One of my supporters on Patreon told me about this brass finishing technique for steel. I'd never seen it before and thought I'd make a video to share it, along with some blackening (blueing) methods. It's a bit different to my usual videos but hopefully you enjoy it.:)
I have seen the brass brush/wheel technique before very cool, also I do believe that cold blue will darken over time, I blued the metal part of a scratch awl a few years ago to experiment with the blueing product I had, it looked meh at first but after losing it and finding it again, its much better looking now, cant wait to see the new mallet
Check iut Laura Kampf's latest video for a similar result. She acheived what looks like electroplated copper finish but using onky a wipe-on chemical preparation. I'm unsure about how tough it is, but it looks nice.
For more even results on small parts with the Black/Blue coating and possibly even with the brass you may have better luck heating with a Hot Plate. Either a cheapo one from a yard sale, thrift store or even a still super cheap one from online.
I've heard of this "toast-on Brass" method before but this really helps to show EXACTLY what I should be doing so that's quite nice. Seems darned nice to me!
I like the brass trick. When I was at school my metal work teacher had a bath of old car engine oil in a heated tub. Once it was hot he dipped tools we had made into it once cooled they were like jet black , black jappaned super cool trick that has never left me. Thank you MR Peel.
The brass on steel is mechanical plating. It actually is a bond at the molecular level. It’s also done with zinc on steel and then it’s mechanical galvanize. They add glass beads and a chemical to accelerate and improve the bonding. It’s done is a vibratory bowl. It can produce really thick zinc coatings.
I have seen all these (barring the rustbuster) used before, but it's nice to have them demonstrated clearly, coherently, and with good camera work. Cheers! For those wanting to see them on a larger scale, I encountered them in various videos on michaelcthulu's channel. He also has a trick for removing mill scale which, if I recall, is dunking the steel in vinegar for a day or so then rinsing/scrubbing it off. Works better if the vinegar is warm.
@Timbo Dewabem depends on the project whether or not the mill scale is desirable. In Mike's case, it isn't - guy makes weird and wonderful giant swords. I can see it being handy for outdoor furniture and fixings, though
you can also wipe linseed oil on steel parts and bake them in an oven at 250°C for an hour. This process can get repeated mutiple times to get a thicker coating. The result is an even, black surface which is rustproof and abrasion-proof
As always some useful techniques, well presented. The brass brush one was definitely new to me. Not sure that I have a need for it right now but it'll certainly get tucked away in the memory bank :) Thanks Neil.
You made a fantastic show of these methods.! Clear video of the pieces of interest. Clear and succinct descriptions of what you're doing over the videos. Good comparison later on at the end. Thanks! There's a plethora of awful how-to videos, and it occasionally makes me want to stop trying to find them on youtube. Your video is one of the types that keeps hope alive for youtube!
This is wonderfully coincidental. My partner and I were just discussing steel finishing processes yesterday, so to have your latest video be about exactly that is perfect timing! Thanks, Pask!
"Hopefully that was useful to someone" - man, your videos are always useful to everyone. Even if I already knew all of the stuff you share I'd still watch and listen for lessons in patience and ingenuity!
Very awesome video. Very nice project idea. It turned out very well and looks very nice and unique. Keep up the great craftsmanship and hard work my friend. Keep Making. God Bless.
Yes very useful and thank you! Recently Laura Kampf took on copper plating with the electric method or the only method known until her and a chemist came up with a recipe to cold plate it. I’d love to see you take on copper plating as copper seems to be one of the most difficult due to its properties! Love the black and brass plating though, what a neat method to use on furniture and even for metal accents in wood, etc.
There's a RU-vid crafter that is as skilled with metal as you are with wood that uses these methods, and honestly it has me really excited to see you delve deeper into metalwork and smithing!
All sorts of black arts on show here.😁 I've no idea 𝑤ℎ𝑦 I'd want to turn steel into brass but ...... if I ever do. Seems like the easiest method of bluing is also the most effective - a win-win for sure.👍👌😁
About 30 years ago I made a new iron hook for a door lock. Then let it turn blue in the wood stove and finally thrown into the waste oil of a diesel engine. The metal shimmers in all colors and is still like the first day.
This reminds me of something back in the day i was 16 or 17. We had lots of different schools in our city and we had a changeover week amongst them. I was studying IT and did a swap to a school that teaches metal works such as smithing. At last year we were allowed to join two courses. But i remember on one of the years i did a ring as a quick side project as i finished my main one. I had observed a guy doing a ring using a long tapering pole and a forge + hammers. I basically copyed what he did and it in fact turned out in a ring. I was so proud of it so i put it on and went to wash my hands. For some weird reason there was bottle of cold blue solution next to the sink so i washed my hands in it (no much harm done as i washed my hands with tons of water). The ring had turned into black and that blew my mind. The (actual) students saw this, had a laugh and realized that the sink is not the correct place to store a bottle of cold blue. But accidental cold blue to the ring was what happened in the end. (Luckyly my hands are fine 10 years later).
Thanks so much for this! I'm going to experiment with this more, like trying copper or any other fine wired metal I can get my hands on. This is so simple that I'm almost beating myself up for not thinking of trying this.... As always, great videos! You're probably the most underappreciated channel on RU-vid (even when approaching the 1M mark). A true gem in the rough...
That's a good idea about the copper, although electroplating copper onto steel is very effective if you don't get the result you're looking for by using heat.
