So, while waiting for the BLO to dry I have been investigating "rust bluing".
The process is.
1. apply the rust initiator. (usually twice)
2. keep in a humid environment. A few hours depending on conditions.
3. once it is rusty steam or boil for 20 to 40 minutes. The rust turns into Magnetite. (bluing)
4. Card off loose magnetite using steel wool or a very fine steel brush
5. repeat 1 to 4 a few times (5 to 7) to get a nice finish.
I couldn't work out why there are so many "secret recipes" to make a piece of steel rust so it can be steamed. I mean rust is rust, right. Hydrochloride acid gets a mention, (so does a salt and vinegar and hydrogen peroxide mixture, along with a few others) and guess what. Spirits of Salts is 33% Hydrochloride acid. (yep good old solder flux) So, as I have some why not give it a try. I piece of 5mm mild steel that was roughly machined was what I had so it got the treatment. (gloves and safety glasses advised)
I gave it a good sand of coarse, perhaps 100 grit then 400 grit. Was still showing machining marks but I figure as a bit of a test I will give it a go.
I very lightly swabbed it with about 16% acid solution and left for a couple of hours hanging in the man cave. (shed, Im in Sth Victoria) Result was very little rust. So did again but this time 33% and checked in the morning.(about 12 hours) And it had obvious rust.
So placed I it in mums vegi steamer and steamed for about 25 minutes.(she was out. LOL) As expected it turned black and had a layer of loose material. Gave it a light rub with some steel wool and this is the result.
- 1st bluing Resized_20200617_113141.jpeg (188.71 KiB) Viewed 9618 times
Looks very promising. Old machining is obvious but that can be ignored for the testing process.
Ill do it 3 or 4 more times and report back.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluing_(steel)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHyoUF5 ... tion=share
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