prepared properly the lye will finish "degrease" the part

prepared properly the lye will finish "degrease" the part

while
while
the solution is heating up. I have even
the solution is heating up. I have even
added parts that were
added parts that were
degreased with Simple Green, quickly bead blasted, and th
en
degreased with Simple Green, quickly bead blasted, and th
en
added to the salts and still gotten good results. I
added to the salts and still gotten good results. I
am not sure
am not sure
how many sessions I will get but it is
how many sessions I will get but it is
nice to know the salts are
nice to know the salts are
inexpensive and there are no hazzardous shipping fees o
r
inexpensive and there are no hazzardous shipping fees o
r
large
large
quantity minimums needed or wasted.
quantity minimums needed or wasted.
Disposal is a big issue for
Disposal is a big issue for
any of these salts and neutralizing the
any of these salts and neutralizing the
sodium hydroxide can be done with vinegar, water, and a
sodium hydroxide can be done with vinegar, water, and a
ph
ph
test kit. I have heard of
test kit. I have heard of
people putting the results down the
people putting the results down the
drain, but I will not recommend disposal methods except t
o say
drain, but I will not recommend disposal methods except t
o say
consult the local waste disposal or sewer authorities and
follow
consult the local waste disposal or sewer authorities and
follow
their rules. I consider disposal costs to be
their rules. I consider disposal costs to be
part of the job and
part of the job and
II
would not consider illegal disposal an option.
I may do more experiments with future batches. Steel is
the
only metal I let come in contact with the salts. I stick t
o steel or
non-reactive materials for everything. I know some peop
le say
stainless steel would work fine, but I do not use it for
the pot --
some say the pot can be
stainless but others say it can affect
the results. I find the enamel pots work great
and are not that
expensive.
The depth of the blackening color increases with more tim
e in
the bath and a repeat session can be done if there ar
e touch-
ups or to add
more/depth of color. I found the exact same
results from the process and it matches perfectly even
after
sanding, filing, bead blasting, etc. I scratched a part a
nd just
filed off the scratch, did a quick bead blast, and
returned to the
salts and reblued the exposed steel until it matched the
rest
of
the part. The low temperature (255 to 275 degrees
is helpful as
I need only about 15 to 20
minutes to bring room temperature
solution up to a full boil, then perhaps
20 minutes to 30
minutes exposure of the parts in the
salts for a nice black result.
If I cover the heated salts and
turn off the heat it stays hot for
quite a while so I
can bring it back up to boil in 5
to 10 minutes
for rework or additional sessions post
inspection/c
leanup on
the first run.
I prefer to watch the pot while it is going, so I never
leave it
unattended while doing cleanup.
Attached are images of the ingredient packages that ar
e very
common. The ingredients and process are so simple nearly
anyone can make it. If you can make instant coffee yo
u can
make this blueing recipe!
SHOPPING LIST:
Chemicals:
(5) 16 oz or
18 oz containers of Sodium Hydroxide (lye),
Recommended Brand: Lewis Red Devil Lye
Drain Opener (100%
Lye). It must say 100% lye. Drain
openers that explicitly say
100% lye are acceptable, howeer any drain opener
that does
not say 100% lye will not work! Lewis Red Devil Lye is a ve
ry
common item so it should be available at a local home cente
r,
hardware or grocery store. The
package is an 18oz container
that costs about $3.19.
(Edited to add it has been
brought to my attention that Red
Devil Drain opener is no longer
manufufact
ured, below is what
someone kindly emailed me.
After a bit more research I
did find that tech-grade sodium
hydroxide is still available for sale at a variety
of places with the
most common being those that supply the homemade soap
and
candle making hobbies. I went ahead and ordered 10 lbs
and
with shipping it still only came out to $3.00 a pound which
is
comparable to the Red Devil lye if it
had still been available. I
purchased it here:
Link
(1) 4 Pound Box/Bag of Sodium Nitrate (Nitrate of Soda
),
Recommended Brand(s): Bonide Nitrate of Soda Fertilizer,
Dragon Nitrate of Soda Fertilizer, Hoffman Nitrate of Sod
a
Fertilizer. This item is Sodium Nitrate and comes in 4lb bags
or
boxes. Garden centers and hardware stores carry this
or can get
it. It is listed
as containing 16-0-0 or 15-0-0 Nitrate Nitrogen. If
you prefer, you can order
online by using a search engine such
as google.com, froogle.com, shopping.yahoo.com, or
bizrate.com to search for "Nitrate of Soda" and you w
ill find
merchants that sell it from $6.49 for 4lbs to $14.95 fo
r 8lbs.
(2) 1 Gallon Containers of Distilled Water. Some people hav
e no
trouble with tap water, but I think it must be
distilled so it does
not contain minerals and it is available at every grocery s
tore. I
prefer to keep track of the
water I add to the
salts.
Equipment:
(1) 16 Quart Graniteware or Enamelware Stock Pot/Seaf
oood
Steamer Pot (size works great for pistols). Do NOT
buy
aluminum. I have seen the enamel type of pots
available online
and in camping supply stores. I purchased from
http://www.bedb
athandbeyond.co
m for
$19.95 plus
shipping.
Other containers of a similar size that are steel or
black iron will
also work.
(1) Propane burner and
propane tank setup. I purchased a
Turkey Fryer setup. You can select any s
etup and the aluminum
or stainless pot
will work great for
post blueing cleaning/boilin
g
to remove the salts. Most of these
setups include a pot,
thermometer, and the burner with regulator and cost f
rom $30
to about $50 from home centers, hardware stores, or
online.
