How to colour/coat metal?

P

Pond James Pond

New member
I've fashioned myself a couple of peep-hole sights for my Ruger Redhawk, using some SS 1mm plate and using the original sights as a template.

However, I now want to make them stand out as the silver sight blends in with the scenery when acquiring a sight-picture.

So what can I use? Paint would chip as they are a ight fit in the sight mount. What about bluing solution? Would that work on stainless steel?

Thank.
 
Yes stainless steel can be blued with special bluing salts( like Oxy. 84 )

But not cold blue.

The OP would be better to try to heat up and color the steels that way

click on picture for QuickTime movie

Coloring steels by heat is a poor way, but it will color it and can be do with equipment any shop should have. I used a propane torch and a channel locks to hold a piece of stainless sheet metal.

If I had built those I would use black Cerrokote or Gunkote or Duracoat.
 
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There is also stainless cold black available. I bought a gallon for a work project one time. Its results were more charcoal gray than black, to my eye. Nonetheless, if you use a fine (240 grit) abrasive in a small compressed air blaster, of the hobby shop air eraser sort, the rough surface darkens the result considerably and may be satisfactory for the purpose of a sight.
 
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I just went back and put one in. Here is another brand. This is the one I bought for blacking screws at work. It's just over $100 a gallon (minimum quantity), though they will send a sample if you pay the shipping fee. I suspect, from the descriptions, that this is where Caswell (my first link) is getting theirs and then is repackaging it into smaller containers. EPI also makes a mil-spec hot stainless blacking chemistry for those with bluing tanks.
 
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In my experience trying to blue SS doesn't produce very good results. I would clean the sight really well, mask off the barrel, then hit the sight with spray paint or fingernail polish of whatever color you want. Either is easy to touch up, or to remove entirely and redo if a different color is wanted for a different environment.

Jim
 
Thanks for the warning. I don't mind about the quality of the finish in terms of uniformity and so on. I just want the sight to be dark enough to give me good contrast with both the environment and the sight paint I intend to use.
 
Well, it worked.

Indeed, as predicted, the finish is a bit patchy on stainless, but it is plenty dark enough to show up against the scenery and to highlight my white sight marks, inlaid with glow-in-the-dark paint and topped with super glue: my "poor man's" tritium...:o
 
Seeing as you ask, why not!!

Two pics.

One of the original sight and the small diameter 5.5mm peephole (made by me), and another of the larger "close range" 7mm peep-hole I made, on the Redhawk.

As you can see my blueing was not as uniform as the standard painted sight, but dark enough to show the glow-in-the-dark paint I've used.

Also the maching is not pretty to the metal worker's eye, but all was done by hand with either a small dremel type thing or hand files.

The main thing is that the sight hole is central and concentric, and the lugs fit the sight carrier so I can live with slightly uneven edges here and there.
 

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