Metal bluing parts of the lathe

Hi all,

I am in the progress of rebuilding a Colchester Student mk2. I am thinking about bluing some of the metal such as the tool post and other bits, they all had light surface rust and are currently in an oil bath after rust removal and I was thinking of oil bluing some of the parts to give them some rust protection.

What are your thoughts for and against doing this please?

If it is a Dickson tool post I would be disinclined to heat it again after it has been finish ground.

Mike

Probably best to bear in mind that oil bluing means heating the item up to temperatures in excess of those used for tempering carbon steel, so if the pieces have been hardened they will soften. You might be better of using a blacking solution such as this.

HTH,

Rod

I like the idea of the cold blue a lot better

You can buy cold blacking and blueing solutions from almost any gun shop. The secret is thorough de-greasing (including finger prints), then follow the instructions to the letter. Experience indicates that most are good on small components (in gun terms, things like trigger guards and top levers) but if used on large areas the finish can be blotchy.

You will also find that items subject to handling will eventually loose their "blacking", good for cosmetic use but a lightly oiled item will probably be just as good.

One tool room I worked in specialised in small mainly form ground injection moulds. They would "Black" some items on the tool to give a nice contrast to the ground finishes. A great sales aid from presentation as a few customers thought they where getting special coatings on the tool to enhance tool life.

The finish is also less durable than the "Hot Caustic" process, it's easy to google Hot Caustic Blacking, I'll not post a recipe here as it's "Scary" for the H&S obsessed and will avoid the usual wailing and moaning

- Nick

Would it be daft to suggest ordinary stove blacking? Gives a nice clean finish once polished in and easy to re-apply.

pgk you're ahead of me - I was just Googling for black metal finishes, and came across some stuff called Stovax Colloidal Black. Never tried it, but it reminds me of some stuff called Zeebo my grannie used on her kitchen range.

I just bought a tube of whatever they had in the local hardware shop.. everyone has wood burners and old stoves in this backwater part of wales

Am I not right in thinking that stove blacking is just graphite powder in some sort of carrier? I understand how it works on the porous surface of cast iron but would be surprised if it would stick to ground or machined steel; especially if it is receiving regular handling.

Cheers,

Rod

Gareth , As an alternative may I suggest you consider a company called BLACK-IT on www.black-it.co.uk and 01758 730356 . I have no connection with the company .

Trevor .

Ok this requires some heat but worth taking a look link

Merry Christmas to All

H

I have used the cold blacking from www.black-it.co.uk on the bare steel parts of my Boxfords and my tool grinder (ball handles and the like) and while not as durable as hot blacking it is still quite durable. Did mine a couple of years ago and only now are some handles showing signs of the black fading. And it certainly helps to stop rust forming.

Surfaces must be TOTALLY degreased for the blacking to work.

Regards Barry

Harry, this looks like oil blacking, which does work on steel. Motor oil doesn't seem to work very well, probably because of its composition these days. I've oil blacked lots of gun screws, and have found cheap supermarket own-brand margarine to be very effective, although it does make the workshop smell like a fire in a chip shop!

Rapeseed oil (cooking oil from the supermarket ) works well for heat blacking, but not a good idea for hardened objects.

Doug

When at school in about 1960 we were made to rub a few drops of oil into our hands on entering the metalwork shop. I still do that and have very little problem with rust. A thin film of oil on your toolpost should be all that's needed.

Russell.

Douglas, do you mean use rapeseed oil for quenching the heated part ?

Emgee

Russel, I rub Barrier Cream into my hands and don't have a rust problem either.