Home hot blue or parkerizing?
How difficult are these and how much would it cost to get started for each. Which is easier? Which is cheaper to get started?
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You have someplace to do it that you can dedicate?
If you plan in doing it in the garage next to mama/s classic mustang you better get a new mama.
Hot blue will eat anything it touches or the vapors get on. I have seen places that were set up for a long time on concrete and it etched the surface.
You need a set of tanks you can leave up as well as burners to heat the tanks. Check out Brownell's for a setup and what it will cost.
Unless you are good at polishing and plan on blueing lots of stuff, just find someone to pay to get it done. The cost of running the burners will make you want to blue several guns at a time.
Have no idea about Parkerizing. Must be a reason why not every smith that offers blueing does not do it.0 -
Neither is easy, both take a lot of patience and hard work but I think hot bluing is better, You contact Brownells Inc. They have information on both (publications and instructions) and sell the necessary supplies. 0 -
I really like the deep blue black of hot salt. For hunting guns parkerizing is likely a better finish but to me not much to look at. 0 -
Depends on what you wish to do, and how much of it you want to do. If you are looking to perfect a beautiful bluing job, for extra $$, you have lots of stiff competition, with years of experience.
To a large degree, other than restoring classic military arms, Ceracote has replaced the parkerizing, and many other finishes these days, including stainless. It is more durable than quite a few finishes out there.
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I have made up my own bluing salts and done very small hot blue jobs- out of curiosity as much as anything. Metal prep and polish will make or break the job, and temps are critical to good color.
Traditional hot blue salts are a supersaturated solution of caustic soda (lye) and ammonium nitrate. You will want good ventilation, and good eye and face protection. Solution is VERY hot (above boiling point of water) and very corrosive.
Having satisfied my curiosity, and having a good blue job, I do not do that any more. A LOT of work to get it right.0 -
Friend of mine showed me a job he said he blued using lye as the salts. Said he heated lye till it melted and immersed gun in the soup. Job looked good.
I have been thinking about trying it. Lye is cheap and it would be easy and cheap to buy a can of lye and experiment on small parts.
OTOH, lye is dangerous stuff to mess with and my wife's kitchen or my shop might be at risk, to say nothing about inhalation of fumes, etc.
I'll wait to learn more. If you try it please post results.0 -
Parkerizing is a lot easier and less expencive. Also takes less heat and you don't get the bad gas from the fumes. 0 -
AND, if you do either process for other people, you will need a ffl as a gunsmith, AND liability insurance, AND, etc., etc,. 0 -
There are several things which will oxidize steel and produce a bluish color, but which have no depth and which wear quickly, or even accelerate rust.
The classic method of hot blueing is a different critter, and looks and is lot better. It will produce optimal penetration in about a half-hour, so bath-time is important (upon submergence, the salts will actually turn the surface of the steel blue in less than a minute). Among the hazards, as the bath temperature is maintained at around 310 degrees, accidentally spilling a Pepsi into it would result in an immediate steam explosion and possibly a stay in a burn Unit.0 -
Even adding water to quick to maintain a less than 300 degree temp will cause a eruption
you don't want to be close to.0
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