Cold blueing

[Jerry Cornelius]

I know refinishing is frowned on (by me too) and most cold blues are a bit hit and miss, but in case anyone is interested I think I got some ok results with Phillips Professional Cold blue:







And before:







In my defence I think tatty enough to make a refinish justifiable

Obviously not as good as hot blue but not too bad I think

My two learnings were (1) acetone for degreasing and (2) check the blueing solution carefully for the rear sight riser screw before you pour it down the storm drain. Unless you enjoy spending an hour going through the silt trap with a magnet of course

[Modski66]

I was using some Abbey Blu Gel yesterday on some small steel parts, I pre-heated them with a small craft heat-gun and got some very good results compared to doing it at ambient temperature.

[Shed tuner]

thats a decent result, for sure. I agree, it was pretty nasty before, so no harm done, and it looks a lot better.

[coburn]

Out of interest, what's the motorcycle in the background?

Back on subject, that's a good result there, I've had good results on small areas with Birchwood Casey bluing gel.

[Jerry Cornelius]

It’s a Honda CRF 250L. I’ve got a road bike too but I may well sell it, the dirt bike is more fun in almost every way.

[jirushi]

Nice result!
Have you also used Perma Blue from Birchwood Casey, and Schnellbrünierung from Ballistol?
In my experience, Perma Blue is quite weak and gives a thin finish, whilst the product from Ballistol is very strong and gives a black result.
Cheers, Louis

[coburn]

It’s a Honda CRF 250L. I’ve got a road bike too but I may well sell it, the dirt bike is more fun in almost every way.

Yep, I found that with a Yamaha Serow I used to run, it was more than adequate for about 95% of the riding I used to do.)

[madcarlos]

It’s a Honda CRF 250L. I’ve got a road bike too but I may well sell it, the dirt bike is more fun in almost every way.

I noticed the bike and thought it's the same as mine, Then I seen your reply, Cracking bikes, Nice and light , Easy to work on, Sold my road bike to, The crf250l will stay, Could do with a bigger tank though,

[junglie]

I know refinishing is frowned on (by me too) and most cold blues are a bit hit and miss, but in case anyone is interested I think I got some ok results with Phillips Professional Cold blue:







And before:







In my defence I think tatty enough to make a refinish justifiable

Obviously not as good as hot blue but not too bad I think

My two learnings were (1) acetone for degreasing and (2) check the blueing solution carefully for the rear sight riser screw before you pour it down the storm drain. Unless you enjoy spending an hour going through the silt trap with a magnet of course

Nice job, I have a magnet on a telescopic handle for that very job......Although the thought of it always reminds me of uncle jack from ripping yarns "curse of the claw"

[Mr wobble]

Would car brake cleaner be a good enough degreaser?

[ccdjg]

Would car brake cleaner be a good enough degreaser?

It should work, but I would still do the sodium carbonate water scrub as a final stage, just to be sure it passes the water wetting test.