Thread: Case colour hardening

Did a little poking around on the internet and Youtube. It is possible to create the appearance of colour case hardening, using a cold chemical process that would appear to not harm a razor blade if you don't let it sit around wet for too long. I have no idea how durable it is, but it's a possibility at least.

https://steelfxpatinas.com/shop/stee...ng-patina-kit/

And the Youtube video showing the process was here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXqo4hDbpA0

Originally Posted by kaptain_zero

Did a little poking around on the internet and Youtube. It is possible to create the appearance of colour case hardening, using a cold chemical process that would appear to not harm a razor blade if you don't let it sit around wet for too long. I have no idea how durable it is, but it's a possibility at least.

https://steelfxpatinas.com/shop/stee...ng-patina-kit/

And the Youtube video showing the process was here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXqo4hDbpA0

Thats interesting. Easy to "repair" the finish. I makes me wonder you did another temper cycle to "straw" color after the blade was in finished form if that would make a better "base" color?

I'm going to defer to the razor smiths here, who actually play with steel. Personally, I know how thin and fragile a hollow ground razor is, so I wouldn't go near the kind of heat that would create straw color, and seeing the chemical based coloring on top is more fragile, the base oxide would not protect it. With the risk of damaging the blade being so high, I fail to see any reason to attempt it.

Regards

Christian

+1 to the Kap'n advice re tempering to straw. If I made the blade and knew that what the steel should be at, then fine. But otherwise IMHO there are way too many unknowns.

Thanks for that link. When I have some extra $$, I might order some of that stuff and give it a whirl on one of the blades I have sitting around. And if that works, I wonder how my 1911 would look with a fake case-hardened finish...

Looks? Nowhere near as cool as having the muzzle engraved with "Smile---- Wait For The Flash"! On a 1911 in 45 ACP, there's plenty of room around that muzzle.

Regards

Kaptain "When it comes to calibers... I believe in *sectional density* for *knock down power*. So make mine a VW." Zero