(1) spool of ductile black iron/steel wire. Must be steel a
nd
appear either rusty or black. This is
found in many home
centers and hardware stores. Dip the wire
into a degreaser to
remove oil and diluted muriatic acid bath to prep for use.
(1) steel stir stick for mixing ingredients and stirring the
bath to
get the salts into solution when re-heating. Can be foun
d
in
home centers and hardware stores. Select a piece 18"
to
24" in
length, 1/8" diameter to 3/16" diameter. You will know
when
the salts are ready when
the stir stick starts to blue.
(1) 2 gallon plastic container with
lid. Available at home centers
in the paint department for storing the blueing salts bet
ween
uses. Let the solution cool, then scrape out
the pot and put the
salts and solution into the pail.
SAFETY: Lye is poisonous, corrosive, and can
cause severe burns
if not handled carefully. The heated solution can burn yo
u.
Follow all safety warnings for the chemicals and the equipme
nt
and always mix in the recommended order out
of doors in
adequate ventilation. Never breathe the vapors, stand
up-wind
or at a safe
distance when possible, and protect your eyes from
the vapors or splashes. Rinse any solution from skin
immediately.
MIXING: (All mixing should be done outside in good
ventilation). Use a metal 16
Quart Steamer Stock Pot. Setup the
heating source (propane turkey fryer burner).
1. Add 1 gallon of water into the
pot.
2. Use a scale to measure five
pounds of lye into a container.
Slowly add 1 cup at a time to
the room temperature water. Stir
with a steel stir rod
until each addition is dissolved into
solution. If you add too much, it will clump on the bottom
and
be more difficult to dissolve. Continue to slowly add the
lye
--
the solution will heat up and there will be
some fumes as the
lye dissolves into solution. Avoid breathing fumes and go s
lowly
with the mixing.
3. Place the pot of lye s
olution on the burner and start heating
until the solution is warm.
4. Use a scale to measure
2 1/2 pounds of Nitrate of Soda
Fertilizer into a container. Slowly add the fertilizer to the
lye
solution in the pot, stirring gently and allowing it to dissolv
e. As
the temperature comes up closer to the boil, the
fertilizer will
go into solution.
Congratulations, you have just mixed your blueing salts!
STORAGE:
If you are not
planning to use the salts immediately, turnoff the
burner and allow the solution to cool back to
near room
temperature. When the solution is not hot or too
warn, you can
pour the liquid into a plastic storage container and scrap
e the
crystals to loosen and add them to the
plastic storage container
too. Rubber gloves and a plastic scraper help to complet
ely
clean out the crystals in the pot. Wash the
residue from the pot
with plenty of water to dilute and rinse
it away.
BLUEING:
Heat the solution until it reaches a minimum of 253 to 265
degress F and is
vigorously boiling. Suspend the parts to blue
using the steel wire to suspend them from
a rod or piece of
wood across the top of
the pot. Let them remain in the boiling
solution for 20 to 30 minutes depending on the steel and
the
depth of finish desired.
When you remove the items from the
salts they are very hot.
Place them into hot but not boiling water for about 10 m
inutes
to flush the salts out of any
threads or captive areas. Dry and
inspect. If the item is not blackened to your satisfactio
n or
there are areas where it is not even return it to the
solution and
let it go longer. When final color is reached
and the part is
washed of all salts, completely coat the part in oil (WD-40
, Gun
Oil, Marvel Mystery Oil). I have
also submerged the parts in
warmed oil overnight before hanging them up and letting t
he
excess drip off. I have not
seen adverse effects from wiping
down the parts
and admiring the beautiful black finish
immediately.
TECHNICAL ISSUES:
Items can sometimes be covered with a soot --
this seems to be
caused by excess heating, usually the result of letting t
he part
sit on the bottom of the
pot where the burner is e
levating the
temperatures. Other times, it just seems to happen fo
r
unexplained reasons. Underneath the soot, the
finish is black,
so let I always let
it run and remain patient. After removing
from the salts I place the part in
a warm water bath and use
a
paper towel, rag, or a
toothbrush to scrub off the soot.
It will
scrub or rub off and
the finish underneath is usually very nice
and black. Pipe cleaners will remove soot from small holes o
r
screw threads. Once the surface looks clean, you can
either
return it to the salts for
a few minutes or continue in a
full hot
water rinse, dry and
oiling process.
Items that do not blue or
appear plum colored usually need a
little more time in the
solution. Various steels blue differently,
and contaminants on the surface can lend a hand in mak
ing the
process go funky. Usually a good degreasing and return
to the
solution, use of a slightly higher temperature or a
longer time
will get them black.
If you have touch-ups or
areas with defects that you want to fix
you can return to the
solution after corrective measures and a
degreasing. I usually do touch-ups
immediatel
y while the
salts
are still running so I can assure
the results come out exactly the
same.
If you add lots of
parts to the solution, it seems to take a
little
longer than when doing smaller bit of parts or
touch-ups.
Ken Mays has more extensive experience with the original
formula. Practical use is the same, but his recipe and mix
ing is
different because ammonium nitrate fertilizer has several
negatives: First, it gets attention from the FBI and you
can end
up "a person of
interest". Second, when adding it to the lye,
copious amounts of concentrated ammonia gas are pr
oduced
and ammonia is very dangerous to living things! After his
salts
are mixed and working things are the s
ame as what I am using,
although he reports his solution boils at a higher
temperature.