I have a piece of damascus and need to see how it reacts to rust bluing. I have seen damascus rust blued, but each type of damascus reacts differently. I have a .125 x 1" x 3" piece sample that I need done. Not wanting a freebee, just trying to find somebody that will be doing it in a timely manner.
Thanks Butch

PM sent.

Thanks Craig! You have a PM with my contact.
Butch

Butch, Damascus doesn't generally work well with rust blueing, just covers it up. What the shotgun barrel guys do is a combination of browning, acid etch and maybe rust bluing, all with aggressive carding to bring out the laminations.
I have no personal experience with what I am relating except covering it up with rust bluing.

Typically, one would etch the damascus with ferric chloride to yield a significant height difference between the carbon steel layers and the colored steel (something with nickel or chromium in it). The blade is then blued without raising its temperature high enough to affect the heat treat. Can be done by rust bluing.

The top surfaces of the colored layers are then carefully sanded so that they are shiny against the blue background of the lower carbon steel. Has to be done carefully so as to not sand the bluing off of the sunken layers.

The effect can be very dramatic.

Butch
Why don't you get some Gun Godess and give a try yourself?
It's not that hard to do just time consuming. It's not like you have to work at it all day but you do have to watch it. And it may take two or three days-4 or more coates to get the look you want.

Talked to my damascus guy, Chad Nichols, and he said the type damascus that he sent me will look very good with rust blue. Said something about the layers of nickel will really look good. He said it will not have to be etched. I'm sending it to craigster for a go. Maybe I can post photos when it is done.
Thanks for the help.
Butch

Butch

As SDH said, normal rust bluing will just cover up the pattern on most Damascus gun steel.
www.craftguard.com does the modified rust blue on Damascus. They do 3 stages of finish an a OK job, depending on what you want.
I don't know the makeup of the steel you are using.
What are you making if I might ask?

James

James, As Duane has said before on some of my projects. I am looking for an answer without out there being a problem. I am going to make a quarter rib and scope bases to see how they look.
Butch

Damascus will rust blue nicely as others have said with a faint pattern showing most of the time but nothing dramatic.

To get the black & white pattern to show you will have to use a separate etching step in between the blueing steps.
I use a very weak soln of ferric chloride,,about 5%,though others use more concentration.
I'm sure there are other etchants that can be used but this is the one I have used successfully.

After the part is carded (and cooled off!), dip it into,, and just as quickly outof,,the ferric chloride soln. Don't let it sit in it or you'll loose all your previous work. It works that fast.
Then just as quickly put the part under cool running water and card the part again with oil free steel wool. Don't be shy about the carding & keep it wet.

You will be removing the color from the steel portion of the damascus and leaving a very tiny layer remaining on the softer iron each time.(I think I got those scientific facts right!).

A pattern will start to show after a few coats but some may take as many as 6 or 8 to start to look strong and 12+ to look right. The process will give a finished pattern & work that will be smooth and not the heavy raised etched pattern found on some damascus.

It's a very slow process as you are taking off part of the color that you are trying to build up with each etching that you just put on.

I use Laurel Mtn soln and it works as good as any I suspect. Damascus brown is done the same way but w/o boiling each coating.

I coat barrel bores with nothing more than shellac in several coats before starting to protect them from the ferric chloride bath. Never had a problem.

Damascus quarter rib and scope bases? I gotta see that. Please post pics of the project, I bet it will be cool as hell.

Butch,

If the damascus was made with layers of pure nickel it will not need to be etched. If the damascus is made with a nickel or chromium bearing material like 15N20 or L6, it will need to be etched.

Damascus made with pure nickel foil is not that uncommon and will be very pretty when rust blued. It will not have the strength of damascus made with a different contrast material ... so use it with some care when done.

You guys are great and knowledgeable! Thanks for the help and suggestions. I think this will be a fun project.
Butch

Rusted Parker:

Butch,

Here is how I would finish it. Etch the steel in Ferric chloride, or a weak nitric solution. Let it etch for a couple of minutes, neutralize with TSP or windex, then sand it with 1000 grit, etch some more, neutralize, sand again. What you are doing is exposing the nickel by etching away the steel, then polishing, but also slightly radiusing the edges of the exposed nickle. Do this a few times, until the pattern has a texture. Rust blueing won't look normal since the etched steel has a texture. Depensing on the layer count, and the resulting space between the layers, you may be able to burnish the steel when carding to create a nicer finish. Did Chad say how many layers were in the steel? If it has a high enough layer count, you will have a chatoyant effect. It's quite beautiful.

If you run into a snag, I would be happy to help any way I can.

Thanks Bailey. Craig that Parker is beautiful.
Butch

Craigster,
Here is a copy of the email Chad just sent me.

Butch,
that is a 2 carbon steel damascus what i sent you has nickel . nickel will not react with the rust blue it will stay silver . nickel is highly corrosion resistant the acid will not touch it as well as the bluing rust . It cannot rust it has no iron in it. so pretty much whatever you do to the steel the nickel will remain silver . don't etch it jsut blue it . trust me ...

take care
CHAD



Lets do that on this piece.
Butch

Butch,

Thanks for the heads up on the steel. Will take Chad's advise. As I'm sure you know, the old damascus, twist, and laminate barrels were composed of steel and iron. The alloys react differently to the rusting agent and the etching process.