordinarily, I'd just have salvaged it for parts. I may go all out, and either cammo cover or just have it restored to factory by a gunsmith, which I am not. (Lol). Congrats on SDI, I've considered it, as has one of my sons. Please, let me know how that's going, the quality of lessons, etc. Thanks!

I have a Taurus g2c I love mine I'm also going to redo mine as well I'm going heat treated on this one though, I bought my used had a hell of a time sighting in after about 3 hours and 130 rounds later I finally got it.

​@@paulis7319I would not go cold blueing on that I would hot, it's a hell of a process but in the end the finish there's nothing like it, I've never done it before but I've seen it done and it's amazing especially with what you said you're getting ready to work on any idiot can cold blue but not a lot of people can hot blue that's what I'd do go online and look at pictures of some of them it's amazing the difference is incredible

​@@ardevenuta37my God I wish you lived close to me cuz I do it for nothing I'm really good at blueing I've been doing it my entire life and I'm 53 first gun I ever did I was 8 years old 1978. And the fact that we both have the G2C I think it's pretty cool

Nice!

I'm getting ready to do the parts on an 1867 Danish Snider rifle. It's not worth much, and am learning how to do it myself

Is that a 7.62 x 39 mosin?

​@@stevenbaker8184I just did a buddy of mine's Remington 1912 or 1917 one of those two years I forget but it's a model pump-action 22 replace the trigger pin plunger, slide, the bolt, I put an antique finish on it. Took me a month I did it in my spare time.

I'm doing that right now. Trying to make a restoration video for RU-vid

Hum, unless you exactly match the existing finish it probably won't turn out great. Are you absolutely sure the original was blued? You might want to know if it was hot or cold blued. I looked up the knife and it appears to have a ceramic coating, which isn't the same as bluing. I would contact spyderco (they made it right?) and see what they say.

Thanks!

nice!

I've heard that and I considered trying it is it really that good, for the wool wax also where would I get that? I would imagine any hardware store

What ccw / holster combo ? I sweat alot and kinda new..

Thanks!

Finish will darken if more is applied, to a point. The part will need to be carded in between applications though. 0000 steel wool works well.

Any oil works. I like to use a mixture of motor oil and transmission fluid personally. You don't have to go nuts with it, just put a decent coat on the metal and let it sit. It also helps to warm it up with a heat gun or blow dryer first. That will allow the oil to penetrate deeper.

Yeah, that's a bit more involved, but would certainly give you a better result!

Right I think it depends on how dark you want it. Some weapons I do are antiques so less is more as I'm trying to match the patina of age. I do fire arms exclusively

I'm definitely not a pro, but I would agree that heat could damage the magnet. Go with a cold blue method.

It's not a matter of timing. As soon as the reaction is done and it doesn't blacken any further, you can rinse it off. It doesn't need to 'soak', it's a chemical reaction.

Yep, bluing is primarily used for guns, for this purpose. The actual finish might vary, unless it's the exact same process that was used previously. Most guns are blued by heat-quenching, but this will get very close. But you can always try it and sand off that area if it doesn't work out. Just mask everything off.

Check the link in the description, this is exactly what I used: amzn.to/3lPDutS

I think it looks really patchy and ugly without the oil. You can try it, it's cheap enough.

Fair. I've always left them in there and it works well. The next time I can try just an hour or so.

I typically heat mine around around 200•F before the oil step. Why? It’s what mom always did with cast iron pans!

Kinda. Patina is usually naturally forming and less consistent. This is mimicking the same process that happens when steels are hardened (and blackened in the process). This is just another way to alter the surface finish of steels. It certainly COULD be used on knives, but I think most knife steels might not react as they're usually a stainless or something similar? I haven't seen many people try this for knives, it probably wouldn't be durable enough. Usually knifes use DLC.

And beware of open flames!

I'm not sure? I didn't mean to imply that. I think highly polished would look nice! That just wasn't the look I was going for.

The problem is when people use a polishing compound. Its hard to remove it all before coating with blueing to get a consistent coat that isn't blotchy.

You can touch up small spots with a q-tip. Just rinse and oil afterwards.

I think you'd be best to speak with the contractor, I have no idea what your part is, what the steel is, or what they used to blacken it.

any oil should work.

I'm not 100% sure, but it's not all THAT durable. Actual bluing will be more durable, it's about on the level of anodizing. If you need a harder coat, you will need to go to a cerakote or something similar. But it should be fine in most applications. It's easy and cheap to try though. And if it doesn't work out, you can just sand it away and try something else. It can't be much worse than the missing finish!

Nah, you completely wipe off the oil, I haven't experienced any issues. Lots of parts are quenched in various oils.

No problem

Thanks.

I don't believe so. I think its only black. It's a forced oxidation of the surface. You're looking for anodizing.

Now if it was Titanium metal, you could "anodize" just with the proper DC Voltage to get the color you desire!!!

Black oxide is most likely manganese phosphate, which is different than cold blueing. It's also more durable. Cold blueing is ok for small touchups on a phosphated finish, but large touchups will stick out and look pretty obvious. There's no need to do this to the inside of a barrel. It will wear off with a few shots. Same with internal parts. Just use oil to prevent rust. Also the rust can be removed with 0000 steel wool dabbed in oil. Just rub gently.

You'd need to figure out what the material is. If it's rusting, it might work. It's best to just try it out.

Not sure, it's good enough for guns apparently.