Bluing steel?

[Silly Car]

I.e.



In respect of cold bluing:

How easy is it? It looks like you apply layers of liquid until you get the desired colour.
How durable is it?
How far does the bluing liquid go?
What else do I need to know?

I’ve got a 800 x 700 mm panel to do, centre 400 x 560mm cut out and two corners lopped off to make it look loosely like a viaduct arch (fire back to convert from curved arch to standard ‘builder’s opening’.

[KungFooBob]

[KungFooBob]

[Silly Car]

That took longer than I expected

[MrLongbeard]

How easy is it? It looks like you apply layers of liquid until you get the desired colour.
How durable is it?
How far does the bluing liquid go?
What else do I need to know?

1, piece of piss, as you've surmised, paint it on until you get your desired colour, rinse off and oil
2, I got 1 season on a part which was left in a cold damp garage attached to a bike that was ridden on dry days before rust showed up
3, A long way
4, Nah.

Well, I suppose tinkering is the new riding for now.

1 sheet of punched steel from eBay cut to size;

IMG_20200404_123951 by MrLongbeard, on Flickr

15 minutes of cold bluing;

IMG_20200410_155322 by MrLongbeard, on Flickr

Et voilà, a cheap oil cooler guard;

IMG_20200410_155618 by MrLongbeard, on Flickr

[Cousin Jack]

Never done it myself, but what I recall from people who played at gunsmithing back in the day.

Cold blues are variable, some work comparatively well, some don't.
Cold blue is nowhere near as durable as factory hot blueing.
Can be OK on small parts, but tends to be patchy on larger parts.

Not sure that is going to help much.

[Silly Car]

Thanks all, my thoughts are if it turns out patchy or shite, I can just paint it with satin black stove paint and rub in the black stove polish. I could even apply that over the bluing finish to protect against any moisture / prevent rust.

Just need to hear how eye wateringly expensive the hetas quote is for putting everything together…