Why don't we see many gun-blue knives?

yeah, case hardening doesn't imbue any rust resistance - just more carbon so the steel can form harder martensite on the surface (which isn't inherently rust resistant unless there is a bunch of chrome in there also, Larrin's website has many articles for this)

en.wikipedia.org

Case-hardening - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
 
I hot blue once a week to finish the hardware I build. I am working on a fixed blade knife now that I will blue, when I get finished grinding it. I like blueing as a way of protecting the blades to some degree ….. however steel being steel is going to rust. I like to looks of it and since I do it weekly, it’s not problem…. I’ll post pictures, but at the rate I’m going it may be a month or so before I get back to my knife making
 
I didnt polish this knife I made but I thought I would try some cold blue to see how it looked.
Tough to get a pic of the actual color, its pretty reflective and is really much darker.
James
AwIAspp.jpg

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Good topic.
I've wondered the same thing about gun-blued knives.

The Buck Alaskan Guide knives, the old ones (not the new cerakoted blades) have a nice look to them. But as mentioned, I'm afraid to use them and scratch up that pretty blade. Too bad they quit.
 
Interesting... I have HOT blued a lot of guns, but never considered bluing a knife... I am suddenly very curious how that will work with a pattern welded knife or even Cu Mai? How does the copper interact with the hot bluing? Suddenly this is on my list of things to do.... Right after... the 200 things my wife has on that list....
 
Have you ever seen how easy it is to scratch right through a blued surface?
A blued knife would lose its finish quickly...
 
Bob Denman said:
Have you ever seen how easy it is to scratch right through a blued surface?
A blued knife would lose its finish quickly...
Click to expand...

I was thinking more high-end. Display pieces, not necessarily users.

However, any coating gets scratched in use....Cerakote, DLC, black oxide/epoxy, TiCN etc.
 
shane45-1911 said:
Parkerizing is another under-utilized option, IMO.

I have beat the snot out of my parkerized Remington Police 870, and it still looks almost as good as it did 25 years ago.

The only knife maker/company that uses parkerizing now (that I'm aware of) is Mineral Mountain. It works well and I love the look of it too.
Click to expand...
I thought my one SYKCO Regulator was parkerized?
 
Considering what a well used hunting rifle goes through I don't think the hot bluing is as feeble as mentioned. Yes it will get scratched up if used, but so will a plain polished blade. I guess the only difference is a polished blade can be RE polished... However, I am thinking about a top end knife someone is going top put on a shelf and shown off rather than a utility blade intended for hard use..... ehhh, what Shane said. Guess I should read more....
Anyhow, my interest is more in the contrast between metals, 1095 vs 15N for instance... I make a lot of blades with chainsaw chain, (San Mai, Go Mai, and even Cu Mai) and they have a lot of contrast once etched, but the etching goes away pretty fast... While I was thinking that the BLUING could be applied once the polishing is finished and it would stay polished? But will there be enough contrast to really make the knife pop?
 
Definitely not an expert, more of a tinkerer. But I've tried cold blue on pattern welded Damascus and it darkened the blade evenly. Leaving a dark finish with the original pattern underneath
In my case it didn't restore or enhance a pattern, even with light polishing. I don't know if hot blue would be different. The victims in my experiment was Alabama Damascus and the other unknown Italian Damascus.
 
Good to know.... I wish I had not sold my bluing tanks now... In order to find out I will have to buy new tanks, and I am wondering if it is worth that kind of investment....
 
Nice!!! I have a model 94 Winchester reciever that turned out that color when blued, I think it had a higher nickel content? Its been a few years so I dont recall the exact reason.....
 
I have a 40 year old Rossi pump .22 and the receiver came that way from the factory.
 
I had a Seki Sog S1 Vietnam limited edition that had a nice, blued blade. It sure was pretty but I parted with it way too easy to rust in the wild or sheath. They are a very well-made knife though.
 
Yeah, Hot blue is not a great deterrent to rust and will have to be cared for like any blued firearm... That SOG S1 is a sweet looking knife...
 
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