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Always wanted to do that to a frame.
Call up a gun shop or stop by and ask about the process.
My bro did a smith and wesson but didn't read directions.
Turned out streaky, practice on an old fork or frame so you can check best way to apply it( cotton balls?)

Here ya go:  http://bmxmuseum.com/forums/viewtopic.php?pid=2618165

This image was lifted from that thread:

No problem Ivan.  Glad to help.  That just happened to be a thread I was following recently.

When you mentioned 'proper' hot bluing and and oil finish, I though of a frame someone was selling a while back.  It was totally raw and just had oil rubbed into it!!    It looked kinda neat, in a rat-rod kinda way, but I can't imagine the mess it would make of clothing. 

Good luck with your build.  Keep us posted!

dedmann wrote:

i wanted to do this with mine as well. i researched this a while back.....
it would be impossible to do it hot. there's just know way to control the heat evenly to achieve a good finish. it can be done cold; like paint. the problem again is the area it's going on. really hard for it to be consistent. i think i read an article on pinkbike about it....... good luck.

I am a little concerned about even temperature, but 'molten salts' are 'only' @ 290-300 degrees F ...

I think I can do it for forks without much issue I wonder if I can get away with letting the oxide harden, rinsing and going straight to clear coat.
If I try it with 'cold bluing' I'd do the application with steel wool until it's even and maybe use brake parts cleaner to ensure a 'dry' surface for clear-coat ...
If I get to it, I'll be sure to post pix.

Thanks for the input, it's appreciated.

giginfrogg wrote:

I cold blue alot of things. Stem shafts, raw steel that needs protected. pedal spindles etc. Works great.

Have you applied a clear coat over any of it; just curious, you know?

Hey all-

That Ashura build is mine.  If i can pass a long some learnings from the "bluing" of the frame it would be to experiment on a junk frame first.  The metal doesn't discolor where and when you would expect it too.  You have to pull the heat away before it gets to the point of being "blue".  The residual heat that the metal absorbs will take it to the point of blue once the heat is removed.  It's a very touchy process, but it sure was fun though.....!!!!  Let me know if I can help with any other questions regarding the process.

h20-50 wrote:

You can also blue with coca cola, aluminum foil and a car battery.  The amount of voltage it receives will determine the "color" of the blueing.  This is an old school trick that works very effectively on my motorcycle parts, especially the titanium bits.

how does it work. Need a you tube video for this. sounds interesting.

I found this:

http://www.wikihow.com/Color-Titanium


Sort of an anodization process for titanium, I think this is the basis for what you've told us.

Curious to know more.

KoolAidMan wrote:

h20-50 wrote:

You can also blue with coca cola, aluminum foil and a car battery.  The amount of voltage it receives will determine the "color" of the blueing.  This is an old school trick that works very effectively on my motorcycle parts, especially the titanium bits.

This almost sounds like an electroplating metod, then again, hot bluing is just a method to replace the potential space of red iron oxide (rust) with black iron oxide (magnetite), plating is not entirely dissimilar.

Could you explain a bit more of the technique when you get a chance?

Sorry, haven't been on in a while but yes it is similar to electroplating in a round about way.  Let me see if I can find a good link, there used to be one that gave a light spectrum of colors and told you what voltage gave what color.

h20-50 wrote:

Nevermind!!  KoolAidMan had posted the link that I was thinking about!  It's pretty straight forward but it works much easier, and cleaner, on smaller parts.  Never tried a frame but I have done exhausts and other titanium bits this way.

h20-50,

With titanium, it's the most stable metal that we humans work, it can be anodized as well. Iron, and thus, steel are quite reactive with oxygen.

If I go this route, my oldest sister was a gunsmith; I'm sure she'll have a good suggestion about bluing for a f/f set.


Thanks for the addional info, btw!

-Ivan

I've found you can "blue" many metals... even chrome to some degree.

RDB wrote:

I had a feeling this was done before...

when I was a machinist I would "cold" blue certain items we made, I would get stuck doing it out of the 3 of us because I had/have the most patience...and  had good outcomes with this type of product, as in being even...the largest pieces I remember bluing though were 12"...

https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/imag … riPudO5UCg


so I am gonna try it on my raw rider f/f/bars for something different, easier than paint (and its too f'n cold out), and something I have done before with good results

It should work fine. Make sure the surface is uniformly polished or rough. If it's rougher in spots it will be darker.

i have some aluminum black too. Don't buy it for you alloy part. It is not worth buying. I cannot get it to blacken ANY aluminum that I have.