1st Blue Job!

grease-man

grease-man

Joined
Apr 9, 2006
Messages
1,499
I was goofing around in the shop yesterday afternoon and ran across my bottle of Birchwood/Casey's Cold Blue. I never blued anything before, so I decided to give it a shot on my Mora and Kellam.

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Sorry for the crappy pics. The Mora already had some patina on it, the Kellam, not so much. I cleaned the blades with brake cleaner, but must have accidentally gotten some fingerprint oil on the Kellam. Kinda blotchy in one area. 3 coats took about 20 minutes. What do you think? -Matt-
 
That looks real nice. I keep meaning to try some cold blue. I liek the dark, even color, just like a gun.
 
Looks like I'm not the only one who likes these inexpensive Mora knives. I have 3 Moras 1 stainless, used for meal prep., and 2 carbons used for everything else. I bought 2 Kellams for my boys to use as whittling knives.

SGB
 
I used some Casey Super Blue on my carbon clipper, but dang did it destroy the edge. I tried to just strop it, then gave up and went to my soft Arkansas stone, and about 20 min. later, faced facts, and went to my Norton India and even that was about 10 minutes of steady work to get back to a smooth edge. The Super Blue is clearly QUITE strong. It was applied, and rinsed, steel wooled, and oiled in less than 5 minutes, and still that much damage. The color ended up blotchy as well, and not in a good way either. I ended up stripping it all off. I wanted a nice deep, even blue, like my hatchet head turned out, but no such luck.
If you want to do it, it isn't hard at all. Just really degrease the blade thoroughly, and apply the bluing evenly. If I had a slender container so as not to waste, I would like to do a dip, instead of a rub on technique. I may try again, but will have my edge covered with either a heavy grease, or slice along some wax a couple of strokes to coat the edge. SO, don't be dumb like me, be sure to do your bluing BEFORE your sharpening job.
 
I have heard that you should apply blue with a new toothbrush as it is oil free. Cotton balls supposedly have lanolin type oil in them that makes the blue not take very well.
 
Beckerhead- the Super Blue is quite a bit stronger from what I understand, it is formulated to penetrate hardened tools steels intantly. Blueing is a form of controlled "rust" or oxide, so maybe they had to jack up the formula more for tool steels? I used the regular cold blue, with no damage to the edge that I can tell. I used cotton balls to apply the blueing, but they don't get to the blade/handle junction that well. Maybe a q-tip or a toothbrush like Messer454 suggested would work better. Thanks for the compliments! -Matt-
 
grease-man said:
Beckerhead- the Super Blue is quite a bit stronger from what I understand, it is formulated to penetrate hardened tools steels intantly. Blueing is a form of controlled "rust" or oxide, so maybe they had to jack up the formula more for tool steels? I used the regular cold blue, with no damage to the edge that I can tell. I used cotton balls to apply the blueing, but they don't get to the blade/handle junction that well. Maybe a q-tip or a toothbrush like Messer454 suggested would work better. Thanks for the compliments! -Matt-
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Yes, it is strong for a cold blue for sure. I originally got it to re-blue a marlin 30/30 after I did a tune up on it, which BTW, I HIGHLY recommend to Marlin levergun guys. It is super simple, and makes a very big diff. in the smoothness, and it helps avoid the "Marlin Jam". I never had it happen to me, but I have read alot about it. Anyway, back on point, the Super Blue made the lever, hammer, and mag. cap look great. super deep, shiny color, and just 1 application. I also took an el crappo hatchet, hand polished it down to a smooth mirror, and it blued so fine! My Mora just didn't like the flavor. I also did my degreasing with HOT water, which isn't on the label, but on my gun parts, after fighting with regular blue, I learned that hot metal takes a much better finish. I guess my 1095 Mora was just to tender hearted and got mauled with the combo of Super Blue & hot water. I mean you could visibly see the ragged edge. I just may be ready for a redo.
 
I'm gonna go with hot water next time. There is a thread in the maker's section that is dealing with blueing issues. Some of these same things are coming up. -Matt-
 
Curious, if using the blade as a skinner, does the toxicity of the bluing agent affect anything?
 
samhain73 said:
Curious, if using the blade as a skinner, does the toxicity of the bluing agent affect anything?
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Nope. The reaction is done and the residual stuff is washed away, leaving just a blue/black oxide layer on the steel. Nothing harmful left behind. -Matt-
 
When bluing doesn't come out even you don't have to strip it down. Just buff with steel wool and reapply more bluing. You can keep reapplying it until its almost black. Then polish with a nonabrasive polish.
 
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