What steel hot blues the brightest

C

cooks 7

Joined
Jan 27, 2005
Messages
153
I was looking some books and thinking about hot bluing a project soon. Some of the pics showed blades that had been hot blued that were extrememly bright, and others the more typical blued color. My question is, is the color of the steel post blueing dependant on steel type or blue type or some other factor? it seems like on some damascus blades, parts were brilliant blue and others more subdued, making it seem like steel type is a major factor.
Anybody got any hints, experiences, links, etc. to show me the difference?
thanks in advance
jon
 
It's all about the finish PRIOR to bluing. With a super fine to mirror finish you get the brillant blues, whereas if the finish is satin or matte (like bead blasted) the pieces will come out with a low luster.
 
Like Ed said It's all about the finish. I make a gaget for the schutzen shooters called a Re & De capper and it is made of both investment castings and turned parts using 12L14 steel. I do all my bluing with Niter Blue and if I sand blast all the parts I get a very uniform dark blue to almost black color but if I don't sand blast and leave ground or turned surfaces I get every thing from very light blue to again almost black.
Good luck
 
so when you see damascus with some bright spots and others darker, is that from the etch roughing up the softer metal more than the harder?
 
Generally the light and darks you see in damascus is because the steel has been etched, and then lightly sanded with very fine grit paper, then blued. By doing this, you've polished the "high" areas while the lower area have remained "as etched."
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top