Re: Blue color on steel
- From: "Ed Huntress" <huntres23@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 30 Sep 2007 14:48:41 -0400
"spaco" <spaco@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:GZWdnVbOAbNeQGLbnZ2dnUVZ_qiinZ2d@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
The trouble with heating to achieve a certain color is that the surface is
not protected. The part WILL rust as soon as the humidity goes up.
Years ago, I took a basic blacksmithing course and made a half dozen
hammers, fullers, etc.. The were hardened, polished, then tempered (the
process you are talking about) from the faces inward toward the eye so
they showed the full range of temper colors. They looked great for a
year or two in my shop, but the first time I took them out for a weekend
of demonstrating to the public, it rained and the humidity in the air
rusted everything and my pretty colors were all gone.
What those colors are is extremely thin layers of oxide. Different compounds
form at different temperatures and they create different colors. As you say,
they don't really protect anything, but they look nice if they're kept
protected.
Other methods of blueing, and some kinds of color case-hardening, create
much deeper and more protective layers of color.
--
Ed Huntress
.
- References:
- Blue color on steel
- From: Phil Hansen
- Re: Blue color on steel
- From: Stealth Pilot
- Re: Blue color on steel
- From: spaco
- Blue color on steel
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