Buzzkill Posted September 21, 2016 Share Posted September 21, 2016 Has anyone here achieved a good blued mirror finish? And if so can you explain how you did it? In my mind at least it's the perfect finish for one of my blades, but my only attempt so far was a miserable failure. After getting the mirror finish and wiping the blade down well with acetone then allowing it to dry I applied some cold bluing, but it didn't look good at all. I ended up having to go back to 600 grit and start the finish process again to remove the traces of bluing that remained. If any of you have a method that produces a good blued mirror finish I'm all ears (or eyes I guess). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Sells Posted September 21, 2016 Share Posted September 21, 2016 cold blu is for touch ups at best, try hot bluing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dustin Quade Posted September 21, 2016 Share Posted September 21, 2016 I saw a pretty great mirrior blued finish on a blade but unfortunately i beleive it would have made the blade softer than is ideal. Tony Swaton did a version of the sword sting from the lord of the rings movie where one side was a mirror polish and the other side was blue like the sword would normally look. To achieve this he polished up the sword then put it into his heat treat oven until the entire blade achieved that blue colour then polished off one side back to normal. Not sure if that helps or not but you can google Man at Arms - Sting and watch the video for your self. Good Luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buzzkill Posted September 22, 2016 Author Share Posted September 22, 2016 Blue temper colors would definitely result in softer steel than I want for the blade, but the visual effect is good. 20 hours ago, Steve Sells said: cold blu is for touch ups at best, try hot bluing. Looks like a lot of the hot blue salts are used at 500+ degrees F. I don't want to change the temper with bluing and I'd also want to make sure this gives the desired result before spending the time and money on it. Is this something you have done and can recommend a specific product/process or were you offering a suggestion for the next thing to try? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Sells Posted September 22, 2016 Share Posted September 22, 2016 500? look at Brownells oxy 7 salts, they process well below tempering temperatures. There is also BLACK OXIDE that is durable and a room temperature process., Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buzzkill Posted September 22, 2016 Author Share Posted September 22, 2016 Brownell's is one I was looking at. Specifically the Nitreblue. The Oxynate 7 didn't give a temperature in the description, and they charge a dollar for the instructions, so I'll have to dig a little deeper. I don't like to farm out anything in my blade making, but I may check with a local gunsmith and see if I can get them to do one for me before pursuing this any further on my own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Sells Posted September 22, 2016 Share Posted September 22, 2016 make a phone call and ask about the exact temp needed ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buzzkill Posted September 22, 2016 Author Share Posted September 22, 2016 If I get that far along. It looks like multiple tanks are needed, a good way to keep the temperature where it needs to be, proper PPE, etc. to safely and successfully do hot bluing. Right now I don't have the spare space or funds to set that up properly. I've seen several home brew recipes as well, but experimenting with hot caustic materials isn't what I want to do. If one of the local gunsmiths has a setup and is willing I think I'll see if I can watch someone who knows what they are doing before I plunge in head first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matto Posted September 23, 2016 Share Posted September 23, 2016 My thought is listen to Steve. He has put in the time and has had the success and oh crap what have I done points in blade making. Ask right and you shall receive. He is good stuff with a lot of knowledge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted September 23, 2016 Share Posted September 23, 2016 The secret to getting great advice from Steve is very simple, ask politely, do your homework and thank him (works on most of the IFI curmudgeons) generaly but not always in that order... PS, be prepared for more information than you had ever hoped for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aessinus Posted September 23, 2016 Share Posted September 23, 2016 I used Brownell's OxyphoBlue on one blade for sure, for my young lad. As a cold blue, it's a touchup, but I kept heating it in boiling salt water each application and polishing with steel wool. Ten applications, at least. For old tools I've restored, I've used a phosphoric acid etch also, then regular cold blue to (steel hot as you can stand) in multiple applications to get the tint and consistency to suit. Hardware store phosphoric, muriatic and cider vinegar are my goto store-bought etchants. They sometimes yield quite different results on a given piece of steel, even more so with different alloys. Home leached tannic sometimes works when nothing else does. It always seems to turn into a chemistry experiment..... Go outside, use PPE & stay upwind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
navasky Posted September 23, 2016 Share Posted September 23, 2016 I've achieved a good blued mirror finish with "slow" rust bluing. I use Mark Lee express blue but my understanding is that most of those instant plum browns followed by boiling will give you the same effect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGGUNDOCTOR Posted September 24, 2016 Share Posted September 24, 2016 When we hot blued with Brownell's salts it was 291*F. Du Lite has some nice features over Brownell's salts With any of these you do not want to use a buffing wheel, hand polish only. The buffing wheel seals the pores on the surface which prevents the bluing from getting a good bite. Hand sanding will leave them open. When we did guns we only went to a 230 grit finish for best durability. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buzzkill Posted September 25, 2016 Author Share Posted September 25, 2016 Thanks to everyone for your responses. It sounds like hot bluing would be the way to go, and at least some of those options would not ruin the temper. For now that option will have to wait for me since I don't have the space to set it up right. Thanks again though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Sells Posted September 25, 2016 Share Posted September 25, 2016 Since my local gunsmith passed, my problem with the salts is that anywhere I can find them, will only sell me a 5 gal bucket when I only want a quart or less of salts lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPH Posted September 27, 2016 Share Posted September 27, 2016 Steve...mix your own....if you need the proportions let me know,,,it;'s a two chem mix.. JPH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGGUNDOCTOR Posted September 27, 2016 Share Posted September 27, 2016 Or just hit up your local gunsmith who does bluing. When we were doing a batch of firearms a knife would have been an easy addition for little cost since we were doing a group of items. We never fired up the tanks for one item. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
novam1a Posted May 25, 2017 Share Posted May 25, 2017 you have to highly polish the blade . then i would send it out for hot blueing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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