What is Blueing?
- Thread starter Kano
- Start date
Blueing is a metal treatment to delay the formation of rust. It involves imersing the metal in a molten bath of salts, or a heated mixture of diluted salts that alter the surface of the steel.
There are cold blue treatments available to touch up small areas. To start up a shop to blue guns, it takes a few grand for the tanks, burners, tools, and chemicals. In a perfect world, it can be a money maker for a good gunsmith, because you can charge a fair shop rate and the salts consumed are not that costly if you can process work in decent sized batches. In the real world, it is another shop job people expect you to be able to do, but the start up time and waste of chemicals for small batches eats into the profits.
Except for a really small touch up job, I'd send any work to Gunner for pistols, or Barry for rifle work. (I'm actually just assuming Barry does bluing for rifle actions)
There are cold blue treatments available to touch up small areas. To start up a shop to blue guns, it takes a few grand for the tanks, burners, tools, and chemicals. In a perfect world, it can be a money maker for a good gunsmith, because you can charge a fair shop rate and the salts consumed are not that costly if you can process work in decent sized batches. In the real world, it is another shop job people expect you to be able to do, but the start up time and waste of chemicals for small batches eats into the profits.
Except for a really small touch up job, I'd send any work to Gunner for pistols, or Barry for rifle work. (I'm actually just assuming Barry does bluing for rifle actions)
- Location
- calgary alberta
Blueing is actually a controlled form of rust (oxidization) The process is time consuming, but the short explanation is The metal is prepped either by buffing or blasting , depending on the lustre of finish desired. Then the metal is cleaned with a degreaser to remove ALL the oils and greases that are in the pore of the metal. A supersaturated mixture of water and salts is used to "boil" the metal for between 15 minutes and 1/2 hour at temperatures between 250 and 300 degrees F depending on the salt solution.
Once the color wanted is achieved the meatl is then rinsed in fresh water, sometimes in an additional tank it is reboiled in a neutralizing solution. Then the metal is placed in a water dispersing oil bath for several hours to force all water out of the metal pores. The finished blue metal takes a short time for the blue to "cure" it is very easy to mark fresh blued metal so extreme care is required.
Cold blue is only a surface treatment, where as hot blue penetrates the metal deeper, hence lasting better.
Chemicals for hot blueing are NOT cheap, transport costs due to hazmat regulations make them Damn expensive.
Once the color wanted is achieved the meatl is then rinsed in fresh water, sometimes in an additional tank it is reboiled in a neutralizing solution. Then the metal is placed in a water dispersing oil bath for several hours to force all water out of the metal pores. The finished blue metal takes a short time for the blue to "cure" it is very easy to mark fresh blued metal so extreme care is required.
Cold blue is only a surface treatment, where as hot blue penetrates the metal deeper, hence lasting better.
Chemicals for hot blueing are NOT cheap, transport costs due to hazmat regulations make them Damn expensive.
As stated, bluing is a controlled form of rust. Chemical bluing as detailed above is best left to a pro.
An alternative is slow rust bluing which can be done at home, is cheap and gives a wonderful finish. The down side is that the process is time consuming and requires attention to detail and cleanliness.
The process is to prep the metal by either polishing, buffing or blasting , depending on the lustre of finish desired. The metal is cleaned with a degreaser to remove ALL the oils and greases that are in or on the metal.
Once the metal is prepped, a bluing chemical is appied to the metal and the metal is placed in a warm, humid place for 6-12 hours. During that time a fine red rust will form on the metal. When the time has elapsed, the metal is boiled in distilled water for 10-15 min. The boiling creates a chemical reaction that turns the red rust to a black rust. After boiling, the metal is rubbed down(carded) with ultra-fine, degreased steel wool and the process repeated 6-8 times(ie apply chemical, allow to rust, boil, card)
After the last carding, submerge the metal in oil for 24 hours.
The finish is beautiful and is one of the toughest finishes that can be applied to a firearm.
An alternative is slow rust bluing which can be done at home, is cheap and gives a wonderful finish. The down side is that the process is time consuming and requires attention to detail and cleanliness.
The process is to prep the metal by either polishing, buffing or blasting , depending on the lustre of finish desired. The metal is cleaned with a degreaser to remove ALL the oils and greases that are in or on the metal.
Once the metal is prepped, a bluing chemical is appied to the metal and the metal is placed in a warm, humid place for 6-12 hours. During that time a fine red rust will form on the metal. When the time has elapsed, the metal is boiled in distilled water for 10-15 min. The boiling creates a chemical reaction that turns the red rust to a black rust. After boiling, the metal is rubbed down(carded) with ultra-fine, degreased steel wool and the process repeated 6-8 times(ie apply chemical, allow to rust, boil, card)
After the last carding, submerge the metal in oil for 24 hours.
The finish is beautiful and is one of the toughest finishes that can be applied to a firearm.
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