fake case coloring techique

[kckid101]

Hi all have a project going on not a gun but need a way to reproduce a somewhat case colred finsh on a piece. anyone have tips or solutions to achieve this?
Thanks kevin

[country gent]

What is the material the piece is made of? What size is it? Some steels show colors easier than others bigger is harder as temp tends to equalize beforre changes. A little more info will be helpfull.

[geargnasher]

Lots of metal dyes out there, the trick will be the learning curve and knowing what colors you need.

Gear

[Big Rack]

There is a way. In a long ago Gun Digest or Shooters Bible they had an article about this, wish I could locate it myself. Seems like it was....coat with tincture of ? maybe benzoate then with a small tip oxy acetylene torch with a soft flame go over it a small area at a time and as the finish changed move it around by controlling time and movement various colors and patterns were made. I believe the tincture of ??? was what was coloring at a low enough tempeture not to affect heat treat also seems they were refinishing or touching up a single shot shotgun.
Please don't take my tincture of ??? to heart but maybe someone else can recall it.

[nhrifle]

Try the oil and torch method. Most any motor oil will work, and the thinner the better. Coat the part liberally with oil and then take a Bernzomatic torch (for plumbing, available at any hardware store) and make swirly patterns in the oil. It's kind of a variation of fire bluing and produces an effect similar to what H&R uses on their receivers. It won't make the nice colors like a professional job with cyanide or charcoal, but I think it looks quite nice.

[brstevns]

Try the oil and torch method. Most any motor oil will work, and the thinner the better. Coat the part liberally with oil and then take a Bernzomatic torch (for plumbing, available at any hardware store) and make swirly patterns in the oil. It's kind of a variation of fire bluing and produces an effect similar to what H&R uses on their receivers. It won't make the nice colors like a professional job with cyanide or charcoal, but I think it looks quite nice.

I do not mean to high jack this post. I have a old model 94c stevens receiver and will try what you said. Been looking for a way to it. Well this work over the blueing or must it be polished? Thanks!

[gnoahhh]

C'mon guys. Creating case colors with a torch is a classic Bubba trick. Not only do the colors look, well, applied with a torch but you're doing who-knows-what to the surface hardness of the steel. A gun that was color case hardened from the factory was done so to impart surface hardness to it (for whatever reasons) and the case colors were a secondary benefit. By applying a torch you are annealing said surface. Plus, torched colors disappear pretty fast from handling.

There are bunch of fellas around the country who do color case hardening. Prices aren't at all unreasonable. Hand polish it yourself down to 400 grit and save a bunch more.

[oldred]

C'mon guys. Creating case colors with a torch is a classic Bubba trick. Not only do the colors look, well, applied with a torch but you're doing who-knows-what to the surface hardness of the steel. A gun that was color case hardened from the factory was done so to impart surface hardness to it (for whatever reasons) and the case colors were a secondary benefit. By applying a torch you are annealing said surface. Plus, torched colors disappear pretty fast from handling.
There are bunch of fellas around the country who do color case hardening. Prices aren't at all unreasonable. Hand polish it yourself down to 400 grit and save a bunch more.

To each his own I guess but I have to agree with you, nothing looks tackier than something fake and those fake color case jobs are just too easy to spot, even the factory done jobs add a cheap look instead of a classy look! Also while I am not a gunsmith I made a living for nearly forty years working with steel alloys/tempered steels and the thoughts of someone taking a torch to a heat treated gun part is kind of scary, probably not all that bad on a normally soft steel that's been case hardened (IF the person doing it takes cares not to get it too hot) but accelerated wear and warpage could easily be the result. With the case hardened parts safety "probably" would not be an issue but heat treated alloys could be a different story and could easily cause real problems!

[kckid101]

big rack it is benzoin tincture, and yes heard of that as well.the promblem lies in the pc he wants to somewhat look case colored is 12' long by 12" wide made out of .062 cold rolled steel so cant apply alot of heat without it warping all out of shape. Kevin

[country gent]

Even the old bone and charcoal packs in leather and that amount of heat will cause that to warp. I have seen some fake "damascus" finishes done with browning soulutions and string wraps. Maybe a cold blue with strings or rolle cloth strips in a form or shape to give some "texture" to the finish. Try a piece of scrap to test and see what effect you get.

[MaLar]

What worries me! Is what are you doing to the heat treat for the steel your working on?
If this is a receiver or critical part of the fire arm I would be awe full Leery of doing that!
If you don't know what your doing DON'T!

[JSnover]

It's not a gun - read the post. If the mechanical properties are not important, what's the harm? Try some cold blue. I blued some old tools last winter out of boredom. They came out a very dark brown, almost black. Looked a whole lot better than I expected.

[oldred]

Since it's not a gun part some coloring can be achieved by polishing then simply heating but the colors won't look like much unless the piece has a fairly high polish, the better the polish the better it will look. In fact colors can be produced that will rival color case hardening but they tend to be on the bluer side, still it can look quite nice. On a piece like has been mentioned obtaining a bright polish might be a bit tricky but once achieved the part could be evenly heated to prevent warpage then quenched/oiled, about 450 deg to no more than about 500 deg should produce some nice coloring. I like to do this with small parts such as hammers before hot bluing, first obtain a high polish then heat with a heat gun until colors are produced then place them in the hot blue tank for a very interesting result. I end up with a nice coloring showing through the blue finish, probably would not look very good on large parts nor would it be practical to do but it makes for some interesting small pieces.

[smoked turkey]

Thanks for this timely question. I am planning on buying a steel grip cap from Brownells for my Marlin 375. I was thinking of giving something like this a go since the part is relatively inexpensive and not subjected to much stress. I think it could look pretty neat if it goes right.

[oldred]

Just to add to my last post, for that trick to work the part should be heated from the backside opposite the polished side and removed from the heat as soon as the coloring starts to appear. Quench in water (preferably distilled otherwise flash rust is likely) as soon as the coloring looks right.

[twotoescharlie]

tried the tincture of benzoin compound many years ago. did not work for me.

TTC

[Big Rack]

I did not ralize how big the piece was I don't have a clue how to do it without warping, maybe make it oversize and attach it to a backer plate for stiffness?
Thanks for the benzoin tincture some day a may try it on a small scrap part, like most things I expect the result has a lot to do with the technique.