Guys, I have some tools that have a gun blue or gray finish and it occurred to me that such a finish might be cool and effective on some car parts. Does anyone have sources and methods for doing this?
Modern Blueing is done with an acid wash and is very delicate. Browning is more durable but if you want something that is actually going to wear oiling is your best bet. Not as shiney but done correctly on quality clean steel you can get the blue color.
Did the suspension on a race car, with cold Blue, 25 years ago. Worked OK, but you had to worry about corrosion. Wouldn't try it on the street.
All of my blackpowder stuff is browned and I have done steel bike parts. Takes beeswax and oil well for a very resistant coating.
a fairly traditional way to finish a tattoo machine frame is to oil it. get it piping hot with a benzomatic and dip in (used) motor oil. i have tried some car parts with this method and have had good results. it gives u a darkened raw metal look
That is called "oil blackening". Old Rolls-Royce cars used the process on fasteners and ***orted small parts. Bluing isn't very rust resistant. If properly done, black oxide can look good, and it's cheap, but it also isn't very rust resistant. Phosphate coatings(zinc, iron, manganese) are more durable. Parkerizing is manganese phosphate.
Thanks for the replies so far. I Googled a bit and found some good stuff including places to buy the stuff. I thought that some under-hood stuff like carb linkages may look cool and get some added rust protection.
You have two options that you can use. Rust bluing which is old school and bluing salts. both are a pain in the ***. For small parts you'd be better off rust bluing, but it is time and labor intensive. Bluing with salts will lead to the **** getting everywhere and you boil the salts as part of a 3 tank process. Trent if they find out about browning someone is libel to do use it to patina a car.
I browned a motor cycle seat once. I do have to say as a whole the job stunk but it was properly browned.
From the FWIW dept, Packard V-12 instrument boards were silver oxide. I replicated the look by getting them silver plated (not as pricey as it sounds) then masking the non-oxide areas off. I would apply gun blueing solution to the oxide surface and rinse it immediately. it gives a lovely satin gray background next to the gauges. To reduce maintainence I would spray a very thin coat of clear urethane over it after a thorough soap n water bath followed up by an alcohol wipe down. I'd reduce the clear like 200%. The last one I looked at from my past was 18yrs old and had one 1/4 by1/4 spot of tarnish in a corner. Just an idea...
While looking at Miller race cars at Milwaukee a couple of years ago, noticed the quarter eliptic springs were blued. Neat look. The owner said he first metal polished leaves, then blued them.
Bluing isn't very rust resistant, even the stuff our rifles and machine guns are finished with. We have a whole arms room full of weapons with a dehumidifier running 24-7 and still get little rust spots. We make the Soldiers clean them well, but could do a better job at not turning them in dry so they will p*** the armorer's inspection.
I did the polish then painted the tops and bottoms of the leaves that were not visible from the top and spread heavy marine grease interleaf. Tried clear coat on the exposed shiny portions but after a season of vintage dirt racing the exposed clear coated areas have yellowed/browned with some corrosion. Plan on taking them all apart this winter to see what the interleaf areas look like. Would consider blueing the exposed visible areas if the interleaf treatment has held up.
No match for black chrome, however I use for re-blueing fasteners after I've cut. Its okay as long as it never sees moisture. I suppose its available everywhere, but my kit says "Precision Brand" and w/ the cleaner works better than my 1st attempts w/ a bottle from Walmart gun dept. Selinium component always a negative....use gloves
As mentioned, bluing isn't very rust resistant at all. I have a blued revolver that I keep inside and in it's case, but it still needs to be oiled to prevent small rust spots. Looks great, but a pain in the ***
Well, I have quite a few handguns from the late 60s, S&W and Colts that look brand new. Always keep a light coat of gun oil on them, and wrapped in a clean white tee shirt rag.Even in the midwest they stay nice if you keep finger prints off them. On a car part exposed to the elements, I can see a durability problem. Someone said parkerizing, I have a WWII .30 carbine that still looks nice. I like that finish a lot.
Parkerizing is more rust resistant than bluing, but neither are very good for typical automotive exposure.
Just like a good looking women,it is very high maintenance. Blueing looks good, but take care of it,it will rust.
I started this thread because I have some old precision hand tools that are blued (or greyed). In the places that the finish is worn and missing they have surface rusted. Obviously the coatings have provided some corrosion resistance, not to mention that they suffer from the typical moisture from manual handling. I thought that bluing would be cool on some carburetor components (rods and linkages) for a different look and some corrosion protection as well.
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