Recommendation? Gun bluing safe for knives?

Diego_B

Diego_B

Joined
Aug 17, 2020
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Hi all, I’ve got something on my mind that I’ve been debating for a little while and I want some opinions from here. But keep in mind if you can refrain from just automatically giving a yes or no answer about this because I would like fact backed answers I guess. Anyhow the question is is the Birchwood Casey’s cold blue safe on knives? In my case hunting knives. I’ve had some mixed ideas on this and I hear there is a toxic salt in the cold blue however does that substance remain on the surface to be potentially dangerous? I question this idea because we handle or eat things everyday that have toxic substances in them however they are not dangerous to us because of how they are mixed with other substances. For example salt.
 
You are safe to gun blue knives. It has been done for a couple hundred years. The salt creates the oxidation. It leaves no residue of toxic chemicals.
 
Check out Kyle Roger knives on YouTube, he does some amazing blued pieces. Just guards and pommels I think, but still a really cool process!
 
A.McPherson said:
Check out Kyle Roger knives on YouTube, he does some amazing blued pieces. Just guards and pommels I think, but still a really cool process!
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He asked about cold bluing. What K Royers does is hot bluing, but his results are amazing.
 
I use the oxpho blue quite a bit, but I haven't used it on food prep knives. It works very well if the steel is far from stainless.
 
Cold blue sucks. It's for touch up on worn spots.
Most cold bluing is actually copper sulphate-which plates a thin layer of oxidized copper onto steel.
That said, it won't hurt you after it's washed off.
 
Yes I can from a lot of opinions I read that cold blue is really not a very durable finish. However I choose cold bluing because acid etching wasn’t giving me a dark enough look I wanted. I have a stock remove blade with ball peen hammer marks on the surface (cheep Chinese look in other words) that I wanted to darken up. I thought of a vinegar patina but I went ahead with the cold blue. Should I reverse it and try for the patina?
 
Diego_B said:
However I choose cold bluing because acid etching wasn’t giving me a dark enough look I wanted.
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You could also try a coffee etch. I have only done it a few times, but I have had decent results. Instant coffee, super concentrated, let soak for a few hours to days.
 
Another vote for oxpho blue it is wonderful, durable and relative easy to get a dark, deep blue. I have used it on rifles for years.
 
I use gun blue all the time (cold blue), not because I want to actually "blue" my knives, but because it works great for helping to achieve nice aged looking finishes.
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That looks good! Thank you for you guys responses, it really helps me out as I am all self taught and I learn a lot from these forums.
 
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