"Coloring" steel

[Tom Dunn]

I seem to recall having heard about a process that will put a dark patina onto stell hardware parts.
IIRC, the process involved perhaps heating the parts in a charcoal fire, then swabbing with some sort of oil, motor oil maybe?
Thats pretty vague, sorry, but I thought somebody on here might have a line on the right way to go about this.......

[Gotcha6]

It's called blueing. IIRC there's an article about this in 'The Machinist's Bedside Reader' by Guy Lautard. I can't remember which one of the 3 issues it was in, but it's available from this link:
http://stores.ebay.com/id=9152677&ss...TRK:MEFS:MESST
This guy has hundreds of old titles & off the wall DIY books on hand.

[ChrisMathes]

The problem with patina's is that they only easily occur on non-ferrous(?) metals..those that don't rust (forgive me if I'm using the wrong terminology as I don't know the science well-enough!) Anyhow, I'm not sure what specifically you are referring to, but I have purchased chemicals in the past that you can apply to iron, steel, etc to create a patina. The patina is a bit like a dye or paint, but it looks legit, nonetheless...if you are interested, let me know and I'll look up the details. I had it shipped from CA, but I dont' think it cost me $20 for the blue patina and shipping....

chris

[nelsone]

Interesting process Mike.

Tom, If you try this, please post pics of the process!

[scsmith42]

You can also buy various chemicals for blueing, color case hardening, parkerizing, etc, from either Brownells or Midway - both Firearms supply houses.

Scott

[jeff...]

I've got lots of brown colored steel around here it just appears and I don't even have to try.

[Glennbear]

Originally Posted by Mike Davis

Patina means aged or oxidized which is rust. Brass rust is brown, aluminum rust is white, iron rust is red, Steel rust can be anywhere from red to dark red to gray or black depending on the allow and chemical environment.

Ferrous means iron or mostly iron alloys.

Tom is asking about blackening steel. Carbonizing is one way and probably what you read about considering your penchant for mountain man and trapper readings.

Motor oil will work, animal fat will work, but the old timers used whale oil which is almost impossible to find in the USA now.

Heat the metal to red hot and immediately plunge it into the oil just like you were hardening it, then put it back in the fire and barely heat it not so much that any color shows, only till the oil starts to cook, then put it back in the oil to cool.

This coincides with what I was thinking, cast iron skillets are grey when new but turn black when "seasoned" methinks seasoning a skillet is basically carbonizing it.

[Tom Dunn]

Brownells or Midway - both Firearms supply houses.

Top notch outfits both......I've used Brownells cold blue in the past with decent results.