Cold bluing

flatgrinder

flatgrinder

Joined
Dec 20, 2005
Messages
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Anyone use cold bluing to prevent tool steels (such as O1 and A2) from rusting? How well does it prevent rust? What do customers think of it?

I know the finish can be patchy, but it probably stays on the blade better than Gunkote.

It's for a "working" knife.

Any experiences, opinions or recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! :thumbup:
 
I use Wheeler Premier Cold Blue for my hammers I make. It does not prevent rust but it does slow it down alot. The patchy spots can be prevented by alot of carding between coats. Premier cold blue is a brand new formulation that reacts slower so you can get lighter shades.

All three of these hammers were blued with Wheeler's. You can get several shades which is bit tougher with traditional cold blues that just turn black on contact.

anglepeenhammer004.jpg


goohammer006-web.jpg


forgedstraightpeen002-web.jpg
 
Thanks for the reply!

Wow! Those pictures are worth a whole bunch of words. That's exactly the look I'm going for.

P.S. What's "carding?"
 
Using steel wool or an abrasive to remove the thicker oxides during bluing so the solution can react more evenly on the metal. I mostly use 0000 steel wool or the gray 3M pads. You also have to have a very clean surface in order to get a good even bluing. I have had good success with SOS pads and hot water then acetone. TSP also degreases real well followed by acetone. Over the years I have used at least a dozen different brands of cold blue and Wheelers is the most consistant and predictable. You can get it at midwayusa.com

Good luck and just practice alot on some scrap. A hot water rinse will stop the reaction when you get the color you want.
 
Bruce Bump said:
Very cool hammers!
Click to expand...

No Doubt !! :thumbup: Nice Hammers Finny ! I have used Brownells Oxpho Blue with pretty good results. As finnigan said, practice on some small parts to get your technique down pat. I practiced on small tools, punches etc., and found that a thin coat of surface rust (not pitted heavy stuff) gave the oxpho blue a very, nice deep dark blue-black finish (of course steel wool the surface rust prior to application). Did I mention how nice your hammers were Finnigan ;)
 
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