Airbrush Cold Blue?

ddavelarsen

ddavelarsen

Joined
Dec 7, 2000
Messages
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Has anyone ever used an airbrush to apply cold blue? I have a large and uneven surface I want to blue and thought that might be the best way to get an even coating. Would that work? Any risk to the airbrush?
 
I don't think the airbrush is going to do anything more than just rubbing the cold blue on with a cotton ball. I have found that the very best way to go with cold blue is immersion. Any way you do it, cold blue is about the weakest form of protection for steel. I would place it one step above nothing and I have never been able to make it hold up well when the piece is handled a lot.
Just my 2 cents
 
Dave ,
I wouldn't do that mainly because of the ingredients in cold blue that you would get airborne one of which is selenium which is a real nasty one!
 
Dave I think you should send it to Mel Doyles for hot bluing. He does a great job at a reasonable price. Email me if you want his addy.
 
Thanks guys. I was afraid someone was going to say "don't do that!"

Here's my problem. This is a large blade ground to look like flint. I want to apply plum brown to the thing. I did a small test a few years ago and found that when I applied the solution it streaked pretty badly and accumulated in the hollows. I was hoping to spray this to eliminate that problem. Sounds like spraying is out.

If I could find enough plum brown to cover this knife, I'd still have to find a pan to lay it in which doesn't seem likely. Possibly I can fold up a bunch of foil to make a pan. I'll try that before I go looking for enough solution.

Bruce, if it begins to look like I can't do this the hard way I'll let you know and get it sent out. That's probably best anyway, I just want to keep it "in house" if I can.

I guess there are other ways to get this color though. Anyone know any of the old methods for getting a brown patina on steel?

Thanks gents, I appreciate your help.
 
Make a wooden box. Rub the blade with salt water on a rag and stick it in the box with the salt water rag in the corner. Close box. Place in warm location. Open everyday and give it a overall rub with very fine steel wool. In the past various forms of urine were often preferred. Don't know how well that will work with all your divots because of the steel wool rub part.
 
ib2v4u said:
Make a wooden box. Rub the blade with salt water on a rag and stick it in the box with the salt water rag in the corner. Close box. Place in warm location. Open everyday and give it a overall rub with very fine steel wool. In the past various forms of urine were often preferred. Don't know how well that will work with all your divots because of the steel wool rub part.
Click to expand...

Excellent, I have a test piece I can try this on. Thanks!
 
Dave do a google search for rust blueing. Oil the steel after getting a fine grain rust to get a browning instead of boiling it for blueing.
 
Dave, You ever heard of the dab or dob method? I prefer the larger sheep wool dobbers that you can get at the leather supply stores.
 
Ray, I used the blot method for my test knife and ended up with an uneven coating. This one really needs to have a perfect finish.

Because this is a very uneven surface, anything that involves wiping is not going to work; it'll just take the color off the high points and let it pool in the low places. That really is why I was thinking about the airbrush.

I'll keep watching for you folks' ideas and trying a couple things on my test piece. Seems like gassing it might be the way to go but some of the food agents might work if I can figure out how to get the juices evenly distributed.

Thanks for the suggestions,

Edited to add, Thanks for the gutter suggestion for a pan! That's exactly what I'll use if I decide to go the submersion method.
 
Submerge the knife into a capped pipe or tall bottle with the top cut off. I dunk large blades or bar stock in vinegar using a 3 litre plastic bottle. Although 3 litres of cold blue would cost more than having a pro do it.
 
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