Hot Bluing-Tips and Pics

[RamRoddoc]

I have used the Blinghogg hot bluing recipe with really good results. The directions are very basic and omits some required information to be continuously successful. I added the comments within the original recipe.

http://www.blindhogg.com/homemadesalts.html

Part A:

The Blindhogg hot bluing recipe, with helpful advise.

The homemade salts are great for nearly anyone doing small jobs -- it is very quick and economical to heat only 1 gallon of salts, blue the parts, and shutdown in less than an hour start to finish.

I have not had bad or funky results with the homemade recipe. It works great even though I have not intentionally abused the process to find all potential pitfalls. If the item is clean and prepared properly the lye will finish "degrease" the part while the solution is heating up. I have even added parts that were degreased with Simple Green, quickly bead blasted, and then added to the salts and still gotten good results. I am not sure how many sessions I will get but it is nice to know the salts are inexpensive and there are no hazzardous shipping fees or large quantity minimums needed or wasted.

(pitfalls with the recipe the salts will boil @ around 253 degrees Fahrenheit. Note the boiling point is directly related to the amount of water, as the water boils off the salts will slowly increase temperature and if allowed will fail to blue-too hot and the color is more of a red/bronze. Do this and if the salts get hotter than around 330 degrees the high temperature will destroy the salts. The salts will blue in a temperature window- stay in the 253-280 degree area, using ladled cold water to drop the temp back down, don’t add water to parts in the boil. Plan ahead and allow 20-30 minutes to boil. So if the slats start boiling at 275 degrees after 30 minutes the temperature will rise even higher and risk failing to blue or worse overheating and turning the steel red/bronze then eventually destroying the salts.

So at first boil, around 253 degrees, put your parts in the mix. As the temperature gets above 275 degrees use a ladle and slowly add cold distilled water. It will bubble and steam so allow the salts to enter the ladle to avoid spewing fluids. Dump it in and it will splatter hot alkaline lye everywhere, get it in your eyes and you’re blinded-I use a face shield to avoid permanent loss of vision. If the mix gets on your skin, even the slightest amount, you will know it, to stop the burning neutralize it with vinegar. I pour it in a towel and wipe the area and instant relief occurs.

If you have too much water, it will boil below 253 degrees. Just keep boiling it until it gets to above 253 degrees, boiling the excess water off then, put your parts in at the correct temperature range.

I use TSP in boiling tap water to degrease parts. Don’t touch the surface with anything other than fresh clean white paper towel, the faintest oil will give an uneven color.)

Disposal is a big issue for any of these salts and neutralizing the sodium hydroxide can be done with vinegar, water, and a ph test kit. I have heard of people putting the results down the drain, but I will not recommend disposal methods except to say consult the local waste disposal or sewer authorities and follow their rules. I consider disposal costs to be part of the job and I would not consider illegal disposal an option.

I may do more experiments with future batches. Steel is the only metal I let come in contact with the salts. I stick to steel or non-reactive materials for everything. I know some people say stainless steel would work fine, but I do not use it for the pot -- some say the pot can be stainless but others say it can affect the results. I find the enamel pots work great and are not that expensive.

(Pitfalls, aluminum will destroy your salts with a quickness and makes hydrogen gas, not wise around an open flame-boom! The enamel pots do ok but the glaze is eaten off fairly quickly and will need replaced. For the cost of two pots a black steel half tank from Brownells can be bought for around $50. The tank will need a batch and half of salts to fill the tank a little over half full.)

The depth of the blackening color increases with more time in the bath and a repeat session can be done if there are touch-ups or to add more/depth of color. I found the exact same results from the process and it matches perfectly even after sanding, filing, bead blasting, etc. I scratched a part and just filed off the scratch, did a quick bead blast, and returned to the salts and reblued the exposed steel until it matched the rest of the part. The low temperature (255 to 275 degrees is helpful as I need only about 15 to 20 minutes to bring room temperature solution up to a full boil, then perhaps 20 minutes to 30 minutes exposure of the parts in the salts for a nice black result. If I cover the heated salts and turn off the heat it stays hot for quite a while so I can bring it back up to boil in 5 to 10 minutes for rework or additional sessions post inspection/cleanup on the first run.

