Applying some sort of color to steel?

D

DReicht

Joined
Oct 26, 2006
Messages
101
What are all the methods of applying some sort of color or dye to steel (No this isn't a copy troll topic, but it did get me curious)?
 
For carbon steel you can put little dots of food grade mustard. Let it dry for 2 or so hours and wash off, then put new mustard on and over lap or use lines or what ever. If done right it looks real cool. I think if you eventualy cover the whole surface it actualy helps with fust control. Try it ou its easy, and all you have to do is open the fridge. You may want to mix in a little food grade vinigar, to strengthen it up a bit, but dont make it to watery, or your dots, or lines will not stay put.1 to 10 coats 2 hours each. :thumbup:
 
You can heat the steel. You get straw,brown,purple,blue. I see this done a lot with titanium, howcome I rarely see it done with steel?
 
on the titanium its anodized, same for aluminum. i have never heard of anodizing steel, i think its a nonferrous thing only. steel can be gun blued or browned. made light gray by sticking it in a potato, dark gray with mustard or other acid or etching processes. it can be powder coated for colors... thats all i can think of. Any other ideas? i cant think of any color processes other than heat treat. i once saw a guy selling steel fish sculpture with temper colors that included greens pinks and reds, i asked him how and he told me he would die before he gave up his secrets. i was tempted to see if he was bluffing. i wonder if temper colors change or oxidize differently if they are in a different environment other than regular air?
 
I've seen a lot of titanium that was heat colored rather then anodized. Looks simmilar.
 
Tom Ferry is anodozing his Timascus. This is a forge welded combination of Damascus steel and titanium. He apparently can get all the same colors in his Timascus that can be achieved with anodizing titanium.

Ickie
 
Scott, Timascus is actually 2-3 types of Ti, no steel. Recently, they have taken to adding zirconium to the mix, too.
 
One of the inventors of Timascus frequents here, username "PlainOlBill".
 
If you can find a copy of the machinery handbook, there is a small section in there on steel coloring.

my favorite color on steel is Nitre Blueing
It gives a deep rich blue, almost purple

heat saltpetre ( potassium nitrate )crystals until they melt 6-750 F
( numbers are my memory-not reliable-look it up )
dip parts into the melted salt.

play with the temperature, it affects color

Caveat - because of the high temperature - it will remove hardness from heat treated steel. It works best for guards, bolsters, butt caps...

Sourcing
Pre 9/11 was easier, used in meat pickleing,
(component of blackpower)

Post 9/11
get it in the pharmacy-laxative for animals
very small bottles of high purity at high prices are still available

Steve
 
There are cold blues that gunsmiths use to touch up the blueing on guns that would not harm the temper of a knife blade. These can be purchased from most sporting goods stores. Also Brownells sells many blueing and coloring supplies cold and hot. The color you get depends on the type and strength of the blue and the alloy of the steel some makers use specific steels in damascus so they can get a rainbow of colors on their knifes using gun blues. Look for the knives of Johan Gustafsson he was in blade mag of nov. 03 Hope this helps Will Crump
 
Gun blues are just going to give different shades of blue on different steels, not yellows greens, pinks and the like such as on Johan Gustafsson's blades. I think it is more likely heat coloring applied very carefully to damascus made of different steels and the different steels react differently to the heat coloring.

I'm no expert on heat coloring, but I do know that it can be done with just about any torch...i accidentally did it with a butane lighter one time. I dont THINK you will ruin the temper at the temps needed for coloring, but don't bet on that info.

my $.02
 
As steelshaper mentioned gun blueing can be applied and doesn't change anything but the color of the blade. The large knife was done with blueing about 20 years ago. It was one of my first tries at knifemaking. Material of blade is 01 tool steel.
P1010003-vi.jpg
 
Heating a blade to blue or purple is way too hot, around 600 degrees, and would give you a very soft steel. Now if you figure out how to protect the cutting edge and 3/8th or so above it then case hardening the rest will give you all kinds of colors. Perhaps case harden the entire blade , clay coat most of it, then reheat and quench like normal?
 
With a nitre blue you don't leave the blade in long enough to affect the temper (well not any real amount). You put the blade into the molten salt and pull it right out. It will color almost instantly if the blade is completely clean. Most nitre blued blades are show pieces anyway, so a Rc point or two won't be much of a problem. Also, the final sharpening will probably remove most of the softened "skin".
It is great to blue bolsters and guards.
Stacy
 
In the Blade story on Johan He says " I use a solution that boils at a temperture of 280-285 F. I think it is the same that you call 'hot blue', but this is Swedish. The most important things to know are what steels to use, how much they need to be compressed when forgeing, how to harden them, and, finally, what kind of polishing treatment to perform. There are quite a few steps to get the results I want. I have experimented a lot to get where I am in the process. The steels I use are 15N20, 20C, and 2550, all Swedish tool steels."
The story explains that this is all done with chemical blueing and not heat alone. The writer of the story Steve Schwarzer says he had a friend hot blue a knife forged from 203E that turned green instead of blue black like it should have.
My guess is the chemicals in the gun blue respond to the aloys in varying ways.
I have not personaly done this, but it sure is cool the colors that Johan comes up with.
 
ah...man was I dead wrong. Oh well, VERY interesting topic...the colors and wild designs on johan's blades are incredible and I don't doubt that it takes alot of time to create them. In fact, I think that just creating the mosaic damascus with a predetermined defined shape must be very difficult as I've never seen it before.
 
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