Great video, thanks for posting that, was very educational and helpful.

Karl,

Great video, Thanks so much. What components & equipment do I need to give this a whirl? Some of the "kits" out there are pretty pricey...

Ed C.

Nice Karl. Thanks for showing that.

Question: When adding water to the salts tank to maintain the specific gravity, how do you add it? Is there and danger to simply pouring it in?

Lin,

You DO NOT want to pour water directly into the 300 degree bluing tank. It will boil violently. I have a long handled stainless steel dipper that I got from Brownell's. I put some water in the dipper and then set the dipper on the surface of the bluing chemicals. Slowly push the dipper down into the chemicals and tip it so that the bluing solution slowly runs into the water in the dipper. This will warm the water some and allow you to slowly tip the dipper to pour the water into the bluing chemicals. It can still boil pretty violently, if the water is still cold and/or you pour the water in too fast. You'll get the hang of it after a few times.

Maintaining the correct bluing solution concentration, is a matter of controlling the rate of boiling when the solution is at the correct temperature for bluing. With the solution at the temperature you want it to be for bluing, it should be at a rolling boil. As the water boils out of the solution, the boiling rate of the solution will slow. Usually, the temperature of the solution will also climb as the water boils out. This is your indication that it needs more water. Add water a dipper full at a time, until the solution comes back to a rolling boil and the temperature comes down to where you want it.

I have the full size 40 inch bluing tanks from Brownell's. The water boils out of the solution pretty fast, with so much surface area in these tanks. I keep at least a gallon of distilled water nearby while I do bluing. I can use most of a gallon during a typical bluing session.

Here' a link to the stainless steel dipper.

Brownell's Dipper

Thanks Steve. Yes, my instincts told me that would not be safe to add cold water to the hot tank. But I wanted to be clear about it.

hey Guys!

Can anyone suggest a best "economical" yet fully functional set-up for hot bluing? I mean, what equipment do I really need to start doing this? Can I get by on a propane stove, some type of inexpensive containers, etc.? What type of thermometer do I need? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Ed C.

Ed,

You can get all of the supplies needed for bluing from Brownell's. They sell iron bluing tanks that are fairly inexpensive. The tanks come in different sizes. A quarter tank would serve for most of the bluing that would be done for knifemaking.

Brownell's Bluing

I think a propane camp stove would probably work for heating a quarter tank of bluing chemicals. I've also seen the burner units for turkey fryers sold separately. One of them could be used to build a heat source. Not sure what Karl is using for his heat. Maybe he'll chime in here.

Bluing salts can be bought from several different suppliers. It would be nice to hear where some of the guys on this forum get theirs.

I use Unibath bluing salts. Unibath is a small company, out of Joplin, MO. They don't have a web site at this time. The Unibath chemicals are quite a bit more expensive than most. But, they last longer, don't put off such harsh vapors and are not nearly so picky about the parts being absolutely clean of oils.

Thanks, Steve!

I was going to ask for more info., but I found all I needed on Brownell's site. By the way, the link to the "how to" is:"How to Hot Blue", just in case anyone else is interested...

Ed C.

OK - secret.

Don't add 'water'. Of course, since we would be adding liquid water to a solution that is already at 292 degrees, the water INSTANTLY vaporizes and can cause not only a mess, but injury.

Solution?

Don't add a liquid.

Add a solid.

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Ice cubes. <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//laugh.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':lol:' />

That way, the ice needs to convert from a solid to a liquid first, but as it does, it gradually disperses out into the solution.

A tech from Brownell's gave me that info 10 years ago.

I just keep a few ice cube trays full in my shop refrigerator and add them one at a time as I'm bluing with stainless hot-dog tongs.

There is no fluctuation of temperature in the tank.

And if there is - it is brief.

Secret revealed.

Just saw this thread and I have a question. The knife was deeply etched prior to bluing and then cleaned to remove the carbon black from the simple tool share of the blade. What did you use to clean this off of the damascus?

Great video. Makes me want to try it. Then looking at the Brownell's website to check pricing and I decided this is going to wait for a while. I think Hancock has a hot bluing setup in his shop.............

Karl,

Thanks for the tip about using ice!!! I remember hearing about that, but have not tried it.

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What did you use to clean this off of the damascus?

Joshua, I just scrub the living daylights out of it with steel wool so as to remove any loosely attached particles. I want the steel as clean as possible to allow the oxidation to occur with the bluing salts.

|quoted:

Karl,

Thanks for the tip about using ice!!! I remember hearing about that, but have not tried it.

Steve - it removes all of the pucker factor. <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//tongue.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':P' />