blue bilton

[rlbubba]

I bought one of the biltons HI had on sale. It is nice, but after having an 18" ak for a while the bilton feels like a toy to me.

Yesterday, I decided to blue it. I put on 4 or 5 coats of Van's blueing compound and it is nice and blue/black. A friend of mine did the samething (same type of knife and blue compounding) but put on 10 coats, the only differece was that his didn't take the blue. He says his is silver/grey. We bought or blueing at the same time. The only difference that I see is that he heated his a little first (warm to the touch) and I did not. What could cause this?

I would post a picture, but I do not know how to.

 

[Yvsa]

All Right!!!! Another Okie!!!! Welcome to the Psycho Ward, or Cantina, whichever you prefer!!!!
Don't know what would cause that. Perhaps a difference in how clean the steel was?

Rlbubba where are you located if you don't mind saying? There's several of us Okies here.

 

[Thomas Linton]

Ah, the mysteries of bluing. Temperature can have an impact. Were they equally clean? A few yeasr ago, one of the finest makers of pistol slides for custom builders produced a batch that were closer to purple than blue. ???

By the by, "basic" members cannot post pictures. (It's in small print down in the lower left if you scan down: "Forum Rules": "You may not post attachments." )

 

[etp777]

Some of us living in Oklahoma just rag on the state though. Luckily we live far enough away from other Okies that we don't have to worry about dodging thrown Khuks.

 

[Ferrous Wheel]

those things have affected my bluing in the past. I use Perma-Blue cold bluing compound, which comes with some phosphoric acid (nasty stuff) that you use to prepare the blade for bluing.

different surface treatments can also affect the bluing, as can variations in the steel, or perhaps they are meade form different steel types (ie., railriad track versus leaf spring).

Keith