DIY Gun Bluing & 1095

[nhops]

Hi Folks,

I'm planning on stripping the coating off of my Izula - I was wondering if anyone here has had any luck with one of those at home steel bluing kits...

I'm about 80% convinced to just do a vinegar patina, but I figured I'd ask...

Thanks!

nhops

 

[cricketdave]

cold blue is easy to use, just make sure the area to be blued is clean and free of oil. just dab it on at that point and wipe off after it turns dark, stop the bluing action by spraying with alittle oil and your good to go.

cricket

 

[nate1714]

If you blue it make a video to post please of the process and what not!!

 

[stephen g]

Sticking it in a potato over night yields a pretty sweet patina so I've heard.

 

[1066vik]

if you cold blue it, don't use it for food prep afterwards - some of the chemicals linger and can leach back out.
that said, I've had good luck with Birchwood Casey brand cold blueing and plum brown solution. (a dark purple-brown color, like on old blackpowder rifles)

clean the blade with acetome or rubbing alcohol, wipe on the bluing solution, let sit 30 seconds, rinse with hot water, repeat. (works even better if blade is warm to the touch when you start) After 2 or 3 repeats, wipe down with gun oil to stop the reaction and "cure" it.
all done. If you want, lightly scrub with 0000 steel wool between coats to help even things out.

otherwise, vinegar, potato, hot meat juice (my personal favorite - just use the knife to cut up a fresh grilled steak, still steaming) all work good,just not asfast or as dark as the chemical forced patinas. (cold blue will smell like ammonia for years)

 

[adaman04]

42 blades blued one of his knives with cold blue I think. Ain't no thang.

 

[NorCalMtn2]

if you cold blue it, don't use it for food prep afterwards - some of the chemicals linger and can leach back out.

(cold blue will smell like ammonia for years)

Cold blue is nasty stuff. If you plan to use your Izula around food, consider all the good natural patina methods people have suggested.

 

[fishface5]

plus cold bluing does not seem in my experience to be as durable as food-acid patinas, or even etching patinas.

 

[dfarm]

I got a pretty cool patina from cutting up chipotle peppers (the kind that come in a can of adobo sauce) and letting the stuff sit on the blade for 15 minutes or so. It turned out kind of a grey/blue color. If you paid attention and got the stuff on their evenly, the results probably wouldn't be too shabby. This was on my Opi #8 btw.

 

[Necrodamus]

I use oxpho blue a lot (from Brownells)
A few tips:
Wear latex gloves. Its to protect the steel not you, skin oils will ruin cold blue.

Cold Blue - best if used hot, go figure. Warm the solution in a pyrex glass dish in the microwave just a few seconds DONT LET IT BOIL!

Warm the steel too. I just let it set in the summer sun for a few hours or in an oven set on the lowest setting for 15 minutes.

Rinse in alcohol and drop in a oil bath, leave it for 24 hours.

 

[FortyTwoBlades]

42 blades blued one of his knives with cold blue I think. Ain't no thang.

Yup! I did mine about a year ago and it worked great.

Of course after a year of beating the crap out of it in my typical fashion it looks like this

 

[PayetteRucker]

wax the patina with carnuba wax when you're done, it conditions like oil but doesn't rub off

 

[Col. Cornelius]

Howdy,

I stripped the blade on my Izula and put a nice patina on it with mustard. I let the mustard sit on it for about 4 hours.

 

[XMP]

I have a natural patina on several of my Rats and was thinking about putting blueing on one, but it never occurred to me that it would be toxic. Despite the fact that I really like how it looks I guess I'll have to pass; I too often use my outdoor knives for food prep.

 

[REKCUT]

I stripped and cold blued one of my Izulas. I think a blued blade looks great.

And here is my RAT(ESEE) family: