Since Brownel's only has 10# & 20# tubs, the price would be prohibitive.
I only need enough to fill a Lee Production (bullet casting) pot, probably 2#? I will only be doing screws, swivel stud boats & perhaps the Mauser bolt stop housing as the largest part.
The reat will be "rust blued".
Does anyone know of a source of nitre bluing salt quantities that small?
Midway's site does not come up W/any results for nitre bluing.
When I blued 30yrs ago I mixed my own. I thought it was a small portion Potassium Nitrate and Potassium Nitrite. Major piece was caustic soda. But I have slept since then and for sure don't have it writen down.
As usual just my $.02 Paul K
04 October 2010, 02:53
wildcat junkie
quote:
Originally posted by thirdbite: Don't know if this is correct or not but will share what I found some time ago on the internet. Use at your own risk.
"Niter-bluing uses nothing except potassium nitrate for its active ingredient, and potassium nitrate in a suitably pure form is as far away as the local hardware store, nursery supply shop or home improvement mart! It's called stump-remover, and it sells for about two dollars per one pound bottle of powdered potassium nitrate! For my purposes, a simple standard sheet-metal bread-pan filled with three pounds of stump-remover creates a bluing tank large enough for many small projects including handgun frames, the actions of many rifles (less barrels of course), and all sorts of small firearms component parts that benefit from bluing. Too, the three pounds of potassium nitrate in the bread pan is just about the right quantity of material when it expands and bubbles up when being heated to a liquid. Add no liquid of any kind to the potassium nitrate! The crystals will melt down into a liquid with heat alone, DO NOT ADD ANYTHING ELSE!
A Coleman stove or propane burner is perfect for heating and maintaining the temperature for our homemade bluing tank.
Upon removal quench the newly blued parts into a suitably large container filled with common motor oil. This oil quench does a couple of things, first it stops the bluing process and kills the bluing salts, second, while the pores of the metal are open and expanded from the heat of the bluing solution, the oil penetrates into the pores and creates a deep, protective layer on the newly blued steel that will last for many, many years."
Looks like exactly the same thread/article I found imediately after posting this thread.
It was based on restoring an old Marlin rifle wasn't it?
Sounds like it's worth a shot. No significant investment in material or tools to loose if it doesn't "pan" out. (pun intended)
After bluing all necessary gun parts, simply turn off the heat source under your bluing pan, and allow the potassium nitrate to cool of its own accord, and it will congeal and harden into a solid white mass. Cover the container with aluminum foil, and store away until the next time there is a project that needs blued parts, then it’s a simple matter to once again heat up the bread pan full of bluing salts, get them in a liquid state and get the job done. Saved in the manner described here, your bluing salts and improvised bluing tank will last years, and years and years! If kept from moisture, the pan shouldn’t rust out, and the bluing salts simply don’t wear out from occasional use. So, for six bucks worth of stump remover and a fifty-cent thrift-store bread-pan a person has a lifetime of small parts bluing capability.
This really does sound too good to be true!!!
04 October 2010, 15:35
wildcat junkie
quote:
Originally posted by 1 Shot Hunter: Cool... And don't leave this part out:
quote:
After bluing all necessary gun parts, simply turn off the heat source under your bluing pan, and allow the potassium nitrate to cool of its own accord, and it will congeal and harden into a solid white mass. Cover the container with aluminum foil, and store away until the next time there is a project that needs blued parts, then it’s a simple matter to once again heat up the bread pan full of bluing salts, get them in a liquid state and get the job done. Saved in the manner described here, your bluing salts and improvised bluing tank will last years, and years and years! If kept from moisture, the pan shouldn’t rust out, and the bluing salts simply don’t wear out from occasional use. So, for six bucks worth of stump remover and a fifty-cent thrift-store bread-pan a person has a lifetime of small parts bluing capability.
This really does sound too good to be true!!!
For a $6 imvestment & some of my time I think I'll give it a try.
Originally posted by 1 Shot Hunter: Cool... And don't leave this part out:
quote:
After bluing all necessary gun parts, simply turn off the heat source under your bluing pan, and allow the potassium nitrate to cool of its own accord, and it will congeal and harden into a solid white mass. Cover the container with aluminum foil, and store away until the next time there is a project that needs blued parts, then it’s a simple matter to once again heat up the bread pan full of bluing salts, get them in a liquid state and get the job done. Saved in the manner described here, your bluing salts and improvised bluing tank will last years, and years and years! If kept from moisture, the pan shouldn’t rust out, and the bluing salts simply don’t wear out from occasional use. So, for six bucks worth of stump remover and a fifty-cent thrift-store bread-pan a person has a lifetime of small parts bluing capability.
This really does sound too good to be true!!!
For a $6 imvestment & some of my time I think I'll give it a try.
Yes it does work, though i obtained PURE potassium nitrate from a chemical shop here in Aus.
Have heated and cooled mine a few times.
The thing with Nitre Blue is it is just the heating of the metal that gives it the colour, like when you heat up steel with a torch and it changes colour, thus you can vary the temperature of the Nitre solution to obtain different colours. Think i read here somewhere that is how they did the straw colour on Luger triggers.
Be warned though, the solution is evil hot.
Paz
458AR & 500AR owner (yes it is done ) 12GFH in the pipeline(but not a real one, just a "mini one"!! The single shot on fine and beautiful lines built by a master craftsman is indeed a gentleman's piece... Colonel Townsend Whelen
04 October 2010, 18:35
kcstott
Ebay has potassium nitrate, And you drug store can order it. And if they ask why you need it tell them anything but making gunpowder and they will be more then happy to order it.
Drug store was a touch expensive though, two pounds was like twelve buck.
