Thread: Cold Bluing

I was thinking of eventually rebluing my DD Special as most of the blue has worn off. I had a spare Wapi blade lying around so I tried cold bluing the tang with some 20+ year old Hoppes 9 I had. I applied two coats as per instructions after degreasing with rubbing alcohol. This is the result and it looks better than the photo.



If anyone is doing this, how many applications do you use to get a deep even blue and how well does it last? Just looking for any useful tips really.

Bob

Bluing is a very thin oxide coating. Think of it as another kind of rust that is blue not brown. If there is already an oxide on the surface there is no place for more oxygen to attach to the iron and create more rust/oxides. That's why it works as a rust preventer.

A highly polished or burnished surface is more resistant to taking up an oxide change and so the "bluing" does not have as much surface to interact with and it looks a little thinner, not as dark, as a surface that was not so highly polished where there is more surface area.

You could let the tang soak in the bluing solution for a longer interval and allow the (usually) phosphoric acid to have more time to work on the surface. Or repeated dips, but you have to keep repeating the cleaning ritual to make sure no oils from your fingerprints etc. get in the way of the "cut" from the acid. Plus holding the tang at the right depth and angle so the line across the tang is nice and square. All sorts of things to pay attention to.

An old trick from rust bluing days to darken things up was to immerse the colored parts in boiling water. it's not hot enough to ruin the hardening and it fixes the color change, maybe even darkens it a bit. That's why heat bluing works a little better than the cold bluing solutions.

YMMV. Good luck.

Mike

I usually need 4 or 5 applications to get things even and looking right. You do want to clean and degrease the tang. I usually just use alcohol.

No cold bluing solution is really durable, they're more for aesthetic repair of a scratch in a finish of a blued gun. But on the other hand, unless youre into some type of extreme shaving, there shouldnt be that much wear to the tang. There usually will be some wear marks where the scales contact the tang. This even happens with rust blue tangs, so you'd need to work on the scales to stop it.

Speaking of heat, heating the tang will sometimes help a cold blue bite a bit more and apply better. Hair dryer kind of heat, that is, not blowtorch kind of heat.

The newer BirchWood Casey "Super Blue" is the best I have found for razors, it works very well for tangs and spine..

Follow all the above tips but pick the "Super Blue" it actually says Super on there

this stuff

Birchwood Casey Super Blue Cold Blue 3oz Liquid

I reblued a c-mon blackie a while back and it came out fine using Birchwood products...although it did take a few applications to get it a nice dark color.

Thanks for the tips and tricks fellas. Nobody in town here sells Birchwood Cast stuff and was even told it was not imported into Canada anymore. I think the Hoppes 9 is holding up so far and will get the nod.

Bob

Originally Posted by gssixgun

The newer BirchWood Casey "Super Blue" is the best I have found for razors, it works very well for tangs and spine..

Follow all the above tips but pick the "Super Blue" it actually says Super on there

this stuff

Birchwood Casey Super Blue Cold Blue 3oz Liquid

Yep, that is the same stuff I use also...

Originally Posted by gssixgun

The newer BirchWood Casey "Super Blue" is the best I have found for razors, it works very well for tangs and spine..

Follow all the above tips but pick the "Super Blue" it actually says Super on there

this stuff

Birchwood Casey Super Blue Cold Blue 3oz Liquid

Yeah, well, it might be the Right Stuff, but with a $3 "special handling charge" plus $14.95 shipping to South Florida for 3oz @$8.99, I'd have to say that it just doesn't have enough of it (perhaps too much of it). If I want to subsidize the NRA, I'll do so directly... and of my own volition.

Originally Posted by JBHoren

Yeah, well, it might be the Right Stuff, but with a $3 "special handling charge" plus $14.95 shipping to South Florida for 3oz @$8.99, I'd have to say that it just doesn't have enough of it (perhaps too much of it). If I want to subsidize the NRA, I'll do so directly... and of my own volition.

Ummmm why would you order it I would bet you can get it locally in FL...In fact most people in the US should be able to find it locally.. I only used the link for ID purposes...

Originally Posted by JBHoren

Yeah, well, it might be the Right Stuff, but with a $3 "special handling charge" plus $14.95 shipping to South Florida for 3oz @$8.99, I'd have to say that it just doesn't have enough of it (perhaps too much of it). If I want to subsidize the NRA, I'll do so directly... and of my own volition.

Don't know if you have a Dick's Sporting Goods (or similar store) around but you can get it there.