doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DIY Gunsmithing @ doublegunshop.com Heat bluing

On and off, mostly off, I've been playing with heat bluing. I think that I have finally a good way of doing things
and thought I would share it.

I took an inexpensive hot plate and put a half inch thick piece of aluminum on that to distribute the heat and
another block on top of that, to which I attached a thermocouple that came with my $20 digital volt meter.


On top of the block with the thermocouple, I put test pieces, placing a stainless steel travel mug over this
to block air flow.



It took a while to get the temperature stabilized at 295 C, but when I did, I put a skeleton grip cap and screws onto
the block, the screws in the grip cap and the threaded portions dropping into the holes in the block. I ocassionally
lifted the travel mug and observed the changes in the grip cap color. After the last bit of purple had disappeared
and a decent blue was there, I quenched the piece in kerosene. I was very happy with the results. Below is the
grip cap tightened down onto a wooden block. I also made an ebony insert. It looks better in person, than it does in the closeup.



it will go on this project here



I doubt that I am the first person to try this on gun parts, I did find a link to someone using the same method on making
hands for watches via this method. If you are interested in trying this, the link to the color chart below is useful

steel color chart