dakota.potts
New member
I've seen some pictures recently of the different colors that are possible with heat bluing and nitre bluing small parts. I really like the purple/royal blue color that can be achieved for an accent. I have a couple of projects that I'm thinking about trying here in a couple of months with rust bluing a pistol and I think this color of blue would be very good looking for accents such as the trigger, hammer, safety, slide lock etc.
The process seems relatively simple. I looked at Brownell's and they have nitre bluing salts but only in 10 lb. increments. They also have a note that the salts have to be heated to a very high temperature (something like 600-700 degrees IIRC which seems extraordinarily high).
Does anybody know if it's possible to get good results with this process without the ability to reach such high temperatures? Can a controlled heat temper be easily accomplished to create the shade desired? Can this process really be done with tools as simple as a propane torch or small convection oven as seems to be suggested?
Final question. Can tempering to a blue/purple color affect the function or reliability of the parts? I would think with a good temper they would be appropriately hard to stand up to normal wear and not gall, but the only one that I have a real question about is the hammer which obviously you would not want to be too soft or too brittle.
Have a little while before I can fund another project but I have a good idea of what I want to do and I'm trying to finalize a direction. Thanks.
The process seems relatively simple. I looked at Brownell's and they have nitre bluing salts but only in 10 lb. increments. They also have a note that the salts have to be heated to a very high temperature (something like 600-700 degrees IIRC which seems extraordinarily high).
Does anybody know if it's possible to get good results with this process without the ability to reach such high temperatures? Can a controlled heat temper be easily accomplished to create the shade desired? Can this process really be done with tools as simple as a propane torch or small convection oven as seems to be suggested?
Final question. Can tempering to a blue/purple color affect the function or reliability of the parts? I would think with a good temper they would be appropriately hard to stand up to normal wear and not gall, but the only one that I have a real question about is the hammer which obviously you would not want to be too soft or too brittle.
Have a little while before I can fund another project but I have a good idea of what I want to do and I'm trying to finalize a direction. Thanks.