Color Case Hardening
- Thread starter Mongo40
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rcmodel
Member in memoriam
No, there is no easy way to do color case hardening.
Colt, Ruger, and a few others have devised a fake color case finish, but it is not exactly great looking compared to the real thing.
Doing actual Color Case Hardening is beyond the means of most home do-it-yourself projects due to the extreme high temperatures involved, as well as parts warpage, and the risk of ruining hard to replace parts.
I think about the best you could do is to try to come up with a mottled blue appearance using cold blue.
rcmodel
Colt, Ruger, and a few others have devised a fake color case finish, but it is not exactly great looking compared to the real thing.
Doing actual Color Case Hardening is beyond the means of most home do-it-yourself projects due to the extreme high temperatures involved, as well as parts warpage, and the risk of ruining hard to replace parts.
I think about the best you could do is to try to come up with a mottled blue appearance using cold blue.
rcmodel
Hawk
Member
Hardly easy, but this might help:
http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/GunTech/NewsletterArchive.aspx?p=0&t=1&i=612
Also, as RC noted, a "hobbyist case color" can be tried by daubing cold blue on a heated surface. The temperatures are kept way lower than the "real thing" while the cold blue is "splotched" on. One of the nice guys at Brownell's gave me a run down on the process along with the products he recommended. My attempt on scrap came out looking like dog barf in an oil slick. Hope you have better luck.
I've given thought to camping out on Turnbull's doorstep to apprentice in much the same manner as portrayed by David Carradine in "Kung Fu" but I've a few years before I can retire.
http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/GunTech/NewsletterArchive.aspx?p=0&t=1&i=612
Also, as RC noted, a "hobbyist case color" can be tried by daubing cold blue on a heated surface. The temperatures are kept way lower than the "real thing" while the cold blue is "splotched" on. One of the nice guys at Brownell's gave me a run down on the process along with the products he recommended. My attempt on scrap came out looking like dog barf in an oil slick. Hope you have better luck.
I've given thought to camping out on Turnbull's doorstep to apprentice in much the same manner as portrayed by David Carradine in "Kung Fu" but I've a few years before I can retire.
Snarlingiron
Member
It is possible for the home shop owner to do this. There is a great series of books called the Machinists Bedside Reader by Guy Lautard. If I remember correctly Guy is canadian. You can order the books directly from his website. He gives a nice discourse about doing this in the home shop with readily available materials. I do not remember which of the books it appears in, because there are several. I personally have I,II, and III, and I am pretty sure it is in one of those. When I get home I will see if I can find them and post which it is. These books are great if you are interested in machinery in general, and make a great bedtime read. I am sure if you send Guy an email (there is a link on his website) he will tell you which book has the information.
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