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Blackening steel? Pat B

By Pat B June 1, 2009 in Beginners Place

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Pat B

Pat B

Posted June 1, 2009

Pat B

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Posted June 1, 2009

Just thought Id post this here, but how many ways are there to make a polished black blade or blade furniture? I would like to know the various methods you all know so I can see how many ways a blackened blade could be done.

Gnáthamh na hoibre an t-eólas

(Knowledge comes through practice)

 

Iron is full of impurities that weaken it; through the forging fire, it becomes steel and is transformed into a razor-sharp sword. Human beings develop in the same fashion. - Morihei Ueshiba

 

my site: http://lfcforgeworks.webs.com/

Christopher Price

Christopher Price

Posted June 1, 2009

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Posted June 1, 2009

There are a couple of commercial coatings, almost like paint, that are often used... otherwise you need to use a patina, some sort of chemical oxidation. Gun blue is a very common one for knives.

The Tidewater Forge

Christopher Price, Bladesmith

Pat B

Pat B

Posted June 1, 2009

Pat B

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Posted June 1, 2009

I heard a method of etch the thing in ferric chloride then spray on WD40 to set it ... or soak in ferric chloride or vinegar then boil it in water to set it. as well as to take a electric wire brush when its at its critical temp, the logic behind it as I hear is that the scale will fall off and slightly smooth the surface and leave it a polished black or grey look after it cools.

 

what do u think of those? are there any merit behind those methods or are they misinformation?

Gnáthamh na hoibre an t-eólas

(Knowledge comes through practice)

 

Iron is full of impurities that weaken it; through the forging fire, it becomes steel and is transformed into a razor-sharp sword. Human beings develop in the same fashion. - Morihei Ueshiba

 

my site: http://lfcforgeworks.webs.com/

Dave Stephens

Dave Stephens

Posted June 1, 2009

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Posted June 1, 2009

Depending on the chromium content of the steel you were using, the techniques you describe would give you a dull greyish finish. I wouldn't recommend it.

 

Here's a quick, "cheater" technique I use to get a nice dark/shiney finish without hot blue.

 

1 - Finish the steel to a mirror polish.

2 - Heat the steel with a propane torch until it turns to the dark purple hue in the heat treat spectrum. The trick here is to be able to stop before it turns to the light blue color beyond the purple in the spectrum. I use the wife's plant water spray bottle to cool the steel down once it hits the color I want.

3 - Coat with paste cold gun blue (available at any gun store). Make sure you get the kind that comes in a tube as a gel. The liquid wipe on blue is pretty useless. Apply with Q-Tips thickly and let set until the color is even. This may take 2 or 3 coats. Wipe off with a paper towel then clean with WD-40.

 

It's not the true, deep black/blue color of a hot blue, but it's pretty good. Check out the cross guard on this dagger I made. I used this finishing technique on it.

 

http://www.bladesmithsforum.com/index.php?sh...c=12151&hl=

 

Luck!

 

--Dave

-----------------------------------------------"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly." -- Theodore Roosevelthttp://stephensforge.com

Matthew Bower

Matthew Bower

Posted June 1, 2009

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Posted June 1, 2009

I've tried the rust bluing technique mentioned by Brian van Spreybroeck here. I like it very much.

 

There are many, many old recipes for bluing steel, though I'm not sure they're really much different in how they work.

Greg H.

Greg H.

Posted June 1, 2009

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Posted June 1, 2009

Has anyone thought of parkerizing?

Once you can accept the universe as matter expanding into nothing that is something, wearing stripes with plaid comes easy.

Brent L

Brent L

Posted June 1, 2009

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Posted June 1, 2009

can always use stove black. Heat the blade up with a torch and I'm only talking you hold it there for maybe 1-3 seconds, there should no colouring or anything and then using a cloth spread the stove black on it... I like the look it gives when I did it.

Alba Ghu Bra

 

Brent LaCroix

Pat B

Pat B

Posted June 1, 2009

Pat B

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Posted June 1, 2009

those all sound like creative ways, i reallly like the method of hot bluing followed by the gun blue

Gnáthamh na hoibre an t-eólas

(Knowledge comes through practice)

 

Iron is full of impurities that weaken it; through the forging fire, it becomes steel and is transformed into a razor-sharp sword. Human beings develop in the same fashion. - Morihei Ueshiba

 

my site: http://lfcforgeworks.webs.com/

AStephenson

AStephenson

Posted June 4, 2009

AStephenson

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Posted June 4, 2009

One way that a friend of mine who is a sculptor gets a nice black finish is to heat the piece to Cherry Red then dunk it into motor oil.

 

Two notes to be aware of

 

1. it has to be true petro oil, not any of the synthetics and beware of the additives as they my change the tone.

2. be ready for flames. If you can get the piece submeged quickly enough there are none but 4 out of 5 times she gets a flare.

"The time has come for you to see

the one who forged your destiny."

Two-Edge.

ElfQuest, Wendi and Richard Pini

 

"Darkness is the anvil upon which my strength is forged."

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Mike Ruslander

Mike Ruslander

Posted June 4, 2009

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Posted June 4, 2009 (edited)

I made this knife out of a file and used a mild steel for the guard. I heated it up and cooled it with WD40. It turned a nice deep blue, with some interesting pinkish colorations. That might not be for everyone's taste, but I liked the results.

Pioneer.jpg

Edited June 4, 2009 by Mike R.

Mike R.

http://www.ruslanderknives.com

https://plus.google.com/photos/110306175154054435692/albums/5576891702960826241

cwilliams

cwilliams

Posted June 5, 2009

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Posted June 5, 2009

Many ways to turn steel black.

