Need help with finishes on C96

[alvin]

Originally Posted by DonVoigt

Alvin,
can you explain exactly what you bought as "nitre" blue salt and how it is to be used?

I have never done things like this before. From youtube.com video, midwayusa showed how -- the nitre blue salt is a pink color solid stuff, he put the salt into a pan and "cook" it. The salt melted. Then, he dipped small parts into the melted salt, the metal color changed, then he took it out. That's it.

He did not explain the theory. Here is my guess -- that salt melts around 600F. So it's just temperature control media. This is obviously more controllable than using a torch to create fire blue on small parts -- using torch, you have no control on temperature, using this type of salt, it's much easier to control, and the metal is heated much more uniformly. Unlike regular bluing process, I don't think there is a chemical reaction between the nitre salt and metal. Just a guess.

Here is the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vF3zKiUIkY