Bluing

[tormentchris]

Has anyone used Birchwood gun bluing solution or any other of the like on blades as a final finish? If so, does anyone have any recommendations and or procedures that they would be willing to share? I have a request for a blade and they want it blued. I'm just trying to find out as much as I can from anyone who has done it.

Thanks, Chris

[Jerrod Miller]

Did you try a Google site search? There seems to be quite a few threads about bluing, including some recommendations for Birchwood Casey Cold Blue.

 

https://www.google.com/?ion=1&espv=2#q=site:bladesmithsforum.com+birchwood+bluing

[Austin_Lyles]

I use their paste cold blueing on occasion. The surface needs to be CLEAN. Apply in a back to forth motion with the direction of sanding. Take to a sink and buff with the direction of sanding with 0000 steel wool in running water. Repeat all steps until you get to the darkness you want (Usually around a dark grey).

[GBrackett]

They key is many coats as stated above. Then several coats of a good penetrating oil as a final finish.

 

 

[JJ Simon]

I use a blue from Shooters solution

I found it to be excellent.

[Alan Longmire]

I use Kleenbore Black Magic. One coat, it doesn't streak, and it is nearly black. It works best applied to warm steel, it stinks, andit's poisonous, but it beats anything Birchwood Casey ever made hands down. I haven't used the stuff JJ mentioned, but it is worth a look too.

[tormentchris]

Cool, Thanks for all the replies. That helps alot.

[Gazz]

Brownells sells a product that is the consistency of a shampoo called Oxpho-Blue which works very well, better than all of the more liquid types that I have used but I haven't tried them all. I used to work in an ornamental iron shop and we used a Birchwood Casey black oxide product that worked very well on sandblasted steel but would rust if not neutralized with baking soda or some other base product.

 

The most durable blue finish is a rust blue which is a little more involved to do but not hard to do. It will not leave a polished looking surface though and will be mat. I degrease, bead blast and apply the chemical (an acid) and then let the part sit in a very humid damp box. After a few hours or maybe a day depending on humidity, it will be red with rust. Card that off with a fine wire wheel and repeat the chemical application and the wire wheel carding. Keep doing this until you have reached the desired blue. I have done a few guns using the method and everybody who sees the end product is impressed with the finish.

[Dustin Stephens]

I too have looked into the Brownells oxpho-blue. There is a video on youtube by a guy named dragonbreath that explains it quite well.

[Joshua States]

I use the Birchwood Casey products quite often. I have found that the trick is to apply it warm (+/- 225*), and the same applies to the BC Plum Brown.

I usually put the blade or part in my HT oven and heat up to 200-250, and apply a coat, then return it to the oven for about 10 minutes. Get it up to heat again and do a second coat. Bake for another 10 minutes and it's good to go.