Question about WWIII Finish

C

Craig Gottlieb

Joined
Mar 8, 1999
Messages
1,760
I have a question about the WWIII finish. In order to blue the blades, the scaled handles will have to be attached to the blades, shaped, then unattached (the guy who'se doing these says that the scales, in order for them to fit properly, must be formed ON the blade). Of course, they have to be removed before the blade can be blued. The reason he can't just attach the scales after the pieces are blued is because the buffing and grinding of the scales will remove the blue finish on the exposed part of the tang. Any suggestions as to how he might best accomplish the process? I know he's going to figure something out once we get a few pieces in, but I was just curious what you guys thought.

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Craig Gottlieb
Gurkha House
Blade Forums Sponsor
 
Craig,

Suggestion:

Have the scales attached with screws, the type with one male and one female side, (the name escapes me now). The scales could be fitted to each blade, marked on the inside with the serial number of the unit, then removed. The blade could then be blued and the scales re-attached to the specific unit they were shaped for.

The screws would allow disassembly for cleaning and maintenance. If anyone wanted them secured on a more permanent basis, a little loc-tite on the threads would do the trick.

Blackdog

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When the world is at peace, a gentleman keeps his sword by his side.......
Sun-Tzu 400 BC



[This message has been edited by Blackdog (edited 04 October 1999).]
 
Blackdog has pretty well covered it. My only suggestion would be to loc-tite the screws with the "blue" type of loc-tite at the final assembly, which would lock the screws, but you would still be able to remove them if desired. Be aware that some types of loc-tite are designed so that the screws would not be removable.

Another alternative would be to tap the tang for mount holes, but this would not be as strong as a through bolt.

p1445
 
Sounds good to me. It should also give em a very businesslike look. It should make the process fairly easy. Doing that process with pins is a royal pain. Marcus
 
Craig,
Are all of the WWIII's going to have a polished blue, or are some of them going to be matte blued?

Polished blue would be very classy, but a matte blue(i.e. non-reflective) would be quite funtional. I almost have to have two of them, one for show and one for using.

Anyone have an opinion they would like to share?

p1445

 
I've had countless knives and guns with Parkerized, bead-blasted, non-reflective or otherwise "subdued" finishes. When new they looked OK, but once they got some wear on them (including nominal sheath/holster wear) they look like s**t.

On the other hand, I have several antique firearms that were blued between 60 and 100 years ago. Although not abused, they have seen some heavy field use in their time (I've hunted with several of them in snow, rain and sleet storms).The bluing has faded somewhat over the years but the guns have aged with character and grace. The secret is to keep them maintained, cleaned and oiled.

A rich, deep gun blue is beautiful, classy and downright sexy. Then again, i've been known to be an opinionated individual at times.

Blackdog

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When the world is at peace, a gentleman keeps his sword by his side.......
Sun-Tzu 400 BC

 
I am a complete ignoraimous when it comes to blueing. Laugh at me if you want, but do chemical blueing rub off on the hands?
 
TWG,

Chemical bluing, like that done on firearms, won't wipe off without the aid of solvents or strong chemicals.

I'm a fountain of ignorance when it come to the why's and wherefore's of bluing. My dad was a gunsmith in his younger days and used to re-blue guns. That was about 45 years ago and I don't recall much except that he used to heat the bluing chemicals in 60" X 12" X 12" tanks prior to inserting the gun parts. I believe the bluing chemicals react with the steel rather than just coating it like paint.

All I can say for sure is that i've used, cleaned and handled several thousand blued weapons in the last 50 years and have never had bluing wipe off on my hands or anything else.

Blackdog

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When the world is at peace, a gentleman keeps his sword by his side.......
Sun-Tzu 400 BC

 
The finish will be the polished type (even though this isn't quite as tactical). The reason is becasue the steel will be polished, which I am told determines the "polishness" of the blue.

Also, I did have an idea to do some in a matte steel finish. There'd be no applied finish on those - just a matte finish applied using a coarse wheel. Any thoughts?

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Craig Gottlieb
Gurkha House
Blade Forums Sponsor
 
Just for the record I want the polished blue, however if you wanted to have a matte blued finish, all you have to do is glass bead the polished steel before you blue it.

p1445
 
Craig,
I vote for a high polish brilliant deep dark blue finish.
If you want to do a more "tactical" version, I still think Parkerizing is the way to go, but if it's going to be blued, let's have a lustrous royal blue!
Berk
 
Amen

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When the world is at peace, a gentleman keeps his sword by his side.......
Sun-Tzu 400 BC

 
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