I prefer to watch the pot while it is going, so I never leave it unattended while doing cleanup.

(pitfalls, not circulating the salts and getting an uneven color. I agitate it and move the parts, hanging from an untreated wood square rod and use a mild steel rod-not galvanized to stir the hot salts.)

Attached are images of the ingredient packages that are very common. The ingredients and process are so simple nearly anyone can make it. If you can make instant coffee you can make this blueing recipe!

SHOPPING LIST:

Chemicals:

(5) 16 oz or 18 oz containers of Sodium Hydroxide (lye), Recommended Brand: Lewis Red Devil Lye Drain Opener (100% Lye). It must say 100% lye. Drain openers that explicitly say 100% lye are acceptable, howeer any drain opener that does not say 100% lye will not work! Lewis Red Devil Lye is a very common item so it should be available at a local home center, hardware or grocery store. The package is an 18oz container that costs about $3.19.
(Edited to add it has been brought to my attention that Red Devil Drain opener is no longer manufufactured, below is what someone kindly emailed me.
After a bit more research I did find that tech-grade sodium hydroxide is still available for sale at a variety of places with the most common being those that supply the homemade soap and candle making hobbies. I went ahead and ordered 10 lbs and with shipping it still only came out to $3.00 a pound which is comparable to the Red Devil lye if it had still been available. I purchased it here:
Link

(food service lye is the cheapest at around $3/2lbs)

(1) 4 Pound Box/Bag of Sodium Nitrate (Nitrate of Soda), Recommended Brand(s): Bonide Nitrate of Soda Fertilizer, Dragon Nitrate of Soda Fertilizer, Hoffman Nitrate of Soda Fertilizer. This item is Sodium Nitrate and comes in 4lb bags or boxes. Garden centers and hardware stores carry this or can get it. It is listed as containing 16-0-0 or 15-0-0 Nitrate Nitrogen. If you prefer, you can order online by using a search engine such as google.com, froogle.com, shopping.yahoo.com, or bizrate.com to search for "Nitrate of Soda" and you will find merchants that sell it from $6.49 for 4lbs to $14.95 for 8lbs.

(I use Hi-Yield nitrate purchased at the Macon feed store and shipped.)

(2) 1 Gallon Containers of Distilled Water. Some people have no trouble with tap water, but I think it must be distilled so it does not contain minerals and it is available at every grocery store. I prefer to keep track of the water I add to the salts.


Equipment:

(1) 16 Quart Graniteware or Enamelware Stock Pot/Seafoood Steamer Pot (size works great for pistols). Do NOT buy aluminum. I have seen the enamel type of pots available online and in camping supply stores. I purchased from http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com for $19.95 plus shipping. Other containers of a similar size that are steel or black iron will also work.

(1) Propane burner and propane tank setup. I purchased a Turkey Fryer setup. You can select any setup and the aluminum or stainless pot will work great for post blueing cleaning/boiling to remove the salts. Most of these setups include a pot, thermometer, and the burner with regulator and cost from $30 to about $50 from home centers, hardware stores, or online.

(Pitfalls, the salt vapors will eat aluminum, whatever your heat source, insure it has generous ventilation. Clean up the area with towels soaked in vinegar-neutralizer, clean that with water. Stainless steel is not recommended. It imparts a color variation. The stainless in the thermometer and the ladle-mixing cold water back in to reduce the boiling point all seem fine.)

(1) spool of ductile black iron/steel wire. Must be steel and appear either rusty or black. This is found in many home centers and hardware stores. Dip the wire into a degreaser to remove oil and diluted muriatic acid bath to prep for use.

