Hot bluing at home..

willnewton said:

I can’t find this in the Articles, apparently only you can read it. Why can’t you just post your info in this thread for everyone to read easily rather than sending out emails, etc? If you need more room, just make multiple posts in this thread.

It is your thread, so please clog it up with information.

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1. Equipment:
   
   (1) 16 Quart Graniteware or Enamelware Stock Pot/Seafoood Steamer Pot (size works great for pistols). Do NOT buy aluminum. I use stainless and have for years, though some say not to. Never had a problem.
   
   (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. Or a coleman stove works OK for me.
   
   (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.
   
   (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.
   
   (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. I get the 5 gallon pickle barrels from Firehouse Subs, or you can get plastic pails with lids at Lowes etc.
   
   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.
   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. or any smaller amount depending on your project. But keep the ratios about the same. may need to adjust according to temperature. CAREFUL adding water to the hot solution as it is explosive, being well above the boiling point of water.
   
   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.
   
   3. Place the pot of lye solution on the burner and start heating until the solution is warm.
   
   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.
   
   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.
   
   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.
   
   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.
   
   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.