Oil Quenching Finish

[Linkinlog]

Anyone here used this method to refinish a 1911 or have any pictures?

It seems to be a good way to create a dark blue / light black colored finish, which is what I am looking for. Is this the type of thing that can be done at home?

Also, anyone know anything abour fire bluing? (Using heat the hot bluing to create a dark, rich blue color)

 

[Jim Watson]

The only oil quench finish I know of is the black color on small Springfield '03 parts, due to the heat treatment quench itself. I don't know if I'd want to try that on big parts of a finished gun.

Heat blue takes place at 650 - 700 deg F. Do you know your alloy and will that draw the hardness down? It is not a very durable finish, the SAAs done that way are beautiful when new, looks like blue plate glass on polished steel. But it does not hold up to holster wear.

I hope an expert will come along with better prospects.

 

[Linkinlog]

Jim,

Thanks for the reply. You always seem to have some sort of answer for me

Yeah, the oil quech finish seems to be a blackish / dark grey color. I think it would look great on a polished up 1911.

The frame and slide are RIA units so they are investment cast steel.

I recently saw a picture of a gun with fire-blued (heat-blued?) controls and it looked sharp. I'm thinking that a whole gun done that way would be really nice.

This gun is a project gun that I have been working on and doing the work myself. It'll spend most of its time in a safe or at the range. I don't plan on carrying it at all.

 

[SigfanUSAF]

Some old colts were completely nitre blued, and like Jim said, it's probably the prettiest and least durable finish you can apply. It's the same process used to get the straw color on the Luger small parts. Basically, you heat a solution of mostly potassium nitrate (IIRC) to the desired temperature range for the type of steel you want to color, then immerse the parts until full coloring is achieved.
Fire blueing is done by holding the small part in front of a flame until the desired color is reached and immediately dropping in quenching oil. Results are so-so compared to the nitre process. Oil blackening is simply getting the part up to a hotter temperature, the point where it turns the grey-black, and quenching it. The older Enfields were big on oil-blackened small parts as well.