(obtained at ACE hardware as well as the TSP degreasing powder-added to boiling tap water)

(1) steel stir stick for mixing ingredients and stirring the bath to get the salts into solution when re-heating. Can be found in home centers and hardware stores. Select a piece 18" to 24" in length, 1/8" diameter to 3/16" diameter. You will know when the salts are ready when the stir stick starts to blue.

(As you mix in the Nitrate the rod will turn a gorgeous dark color when it gets hot enough)

(1) 2 gallon plastic container with lid. Available at home centers in the paint department for storing the blueing salts between uses. Let the solution cool, then scrape out the pot and put the salts and solution into the pail.

(Pitfall, don’t put your salts away without slowly adding-ladling cold water back in to drop the temperature and prevent a rock hard block to deal with the next time you plan to hot blue)

SAFETY: Lye is poisonous, corrosive, and can cause severe burns if not handled carefully. The heated solution can burn you. Follow all safety warnings for the chemicals and the equipment and always mix in the recommended order out of doors in adequate ventilation. Never breathe the vapors, stand up-wind or at a safe distance when possible, and protect your eyes from the vapors or splashes. Rinse any solution from skin immediately.

(Wipe the skin with vinegar/neutralizer-DO NOT get this in your eyes, it worse than acid)

Continued Part B:

 

[RamRoddoc]

Part B:

MIXING: (All mixing should be done outside in good ventilation). Use a metal 16 Quart Steamer Stock Pot. Setup the heating source (propane turkey fryer burner).

1. Add 1 gallon of water into the pot.

2. Use a scale to measure five pounds of lye into a container. Slowly add 1 cup at a time to the room temperature water. Stir with a steel stir rod until each addition is dissolved into solution. If you add too much, it will clump on the bottom and be more difficult to dissolve. Continue to slowly add the lye -- the solution will heat up and there will be some fumes as the lye dissolves into solution. Avoid breathing fumes and go slowly with the mixing.

(The lye will heat up to about 150+ degrees without a heat source.)

3. Place the pot of lye solution on the burner and start heating until the solution is warm.

(It’s pretty darn warm already.)

4. Use a scale to measure 2 1/2 pounds of Nitrate of Soda Fertilizer into a container. Slowly add the fertilizer to the lye solution in the pot, stirring gently and allowing it to dissolve. As the temperature comes up closer to the boil, the fertilizer will go into solution.
Congratulations, you have just mixed your blueing salts!

STORAGE:

If you are not planning to use the salts immediately, turnoff the burner and allow the solution to cool back to near room temperature. When the solution is not hot or too warn, you can pour the liquid into a plastic storage container and scrape the crystals to loosen and add them to the plastic storage container too. Rubber gloves and a plastic scraper help to completely clean out the crystals in the pot. Wash the residue from the pot with plenty of water to dilute and rinse it away.

BLUEING:
Heat the solution until it reaches a minimum of 253 to 265 degress F and is vigorously boiling. Suspend the parts to blue using the steel wire to suspend them from a rod or piece of wood across the top of the pot. Let them remain in the boiling solution for 20 to 30 minutes depending on the steel and the depth of finish desired.

(Pitfalls, allowing the parts to stay in contact with the pot-creates hot spots, try and keep the parts just below the surface-the hottest level of the boiling salts and I use untreated wood to adjust the height of the steel being blued.)

When you remove the items from the salts they are very hot. Place them into hot but not boiling water for about 10 minutes to flush the salts out of any threads or captive areas. Dry and inspect. If the item is not blackened to your satisfaction or there are areas where it is not even return it to the solution and let it go longer. When final color is reached and the part is washed of all salts, completely coat the part in oil (WD-40, Gun Oil, Marvel Mystery Oil). I have also submerged the parts in warmed oil overnight before hanging them up and letting the excess drip off. I have not seen adverse effects from wiping down the parts and admiring the beautiful black finish immediately.

