Hello everyone. I need some help with my finishings. I need to know when to apply the finish. Do I heat the piece up after it has been quenched and tempered? Wont that destroy the temper? I have obtained a nice finish (brownish in color)by heating an un tempered piece and applying motor oil. Will the color of hydrogen peroxide be different? Thanks for your help.

Not exactly sure of the answer to the first part but i know Hydrogen Peroxide will cause the piece to rust like right now! Worse than sea water.

i dont know the answer to your questions. but i have soaked a project in a copper sulfate solution for about six hours and it gave it a rusted finish but it sorta rubbs off. copper sulfate is used to melt ice i have heard and it is blue and looks like small crystals.

search on patination and you can learn a LOT!

Yes for a blade you need to use a process that keeps it under the tempering temp.

Yeah, if you're talking about the carbonized oil finish, it's not really ideal for blades.

Rust bluing is a favorite of mine for fittings and such. I'm not sure how durable it'd be on a blade, though.

my two cents.....

bees wax at a heat not too high but able to melt the wax nicely.

Plumb brown finish and other similar finishes have been used on guns for a couple of hundred years. Essentially it is a controlled rust finish. Look on some of the Blackpoweder sights for recipies. I have helped a friend formulate a number of finishes for damascus shotgun barrels. Most required two different acids, a couple of metal oxides, and a very dilute solution applied over a period of weeks with intermitant carding(brushing with a stiff bristle bursh) . After a period of weeks the result was a beautiful finish maintained with linseed oil.

Not what I like on a knife but beautiful on a 19 th century shot gun,