Good Steel for Cold Bluing

[Leu Custom]

Hey guys,

I want to make a tsuba/guard for a blade and am wondering what steel to use so i can blacken/blue it with some Birchwood Casey Perma Blue so that it will get nice and blue/black?

How do you brown something as far as steel goes?

Thanks,

Pohan

 

[Wild Rose]

Any plain carbon steel (aka non-stainless) should blue up Ok with Perma Blue but...it's not a very durable finish (none of them really are) - much more durable is what is called rust bluing - first you brown (follow the directions) then you boil the part in distilled water and voila you have a nice rich dark blue that is very durable.

To brown you can use Birchwood Casey's Plum Brown which works good on smaller parts (on larger parts like gun barrels LMF Brown works better). You can use the Plum Brown or LMF to rust blue as well or if you're interested in rust bluing only then Brownell's sells some brands, Pilkingtons, Classic Rust Blue, or Mark Lee Express - all come with instructions......

here's a quicky rust blued blade using BC Plum Brown (sorry the pics not better)...it came out a very dark blue/black - actual color will depend on type of blue used and prep...

you can also see examples of rust blued guns and how beautiful it is by doing a web search for rust bluing.........it's a method long used on only the best of firearms...