blueing question again - sorry

[Ron L]

Sorry if blued steel for knives has been gone over ad infinitum, but my search in previous posts doesn't exactly answer my question.

Which of the steels that can be blued would perform best and why? Pros and cons, please.

I'm beginning the task of having a companion knife made for a hunting rifle and this is a major consideration.

TIA

------------------
Ron

Is that thing shar...OW!

 

[old_engineer]

Ron L,

As I'm sure you've already gleaned from other threads, non-stainless steels will blue, stainless steels won't. This is because blueing involves creating corrosion and "converting" it chemically (in simple terms) to a protective finish. On this basis, O-1, D-2, A-2, 1095, etc. will all blue (although with different colors in some cases). All have a following who prefer one over another. Let your knife maker guide you here.

I assume that the rifle already exists, and that a reasonable match in appearence is required. There are actually several different hot bluing processes (the rifle was almost certainly hot blued). Colors range from dull, light gray, to fairly bright, deep blue, depending on the process and the steel used. It might be best to bring the rifle in to a good finisher that is familiar with at least "charcoal" blueing and "nitre" blueing ("rust" blueing would also be helpful, although it's not used much anymore). Ask if he can identify and match the finish on the gun with the steel that your knife maker wants to use. You may even want to polish and blue a piece of the steel you want to use before you put all the effort into the knife.

Feel free to email me off line. I have one good local resource.

Good luck,
Bob Couture

 

[Lynn]

I've found that blueing works best on worm, not hot, steel. I just use a propane torch and heat until it feels almost too hot to hold.

 

[Darrel Ralph]

Hot blue and cold blue (except niter blue( works on most all carbons. On the alloys you will get color. So if you want pure black use the additive that stops color in the alloy steels.
Brownells has all the items..