How about a little old school flame bluing

[markj]

Thought I would post a few pics of the flame bluing process for those that are not familiar with the process. Its like Nitre Bluing for lazy people, so I like it! Its great for small parts like screws and pins and gives a nice bright blue accent. Simply polish the screw to a bright shine, then heat with any small torch, (Im using a cheapo from harbor freight).

Keep the screw head moving in the flame to heat it evenly, and watch the metal turn color, from straw yellow, to plum, then finally bright blue, when you get the color you want, quench in some motor oil. done! Its not a very durable finish, but it takes all of a min. to do, so its not a big deal to re-do every now and then. Also, if you didn't get the color just right, re-polish and try again. Makes a nice evening project to flame blue a few screws.

 

[freedom]

Nice, I dig it.

 

[mikey357]

Nice Pics & write-up, Mark! I have also heard the process refered to as "Fire Bluing"...Is the Type or Weight of Motor Oil used for the Quench important? Thanks....mikey357

 

[markj]

Hey Mike!
Yep, flame/fire blue, one in the same. Oil weight doesn't matter as far as I know. Ive got some Mobil One 30wt I use for lubing metal guns, quart lasts for ever...

 

[mikey357]

Hey Mike!
Yep, flame/fire blue, one in the same. Oil weight doesn't matter as far as I know. Ive got some Mobil One 30wt I use for lubing metal guns, quart lasts for ever...

Thanks, Mark--I may hafta' give that a try, looks ALMOST "Klutz-Proof"--Almost--LOL!

 

[7pt62THOR]

Looks great and I love that non-serrated slide!

 

[RamRoddoc]

Looks great Mark, nice pictures.

 

[BangBang]

Awesome!

 

[jglenn]

if you like something a bit darker in a a blue finished try heat and Brownell's Dicropan IM.. It's a product intended to replace rust bluing but is very affective on some metals as a cold bluing... same process as what Mark describes but you drop it into a small separate container of the stuff...it has a blue somewhat similar to the old Colt or old S&W blue on the right steel.. don't re-use it and burnish the metal first with de-oiled 0000 steel wool

no where as close to black as the other cold blues in the world... you can continue to apply new solution till the product beads on the surface...at that point it's as good as it's going to get. typically it will not match up well to the newer blues( black) like Brownells Oxpho #7

just something else to consider


Nice Mark

 

[bluesman2a]

The slide on that gun is AMAZING.