How do I lock in the temper color?

[DamascusFreek]

How can I lock the tempering color into the blade? Can this be done by quenching in oil after taking out of the temper oven? Thanks for any help.

 

[eisman]

First, you're asking this on the wrong forum. Go to the knifemakers one.

Second, some colors can be captured, but you have to know your steel and the temperatures, and how to stabilize the steel at the correct temp. Straws and blue are the most often "kept" colors from heat treating. They have long been used to accent decoration of metal objects, such as firearms. Spring steels take blues very well; most truly old gun springs are fire blue. Straw color is used more where hardness is not as important; such as screws. The better the polish, the better the color.

On a side note, case colors are often faked using a torch to put flame colors into the steel. A nasty trick, since they do not offer the protection true case colors do.

 

[DamascusFreek]

Thanks for your reply!

 

[JTknives]

When it comes to the colors from tempering thy are very shallow and will easily rub off. I don’t know of any way to “lock” thoes colors.

 

[scott.livesey]

if carbon steel, just quench in cold water. as said, color is shallow and will probably sand off when finishing blade

 

[A.McPherson]

So, temper colours are temporary at best. They are just oxides built up on the surface that will rub off very quickly. To get colours like temper colours, you can get it case hardened, but that will ruin whatever temper it has.

In short, you really can't get those colours in any real practical way.

Unless you use titanium.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Even on titanium, it is just a surface oxide.
Deeper layers are gained by Nitriding, which is how the golden color is applied to drill bits and some tools. That can't be done at home, though.

Other methods of coloring blades are with coatings, like Cerakote.