Author Topic: Tool blackening Kit  (Read 21815 times)

Offline Jo

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Tool blackening Kit
« on: February 03, 2013, 02:53:59 PM »
I have had this blackening kit for nearly 15 years, despite it claiming the chemicals are only good for three. With it I have successfully blackened all sorts of tools. My kit is a four stage process and I have always had good results, others have used a two stage or single stage and I have heard complaints that the stuff rubs off, mine has always stayed put.

In the kit are four chemicals that they don't admit to what they are: A degreaser, a conditioner, the blackening solution and a really smelly dewatering oil. Maybe someone can enlighten me.

Today I blackened some tool clamp spacers. So having got them as clean as possible the first stage is to dunk the parts in the degreaser for 10 mins.



Rinse off in clean water. About 45 seconds in the conditioner:



Rinse off in clean water. From 30 seconds to 2 mins in the blackening solution. It changes colour really quick, I normally give it about 45 seconds.



Rinse off, This is what they now look like:



Lastly soak in the dewatering oil. I would love to know what this smell stuff is as it evaporates and I have only a little left :Doh:



Allow to drip dry:



Then dry them off and spray with silicon. One nice black set of clamps and spacers:



Now to do the R&B cylinder head..... ;D

Jo

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Arbalest

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Re: Tool blackening Kit
« Reply #1 on: February 03, 2013, 03:06:44 PM »
I've seen this system before but it's a bit expensive is'nt it Jo? I've used Gun blue but it tends to cause the part to rust unless you quickly coat it with something oily! You're tempting me, got a link?  :naughty:

Offline Chris J

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Re: Tool blackening Kit
« Reply #2 on: February 03, 2013, 03:21:12 PM »
This is a very spooky post.
I was just drinking a cup of coffee and wondering about blacking some steel bits and pieces and how I should do it !

This forum has started to read my mind, what an upgrade  :)
Don't believe everything you read on the internet - Abraham Lincoln.

Offline zeeprogrammer

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Re: Tool blackening Kit
« Reply #3 on: February 03, 2013, 03:28:15 PM »
Nice post Jo.

A few questions...

Why do it? That is, what is the practical aspect of it?
Does it wear over time?
Can a cover be placed over that last step to reduce evaperation or are gases produced?

Thanks
Carl (aka Zee) Will sometimes respond to 'hey' but never 'hey you'.
"To work. To work."
Zee-Another Thread Trasher.

Offline Jo

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Re: Tool blackening Kit
« Reply #4 on: February 03, 2013, 03:46:23 PM »
My kit is called "MetalBLAK" by Delway Technical services. I don't know if they still exist...

Zee: The blackening is a oxide layer which protects the metal and it looks pretty. You probably already have some tools that have been blackened in your workshop those were hot blackened, this is a room temperature kit. So it is not as good as the professional stuff so yes it will wear over time, slowly.

The last stage doesn't cause evaporation, it is just very smelly oil and if it was a bit warmer I would be venting the workshop to get rid of the smell :shrug:

Jo.
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Offline Chris J

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Re: Tool blackening Kit
« Reply #5 on: February 03, 2013, 03:52:29 PM »
This place maybe worth a look

http://www.caswelleurope.co.uk
Don't believe everything you read on the internet - Abraham Lincoln.

Offline Jo

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Re: Tool blackening Kit
« Reply #6 on: February 03, 2013, 04:24:51 PM »
Yes that is the stuff, same bottles & labels.

But I have picked up just the oxidsing solution much cheaper £3 for .5 litre.

Jo
Enjoyment is more important than achievement.

Offline Chris J

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Re: Tool blackening Kit
« Reply #7 on: February 03, 2013, 04:35:54 PM »
Yes that is the stuff, same bottles & labels.

But I have picked up just the oxidsing solution much cheaper £3 for .5 litre.

Jo

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Don't believe everything you read on the internet - Abraham Lincoln.