Just some of the ways I do it are

1. Hot blue using blueing salts

2. Parkerize using parkerizing solutions

3. Cold blue using cold blue chemical (Easiest one to apply)

4. Gunkote using a airbrushed paint that is then baked on in oven at 350degrees to harden.

5. rust then boil in water to turn the red oxide from red to black.

6. I have also used the get steel red hot and dunk in oil, works very well for guards etc.

 

Chris

Chris Williams

Pat B

Pat B

Posted June 9, 2009

Pat B

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Posted June 9, 2009

thanks guys, this is all a great help to me.

Gnáthamh na hoibre an t-eólas

(Knowledge comes through practice)

 

Iron is full of impurities that weaken it; through the forging fire, it becomes steel and is transformed into a razor-sharp sword. Human beings develop in the same fashion. - Morihei Ueshiba

 

my site: http://lfcforgeworks.webs.com/

  • 2 months later...
Casey Alexander

Casey Alexander

Posted August 28, 2009

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Posted August 28, 2009

thanks guys, this is all a great help to me.

This is something I just tried yesterday.A friend told me that fur trappers used to boil their traps in oak leaves and water to protect and disguise the steel.I tried it on 3 or 4 blades I had laying around and its the best and easiest effect for antiquing or blackening.The longer you leave it the blacker it gets,and it works pretty quick so keep an eye on it.I just took a handful or two of oak leaves,tore them up added about 2 cups of water,bring it to a boil.Im not sure if it will work when its cold.But while its hot just set your steel into it and wait.Pick it up often and look at it.It gives a nice graying look as it turns black.Just pull it out when you want to.A very small amount rubbed off with a cloth but you can get a consistent blackening.Im sure it can be sanded off.But it seems to be very durable.

Tim Lonnee

Tim Lonnee

Posted August 30, 2009

Tim Lonnee

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Posted August 30, 2009 (edited)

If you know anyone in the welding business, get a jar of stainless steel pickeling gel. A friend gave me one just to try out for etching. It turned the steel black in a few seconds, and the black was a real pain to get off.Way to fast for etching but it sure leaves a blade black. Looks kinda neat actually. Anyway just my 2 cents worth, but it works. Do it outside as well.Puts out some fumes that curls the beard...... Tim

Edited August 30, 2009 by Tim Lonnee bronzetools

bronzetools

Posted September 4, 2009

bronzetools

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Posted September 4, 2009

This is something I just tried yesterday.A friend told me that fur trappers used to boil their traps in oak leaves and water to protect and disguise the steel.I tried it on 3 or 4 blades I had laying around and its the best and easiest effect for antiquing or blackening.The longer you leave it the blacker it gets,and it works pretty quick so keep an eye on it.I just took a handful or two of oak leaves,tore them up added about 2 cups of water,bring it to a boil.Im not sure if it will work when its cold.But while its hot just set your steel into it and wait.Pick it up often and look at it.It gives a nice graying look as it turns black.Just pull it out when you want to.A very small amount rubbed off with a cloth but you can get a consistent blackening.Im sure it can be sanded off.But it seems to be very durable.

Casey ,I was at a tool show about 15 years ago and I was talking to an old timer who had a bunch of old wrenches that were shiny and had no sign of sanding or buffing.

I asked him how he did it.He said 1 gal. of vinegar and 1 gal. of water in a five gallon bucket. Soak the tools overnight or longer if needed ,then rub with steel wool, rinse in water ,blow off with compressed air and bake at 250F to get all the last moisture out before clear-coating with lacquer .Sooo...I made up a batch of the goodies and threw in some old rusty wrenches.I got busy working on a Oak millwork project and forgot about the bucket. Several scraps of Oak and a half bucket of Oak planer shavings ended up in the bucket.A couple of days later I remembered the wrenches and emptied the contents and everything had turned coal black . The steel had a very nice color.I wasn't involved in metalworking back then so I didn't give it much thought because most woodworkers know that Iron will turn Oak black.I think I know what the next step is boiling to set the color.Maybe The vinegar helps maybe not .I wont have to look far for something rusty to duplicate the process. Good Luck Steve

Sam Salvati

Sam Salvati

Posted September 5, 2009

Sam Salvati

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Posted September 5, 2009

I made this knife out of a file and used a mild steel for the guard. I heated it up and cooled it with WD40. It turned a nice deep blue, with some interesting pinkish colorations. That might not be for everyone's taste, but I liked the results.

Pioneer.jpg

 

NICE knife Mike! If you are looking to paint the blade with something tough, spray on truck bed liner gives some tough coatings and cool textures.

Let not the swords of good and free men be reforged into plowshares, but may they rest in a place of honor; ready, well oiled and God willing unused. For if the price of peace becomes licking the boots of tyrants, then "To Arms!" I say, and may the fortunes of war smile upon patriots

jarrett

jarrett

Posted September 9, 2009

jarrett

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Posted September 9, 2009

I have used the parkerizing process. Got the solution from brownells website.

 

It worked well. Gave the blade a nice black satin type finish. It was pretty easy to do.

 

The link to my blog is below. This is one of the older posts when I had used the solution.

 

http://jlrknives.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2009-04-05T19%3A51%3A00-07%3A00&max-results=7

CUSTOM KNIVES BY JL RHODES

JLRKNIVES

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

God bless you. I thank God every day for the freedom to spend time with those I love, and time to pursue this craft.

 

"Adversity is a test for strong men."

"What one man can do, so can another."

"NO excuses, just do better next time."

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Tag » How To Blacken Forged Steel