The salts are liquid at around 650 degrees F and it's at that temperature you blue your parts. Be very careful as it will burn you and right now. I used thin steel wire to suspend parts in the salts. you can use hot water to dissolve any salts left on parts that has hardened.
Has anyone here ever done this on a very small scale - say, for a couple of screws - with a propane torch and a cupcake tin or something?
05 October 2010, 02:21
Fal Grunt
A suggestion to those that will do this. Your surfaces must be polished to a mirror finish to give the best result. When your part has reached the appropriate color that you like, pull it out and immediately immerse in cool water. It will boil, fizz, and splash, so be sure to wear protection.
If you decide to continue the bluing process be sure to remove 100 % of the water before putting it back into the salts.
I found 600 degrees and soaking the parts gave a beautiful deep blue. How long takes a little experimenting and constant, careful, checking.
Nathaniel Myers Myers Arms LLC nathaniel@myersarms.com www.myersarms.com Follow us on Instagram and YouTube
I buy Mauser actions, parts, micrometers, tools, calipers, etc. Specifically looking for pre-WWII Mauser tools.
05 October 2010, 02:33
1 Shot Hunter
Great advice, ESPECIALLY the bits about avoiding getting ANY moisture into the molten nitrate!!!
I worked in a die casting shop for a couple of years, so I KNOW firsthand! It WILL SPIT molten badness!
05 October 2010, 03:23
kcstott
I've got on old tin can cut in half that I use for small parts. I did it more as an experiment then an actual part that was going to be used. But now that I know it works sure I'll use it in the future. and yes my heat source is a propane torch.
It would be Ideal to set it on a hot plate of some other form of controlled heat source but that what I have on hand.
I also forgo to mention the polish Fal Grunt is spot one. the better to polish the better the finish. and the blue is cobalt blue or fire blue how ever you choose to express it. It's the best looking blue you will ever see.
Deport the Homeless and Give the Illegals citizenship. AT LEAST THE ILLEGALS WILL WORK
05 October 2010, 07:45
ssdave
I took an old 10 pound lee lead pot, cleaned it thoroughly, and use it for Nitre Blue. I bought the salts from Brownells, hazmat was a major part of the cost, but a lot better to have it work perfect, first time and every time than to experiment, at least for me.
The Lee pot is thermostatically controlled, and easy to use. Let it cool, put the whole pot in a plastic bag, and store it on a shelf when you are done. Pull it out, plug it in, wait 20 minutes and ready to blue next time.
I suspend the parts with fine copper wire.
Be real careful to not drip the liquid salts on anything flammable. The KNO3 (potassium nitrate) is an oxydizer (note the three oxygens) and will instantly burst into flame and be hard to extinquish if it comes in contact with paper or wood. If you extinguish it, it will re-ignite. This is from one unfortunate experience that I found this out! I use the pot on a piece of tile backer concrete board for safety. Don't use it around gas or oil in your garage. And, as said before, a splatter on your skin will be extreme burns. Long gloves, cotton shirt, eye protection.
dave
05 October 2010, 08:49
1 Shot Hunter
ssdave, that Lee pot sounds perfect! I've been wanting one anyway for a looooooooong time... Now I thin' I gotta have one!
DO NOT buy Bonida Stump-Out. It DOES NOT contain potassium nitrate!
I just picked some up at Home Depot (the only brand they had) and there was nothing about the contents on the label. Had to get home and check on the internet. Damn! I always seem to have to learn the hard way...
06 October 2010, 01:28
Bob Nisbet
CAUTION - DO NOT DO THE MELT INSIDE YOUR HOME. Most places that know about nitre bluing will tell you to select an area with good ventilation. That does not include your wife's kitchen. A garage with the door open works, and so does a workshop that isd separated from your living quarters.
Bob Nisbet DRSS & 348 Lever Winchester Lover Temporarily Displaced Texan If there's no food on your plate when dinner is done, you didn't get enough to eat.
06 October 2010, 03:06
kcstott
Like is said the local Pharmacy and Ebay is you best bet.
I had walgreens order me two pounds a while back. took a week to get but easy to order.
for every hour in front of the computer you should have 3 hours outside
10 October 2010, 00:07
montea6b
This is a great thread! Questions: how critical is the temperature? Will a lower temperature just take longer? I have a small old Oster deep fat fryer with wire basket for deep frying, think this would work?
quote:
Originally posted by 1 Shot Hunter: DO NOT buy Bonida Stump-Out. It DOES NOT contain potassium nitrate!
I just picked some up at Home Depot (the only brand they had) and there was nothing about the contents on the label. Had to get home and check on the internet. Damn! I always seem to have to learn the hard way...
Another question: If Potassium Nitrate is not always listed, can anybody provide a brand name that DOES contain the right ingredients?
Originally posted by montea6b: This is a great thread! Questions: how critical is the temperature? Will a lower temperature just take longer? I have a small old Oster deep fat fryer with wire basket for deep frying, think this would work?
No, I don't think so. From what I have gathered from this thread & other sources is that the color is actually the tempering color that the metal takes on. Lower/higher temperatures would yield a different color than the "peacock blue".
& no I don't think your "fryer" would reach the requisite 600-650 degrees F.
[QUOTE]Originally posted by 1 Shot Hunter: DO NOT buy Bonida Stump-Out. It DOES NOT contain potassium nitrate!
I just picked some up at Home Depot (the only brand they had) and there was nothing about the contents on the label. Had to get home and check on the internet. Damn! I always seem to have to learn the hard way...
Another question: If Potassium Nitrate is not always listed, can anybody provide a brand name that DOES contain the right ingredients?[/
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