Offline Jo

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Re: Tool blackening Kit
« Reply #8 on: February 03, 2013, 04:36:38 PM »
Kicking around at the shows  :shrug:

Jo
Enjoyment is more important than achievement.


fcheslop

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Re: Tool blackening Kit
« Reply #10 on: February 03, 2013, 07:04:27 PM »
Very nice but at that price I think I will stick to the old ways.

Offline chucketn

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Re: Tool blackening Kit
« Reply #11 on: February 03, 2013, 07:23:03 PM »
The company does still exist. Here's what Google found:

http://www.metalblak.co.uk/

Chuck

Offline John S

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Re: Tool blackening Kit
« Reply #12 on: February 03, 2013, 10:39:52 PM »
I must have bought the one before you Jo or the one after because i have had my about 15 years as well.
Don't know why I bought it as we have a heat treating plant literally across the road from us that does hot blacking and also Tuftriding.

Tuftriding is awesome, it gives a hard coating of just a few microns but it's done at low temperature [ for heat treating ], about 400 degrees so you don't get distorsion. Another plus is this coating is very rust resistant
John Stevenson, Nottingham , England

Offline petertha

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Re: Tool blackening Kit
« Reply #13 on: February 04, 2013, 05:52:31 AM »
I just bought the blackening chemical component by itself to save money since I always have brake cleaner & acetone handy. I use those to completely clean the parts prior to immersion in the blackening solution. After blackening I just lightly rub the surface with a clean paper towel. A tiny bit of excess comes off as kind of a chalky residue but the surface is still completely black. When I tried a post water rinse, it seemed to create some rusty color blotches here & there. I could remove them, but it was just a bit more work than simple wipe off to dry.

It stays dull & dry looking without some sort of sealer. On that front Ive tried different oils & sprays.. it gives it a slightly deeper, satin looking finish, but pretty much they all look the same once applied. I'm not really sure what their 'sealer' could be in the kit. Anything I've ever dealt with as a sealer in paint finishes is not-oil based. I wonder if thats a key ingredient or maybe just re-packaged marketing? I figure the parts are going into a oily enviornment anyway. A freind of mine has the 4-stage kit & we were comparing parts, couldnt really see any difference FWIW.

Anyway, mine arent as deep or rich a black as commercial parts. I tried another brand through a gun supplier & it looked & acted identical to the product purchased through machine tooling supply. So I fifure its the same stuff & as good as it gets. I figure it's just simple, cosmetic treatment  that basically helps prevent rust. If you went at it with a 3M scuff pad, you could probably remove most of the finish so suspect pretty thin penetration. Im not sure how it stands up under heat like for cylinders.

Ive yet to try the heat & oil bath method. I have spare mini toaster oven from a garage sale used for bearing work & such. It can go to 475 deg F. I could probably get smallish parts up to temp quite evenly by baking it for 20 min. Not sure that it would do much for color though. Anyone have a temp recommendation there?
« Last Edit: February 04, 2013, 05:55:45 AM by petertha »

Offline AdeV

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Re: Tool blackening Kit
« Reply #14 on: February 04, 2013, 10:24:42 AM »
Jo,

I think it's just a form of WD40-alike. I too have the Delway kit, albeit only bought about 3 years ago, my dewatering oil doesn't smell so bad? Mind you, I haven't tried it recently... However, reading the instructions ( :facepalm2:) suggested it simply displaced any water that was in the pores of the metal with oil, to prevent (or at least reduce) rusting - since the cold oxide layer isn't a seal.

When I blackened my lathe toolpost, despite using the dewatering oil it developed rusty patches; so I soused it in WD40 - never had a moment's rust with it since. I always figured the next part I blackened I'd try just WD40 & skip the dewatering oil, but predictably I haven't used it again...

A couple of pics:

QCTP about an hour after blacking:


After a few days:


After a good soak in WD40, the rust went away by itself (? maybe it just hid ?):
Cheers,
Ade
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I'm just a poor old man. I have no time for law-breakers. My legs are grey. My ears are gnarled. My eyes are old and bent.

 

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