(For small parts with many nooks, I use an ultrasonic cleaner and hot water to cleanse the salts out. Be very careful of nooks-holes and barrels. The hot metal will vaporize water and vent steam wherever the up end is pointed)

TECHNICAL ISSUES:
Items can sometimes be covered with a soot -- this seems to be caused by excess heating, usually the result of letting the part sit on the bottom of the pot where the burner is elevating the temperatures. Other times, it just seems to happen for unexplained reasons. Underneath the soot, the finish is black, so let I always let it run and remain patient. After removing from the salts I place the part in a warm water bath and use a paper towel, rag, or a toothbrush to scrub off the soot. It will scrub or rub off and the finish underneath is usually very nice and black. Pipe cleaners will remove soot from small holes or screw threads. Once the surface looks clean, you can either return it to the salts for a few minutes or continue in a full hot water rinse, dry and oiling process.

(The tooth brush works well, I will also wipe with white paper towel to check the color depth. Irregular, mottled or too light put back in the salts for an extra 10 minutes or so.)

Items that do not blue or appear plum colored usually need a little more time in the solution. Various steels blue differently, and contaminants on the surface can lend a hand in making the process go funky. Usually a good degreasing and return to the solution, use of a slightly higher temperature or a longer time will get them black.

(Pitfall, too hot and the bluing process will slow, the heat rise and the color turn more red-bronze.)

If you have touch-ups or areas with defects that you want to fix you can return to the solution after corrective measures and a degreasing. I usually do touch-ups immediately while the salts are still running so I can assure the results come out exactly the same.

If you add lots of parts to the solution, it seems to take a little longer than when doing smaller bit of parts or touch-ups.

Ken Mays has more extensive experience with the original formula. Practical use is the same, but his recipe and mixing is different because ammonium nitrate fertilizer has several negatives: First, it gets attention from the FBI and you can end up "a person of interest". Second, when adding it to the lye, copious amounts of concentrated ammonia gas are produced and ammonia is very dangerous to living things! After his salts are mixed and working things are the same as what I am using, although he reports his solution boils at a higher temperature.

(With reasonable safety measures an awesome dark black “known as bluing” rich color can be obtained. The salts can be reused so far I have gotten 3 guns from one “batch”, perhaps more but I let the salts get too hot. Give yourself a good half-day to do this. It is not an effort to be rushed.)

http://www.maconfeedandseed.com/nitrate-of-soda.html
Nitrate can be ordered at the Macon feed store 4lbs/$6.99. For a batch and half 3.75lbs will do you.

http://www.essentialdepot.com/servlet/the-2/2-lbs-Food-Grade/Detail
The cheapest I found lye is at Essential Depot $3.44/2lbs. For a batch and half of salts 4 bottles for $13.76 will do you.

That's $20.75 +shipping for a batch and half of salts that will do several handguns!


http://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-tools-supplies/metal-prep-coloring/metal-bluing/black-iron-tanks/halftanks-prod24764.aspx
A black tank for $54.95 at Brownells is a really good investment.

A turkey frying thermometer is around $10, a roll huge of black wire (ACE hardware) for about $10, TSP (degreaser) about $4, a mild steel rod at lowes a few bucks, some scraps of untreated wood to hang parts and a raid of the kitchen for degreasing/washing pots and a stainless ladle with a secured heat source and we're in biddness!

Lastly, do not forget splash safety. Goggles or shield for eyes/face, rubber gloves and a gallon of vinegar to neutralize the alkaline corrosive salts is not to be forgotten. This stuff will continue to eat away until neutralized, plain water will dilute it but best to neutralize it with the vinegar.



So what can one expect?

Here is a Colt model 1917 that had no finish whatsoever and many small pits that took great effort to remove and sand (320 grit). I didn't go for a mirror polish and attempted to save not just the roll markings but the original tooling marks. These guns were built quickly to supply our fighting men with a combat handgun and were contracted due to the inability to produce enough 1911's.

Mostly a simple 230-320 grit sanding with the pits getting a touch of a jeweler's file then sanded out. I use wood blocks to keep flats, flat and foam padding to do curves. The cylinder had some bad pitting mostly on one side but it took hours to get right.