@@BrassLock that's right! But I have a larger supply of fire than I have of water... (I don't have running water in my tiny home, but I do have a couple hundred trees providing me with plenty of charcoal for forging and heat treating)
@@lukearts2954 It's interesting to hear about your mix of available resources, and how they can influence your art. Some others in the Comments have expressed interest in experimenting with heat and copper too. Another has explained that the metals adhere to each other at a molecular level under the influence of abrasion and heat, and this has also been used very successfully with zinc, resulting in a galvanised steel process that is quite different from the usual "hot dipping" into a bath of molten zinc. From my High School days, I remember that silver, copper and zinc are usually found in similar geological formations, and that brass is an amalgam of copper and tin, so there's an apparent attraction of some sort among those metals. Good luck with your experiments. No doubt it will be a fun time in your art studio among the trees 😀
I just love these sort of experiments. I especially like steel and timber projects, and to have the option of brass to add to the mix of visual effects is super exciting !
Very interesting Neil. I had never seen that technique before. Not that I would ever have a use for that but it's still good to know mate........... 👏👏👍👍😉😉
I've seen the method of coating with brass once somewhere. However, at that time, this method was not talked about, and I could only predict it. So it was great to know what I wanted to know in this video.
Thanks Pask ! You're awesome and coherent as always. I've learned a blackening trick from an old blacksmith - Black Tea ! If you use many (10 or more) tea bags in a medium glass with hot water, the solution will "attack" the steel and darken it. The steel does not need to be heated for this, and it may take some coats and some waiting for the effect to fully appear - try it :)
I've seen these done by blacksmiths before. If you do the brass brush onto forged items it will give you brass high lights of raised areas of the forging and it looks really effective. A good way to make the brass finish last longer is to spray lacquer over it once it's cold 😊
Great video as always fella!! My favourite is cold blue, using, gun blue gel/cream , it seems to black better and deeper, though heat blue is great for certain pieces. Appreciate the videos, i always learn something. Nice one!
I have a buddy who lives/works in the weapons bazaars in Darra Adam Khel, and he showed me a method of blackening steel gun parts using boiled orange juice, or boiled Apple Cider vinegar. Never seen that Brass plating trick though, that's really nice!
Thanks for the tips and tricks episode. Most importantly, the tip to get out there and experiment and practice on a scrap piece to see what it takes to get the look you want without ruining something you’ve invested quite a bit of time into making. 👍👍😎👍👍
I do basically the same thing as the lindseed oil but with paste wax. Takes a bit of practice but makes a really nice blacksmith finish. Might have to give the brass one a try since I find that one neat as hell
I have hot blue, rust blue, cold blue guns and knifes. Cold blue is easy to use compared to the others but real is more for small parts. A tip I found is heating the part before applying the cold blue along with multiple coats gives it that dark blue hue.
I was thinking when the spray started that it was just going to catch fire. Probably best to use a pump action spray bottle of it, not the can, though I have only seen the spray can versions being outside the USA. I have hardened and blued blades before, though there I was using old gearbox oil, which worked well. Hardened and quenched in oil, then annealed and allowed to cool in the oil. they came outy light straw to totally black on the edges, and were very hard when dressed to a knife point, but survived very well in use, where they were running at 1000 RPM in a cutter.
@@SeanBZA I think the fact that it was a spray can contributed to the unevenness of the color in 2 ways. The lightest color seems to be in the 2 areas the spray was directed. First, as mentioned by BigMo, there's a high solvent content. The solvent will and did evaporate thus cooling the metal. Second, since the can is under pressure, the spray experiences adiabatic cooling when exiting the can, so it will be colder than ambient. These 2 points acting together cooled the spray contact area to the point where little to no coloring occurred.
I heated that one a little more than the others and that may be why it turned out blue. I've used wd40 a couple of times before though and it always seems to come out more blue. :)
I prefer a much darker black coloring, so I usually use the hot bluing method, but I wait til the part is blue with heat, then drop it in used motor oil. It blackens up quite nicely.
Another very informative video, one should be open to learning from others, and this video served as an example of what can be accomplished with relatively simple equipment. Thank you.
Loved it! Beautiful steel finishes for the black but I have a good version for the making copper patina on steel. Clean steel, degrease, polish. Work outdoors with goggles, chemical mask, nitrile gloves, full cover up of body no skin showing, and a gentle fan blowing fumes other direction. This is important. Put beaker filled with 100 ml distilled water into a heavy bottomed steel or glass saucepan on the gas for both liquids to come to a rolling medium boil. Add 10 grams copper oxide into beaker and stir with a pipette or neutral objects till mixed well. Bring back to a gentle boil. Add 20 ml of Formic Acid 85% to beaker - do not splash! Mix and let come back to a simmer. This will now release toxic fumes so do not breathe this and do not splash hot acid on yourself. When mixture turns blue, it is ready. Remove from heat. Using a brush, brush mixture onto steel objects for instant copper patina. Apply liberally, then immediately rinse in water tub or tap. Steel object gets a thin coating of copper. If you don't rinse off, it continues to turn darker. Rinse well. Dry, and surface coat with lacquer matte or glossy finish. There is a chemical way to give steel a brass patina but I don't have that formula yet. The brushing is too much work. Formic acid is bee, wasp, and ant venom. If it falls on your skin, rinse with running water do not rub. Compress with baking soda and water paste. Do not inhale.
I always enjoy your simple but effective educational videos. I almost exclusively use home made pine tar to treat tools. It gives great protection against rust and looks really nice. So the same way you put linseed oil on hot metal just use pine tar instead :)
With the blacking/bluing, if you give the peices a quick light scuff with fine steel wool or a scotch bite pad and do the process again it will smooth out the colours and give a deeper darker colour.
A blacksmith showed me the brass brush finish many years ago. It's a fairly durable finish. After applying it, I didn't coat the piece with anything to protect it, and it's been on my keychain for many years. The brass fully wore off after about a year to a year and a half - but again, that's as a keychain.
you can also do it with copper. i watched a blacksmith finish a leaf that way. he used a bit of copper pipe, since there arent too many copper brushes out there.
