A ? Re: Parkerizing or Blued types of finishes

[bearcar1]

Ok lads, I have just spent nearly an hour searching through previous messages and have decided to just ask outright. I am currently fabricating a set of bearing standards and wish to treat them with either a very dark blued finish or parkerize them. Now I have used an emersion solution before that turned steel black or grey depending upon the exposure, on small nuts and bolts etc. The standards I am working on have been silver soldered together to form one lump. What type of finish(s) can be used that will color the steel as well as the soldered up joint? I've never done parkerizing before so have zero experience with that process. I'm not looking for a super exotic method here, merely something that will give satisfactory results with a low cost of course. Any suggestions? I apologize if this question has been raised before but am looking forward to hearing all about anyones previous adventures in the matter.

Jim B.

 

[Macca]

Jim,
There has been a bit of a discussion here in the past about metal finishing. Here are a few topics to get you started.
http://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/index.php?topic=3676.0
http://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/index.php?topic=3144.0
http://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/index.php?topic=3193.0
Jack404 has also posted some books in the downloads section that may be of some help.

As far as i know you will have trouble with the silver solder joint. I dont think the finish will take to it, and if it does it will probably be a different colour.
I am far from an expert though, so dont be afraid of soldering up some test pieces and seeing how it goes. You are the only person who can say if the result is acceptable or not.

Jack404 would probably be able to tell you from experience which finishes would be likely to give you the best result, you could try PMing him as I think he is keeping a low profile at the moment.

Hope this helps.

 

[bearcar1]

Macca, thank you, I figured that this topic had been chatted about till doomsday but I was probably not using the correct wordings in my initial searches. I'll wait a bit and then if I haven't found my answers I'll PM Jack and 'wake him up"

Jim B.

 

[shred]

You might want to poke around the www.brownells.com web site-- soldering bits back onto guns is fairly popular as is coloring (bluing/blacking/parkerizing/plating) the steel later on. I think they have some mixtures that can blend a silver solder line.