Effects of Bluing

A

andybill

Joined
Dec 29, 2008
Messages
53
Hi, I didn't want to hijack the other thread about bluing
but thought I'd jump in here while this topic is up.
Does the hot bluing (or cold bluing) help preserve the knife, and protect from rust or stain?
Also, is there any risk of contaminating food with a blued kitchen knife blade?
Would a blued finish be bad for kitchen use for any reason?
Thanks guys, keep up the great work.

-Andy
 
Hot blueing is a better rust preventitive than the cold blueing. Hot blueing looks better than the cold blueing but is more difficult to apply. As to would it be a good finish for a kitchen knife, i can not really answer that one as I have no idea. I am going to guess that since all traces of the salts are removed from the knife after blueing that it would probably be safe for a kitchen knife but am merely speculating.
Chris
 
Hello:

By cold bluing do you mean that hideous "Isntant Blue" stuff or are you referring to the real cold bluing that takes 10 days to a few weeks? There is a BIG difference...

Hot caustic soda blue involves heat ( between 275 and 295 F) and the use of a few rather caustic chemicals and the right equipment..

Nitre bluing invovles the use of molten Nitre salts and heat in the 575 to 650 F range and that is usally a bit too high for most steels to retain "cutting hardness"....

So which ones are you asking about? I do cold/rust/Belgain bluing, browning, hot caustic and Nitre bluing and I had a hell of a time getting the proper permits from the City of Henderson to do it....

NVHammerHead
 
Any type of chemical bluing would not work well on a kitchen knife; vinegar will strip bluing instantly. I have used vinegar to remove bluing for gun finishing work.
 
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