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View Full Version : Best way to make stainless guns black?


ray1970
06-09-2012, 06:33
I was curious if there were any ways to put a black finish on a stainless firearm and have it be somewhat durable?

Thanks.
BPTactical
06-09-2012, 06:47
I was curious if there were any ways to put a black finish on a stainless firearm and have it be somewhat durable?

Thanks.

DuraCoat, Norrells MolyResin....Krylon[Coffee]


I do know there is a blackening process similar to bluing but not sure about longevity or what is involved.
68Charger
06-09-2012, 07:18
DuraCoat, Norrells MolyResin....Krylon[Coffee]


I do know there is a blackening process similar to bluing but not sure about longevity or what is involved.

Nitro carburizing, trade names are Melonite or Tenifer...

Don't know where you would get it done, tho...
BigNick73
06-09-2012, 07:27
caswell plating sells a stainless blackening solution, never used it so have no idea but might be work looking into.
Eldorado556
06-09-2012, 08:56
Birchwood Casey Aluminum Black. Not sure how well it would work. I use it mainly for touch ups.

http://sport.birchwoodcasey.com/Finishing/FinishingDetails.aspx?ProductID=0790cc91-b2e8-488d-a6fa-8820790beefb
ray1970
06-09-2012, 09:06
Birchwood Casey Aluminum Black. Not sure how well it would work. I use it mainly for touch ups.

http://sport.birchwoodcasey.com/Finishing/FinishingDetails.aspx?ProductID=0790cc91-b2e8-488d-a6fa-8820790beefb

Somehow I don't think this would work very well on stainless steel.


Thank you all for the advice. Looks like Robar offers a treatment that might work pretty well. Here is what they say about it...

"Blackening of Stainless Steel
Robar is able to blacken stainless steel through the use of oxidizing type blacking compounds. This process produces black coatings on stainless steel and alloy steels by a "conversion" process. The chrome in the stainless steel is involved in a chemical reaction with the oxidizers in the solution producing chrome-sulfide. The application of the black finish is dependent upon the surface treatment of the steel. Bead blasted surfaces will have a satin black appearance while a surface blasted with aluminum oxide will be matte in nature. Importantly, dimensional changes involved in blackening are extremely small, less than 0.0001 Mil. This thickness of the black oxide type coating ranges from 0.00006-0.0001 Mil depending on the type of alloy being treated. Blackening of stainless steel not only makes the weapon more attractive but adds to its corrosion resistance (96 hours salt spray per Mil-C-13924B) and aids in preventing galling, common in stainless steel guns."

Our resident gunsmith extraordinaire has a solution for me as well. Just need to figure out what route I want to go. [Beer]
spyder
06-09-2012, 14:03
There is a hot caustic bluing process for stainless just like normal steel. The process is exactly the same, just different salts. I did it Thursday actually at the school to a couple Sig slides and rifle barrels. No biggie.

Nitro carburizing, trade names are Melonite or Tenifer...

Don't know where you would get it done, tho...
That's not a finish, it's a metal treatment done to steels, it also isn't black, it's shades of dark gray depending on which gun you bead off the parkerizing or bluing on. The black over Glock's, Hk's, and others is either bluing, or parkerizing. There are lots of random sights like this one ( http://firearmshistory.blogspot.com/2010/08/metal-treatments-ferritic.html ) that have some good information about some things, and then lead people in the wrong direction in other things such as how it is apparently illegal to do the normal tennifer process (wrong) in the US.
ray1970
06-10-2012, 19:52
There is a hot caustic bluing process for stainless just like normal steel. The process is exactly the same, just different salts. I did it Thursday actually at the school to a couple Sig slides and rifle barrels. No biggie.


Wish I had known. I would have had you throw my revolver in the tank too. [Coffee]
spyder
06-10-2012, 22:23
Wish I had known. I would have had you throw my revolver in the tank too. [Coffee]
I'll find out if I'm gona do it this week also, if so, I'll let you know.[Beer]
ray1970
06-10-2012, 22:28
I'll find out if I'm gona do it this week also, if so, I'll let you know.[Beer]

Thanks. Unfortunately, I am going to be rather tied up for the next couple of weeks and there is a little thing called geography that would probably get in the way of you helping me out. [Beer]
spyder
06-10-2012, 23:43
Thanks. Unfortunately, I am going to be rather tied up for the next couple of weeks and there is a little thing called geography that would probably get in the way of you helping me out. [Beer]
That's what the mail is for. [Tooth]