Looks like another project going on there?

So what does it look like? Pics are being loaded.....

 

[RamRoddoc]

The reborn war horse with new shoes and clothes.

http://www.gunpartscorp.com/Manufacturers/Colt-33188/Revolvers-35751/1917-37988.htm?page=5
So some information for 1917 types. The reproduction grips ran close to a $100 for a very basic wood grips. Numrich had some decent wood grips with checkering and medallions for 47. 30 or the smooth ones for $6 less, that I picked up.

The lanyard ring had been missing, I picked it up from Numrich.

http://www.brownells.com/handgun-parts/grip-parts/grips/colt-walnut-grips-prod41226.aspx
If one wants Colt medallions it's an upcharge to the tune of $94.99 at Brownells.

http://www.eaglegrips.com/guns/Walnut-Colt-1917-New-Service.html
Or $125.00 for these basic reproductions. I can make these in an afternoon.

http://www.kmike.com/38/fm-23-35.pdf
FM 23-35 "Combat Training with Pistols and Revolvers" 1988.

http://olive-drab.com/od_other_firearms_pistol_m1917.php
The bare basics of history.

http://www.coolgunsite.com/pistols/usarevpage_m1917.htm
More details of the 1917 model.

I did not disassemble the cylinder. Reports of damage, prevented me from attempting it unless absolutely necessary. This video was helpful after several months sitting on the bench and attempting to remember just how it went back together....

 

[RamRoddoc]

Sorry but no pics of the pits just a few at the barrel end and about 30-40% of the bluing gone with minor rusting but here are some pics of progress.


I sped things up a bit by cutting a .44 caliber bore plug so I could chuck the barrel into the lathe and spin it using 230-320-400-600-800 and finally 1000 grit sandpaper. This could have been done by hand using a shoe shine approach and padded vice.

Flat block sanding and using a foam pad backing to get the curves did the deed.

Rinsed and small parts ultrasonic cleaned with hot water to flush the salts out, then sprayed with WD40 to soak for a day or two then reassembly. A bloom will occur and will need to be wiped down a few times with a non-detergent oil/gun oil.

 

[rtross]

Wow!
Very, very nicely done.

 

[RamRoddoc]

Like I like my women, big, black and strong...... 8)


The sights were 80 grit glass bead blasted @ 60 PSI, then dropped into a plastic bag and a sufficient amount of cold bluing poured in to a make a parts soup, after a minute or so, then dumped into a bowl and washed well with a tooth brush/tap water.

I really love the old school panther!

Appliance touch up paint until nearly dry then gentle strokes with a clean towel and acetone make for fresh white outlines or dots on sights.

And dut, dut, dut that's all folks for the bubba blues......

 

[Trader Jordon]

Amazing Work!

 

[Zombie Ninja]

Those turned out great!! Superb work!
Great guy here folks!

 

[dukeyjoe]

As always, you find a way LMAO at your change in taste regarding women.

 

[RamRoddoc]

Wow!
Very, very nicely done.

Thank you, the pit removal and conserving the markings are a real challenge at times.

Amazing Work!

Thanks! It's a real pleasure watching one of these projects unfold into a real nice ending.

Those turned out great!! Superb work!
Great guy here folks!

Thanks Roy,

The old Colt was a good shooter and a real diamond in the rough. I would have liked to really put a shine on it but the old tooling marks from rapidly mass producing these for the war effort would have been gone and a key part of the character of this old war horse. So I left a good portion of them, still a bit nicer than when it originally came off the production line.

The T/C the largest hurdle was the barrel stampings. I did a pretty good job on preserving those and still get a high polished finish. I is really an attractive handgun. I especially like the old "Puma" engraving as an attractive legacy of the T/C heritage. I'm pleased to have revived this older break top.

As always, you find a way LMAO at your change in taste regarding women.

Granny always said I was "bull headed".... I always liked to think I was committed. Well you know what they say, variety is the spice of our life....