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DIY Black Oxide

any recommendations ?
The local guy went out of business
Saw this on Amazon,,,any comments ?

Amazon.com: Black Oxide Kit - 1.25 Gal: Automotive

Several PM threads exist on various sources - Caswell here included - direct DIY approaches, results - or lack of. Caswell has published a good deal of plating info. Their kits? Maybe not as good as the brochures?

Never much liked Black Oxide. Should be a dirt-simple process, but too damned many reports of problems and too much fiddling to match an experienced shop when going DIY.

Have you looked at Parkerizing? Gun-bunny crowd have been pretty well served with Nickel-enhanced kits that seem to deliver more predictable results for the effort when run in small batches.

2CW
 
We used to do a lot of black oxide, old school diy mix of sodium hydroxide and ammonium nitrate, I forget ratio, keep the kids away, wear protective clothing, eye protection, respirator, do it AT YOUR OWN RISK.
 
We used to do a lot of black oxide, old school diy mix of sodium hydroxide and ammonium nitrate, I forget ratio, keep the kids away, wear protective clothing, eye protection, respirator, do it AT YOUR OWN RISK.

ISTR those who used that DIY aproach DID get consistently better results than the store-bought "kits" delivered.

OTOH most any "repeat business" kit maker will have their kit process chemistry toned-down for lower safety hazard exposure. Or even use very DIFFERENT chemistry...
 
Our experience with kits seemed to show that the age of the kit was important and/or the number of parts you put through one solution. It may be that true DIY mixing up the reagents is good because you have a completely fresh batch. We have had success with fresh Caswell kits though.
 
Which product did you go with?

Ultra blak-400 in a 5 gallon bucket.

The only other thing you need is a thermometer that reads up to 285 F. Great stuff if you want to remove your finger prints. Wear gloves and goggles. Last time I used the solution it splashed on my thumb and I didn't rinse it off immediately. Over the next two weeks a 3/8" diameter hole formed on the tip of my thumb and the skin came off. Then the sense of feeling was reduced there. After two years it is almost back to normal.
 
First off,there is only one guy doing Black Oxide commercially in Idaho.A phone call a few days ago I got his wife,who informed me that "he" was just in the hospital for a week and also just underwent Dialysis.I did not ask and she did not offer more on what exactly he has going on.She suggested I call back in a week.
Now I really like this guy,and he is fast and fair for price and he is close,,so no shipping.
But
Gotta get the job completed,and Black Oxide on a few of the parts is required to complete the assemblies.

So after time spent here and other places,I get the the feeling the DIY kits offered to "us" mere stupid regular people is not worth a fuk,,,all in all

Some say they have good results with this product,but best if you scrub or polish between coats,,and coat 3 times,,,,??????well that's nice
Some also say that the results are not always "Black" sometimes a dull gray or a shade of brown,,,well that's nice
Thing is,I make parts by machining,not by fiddle fucking,,,soooo,

Off to he Internet "Googshit" and see about a new "guy"
Well to my surprise,it is not quite that easy folks
I should mention I came to the conclusion I need a professional commercial solution "hot Black Oxide" with the the nasty chemicals that really work without a doubt and I don't lose 2 or 3 days of work stroking a stupid piece of metal in submission.

Well to end this story quick,,after many phone calls and lot's of surfing,,,the market really sucks in the Northwest
but
I finally found a guy,who I did not have to inquire with an e-mail or leave a message on an obnoxious answering machine,,,and actually the secretary put me thru with the owner of the company right away
And
A small business like me can actually do business without getting Raped for a relatively small order.And the lead time is only 3 to 5 days,,,,
of course there is mailing the package both ways which is extra cost and time consumed for mailing
but,I think I found a guy.
So anybody around the area of boise plus 300 or 400 miles,,,check these folks out
Black Oxide LLC - color development in metal.


 
Some of us just heat it to a black heat and chuck it in old engine oil, results generally pretty good and it works well so long as the part does not need or has had a heat treatment.
 
The sodium hydroxide and ammonium nitrate does not work well on cast steel. I worked with an armourer who added cyanide to the mix. He kept sodium thiosulphate(black&white fixer) as an antidote on hand.
 
We used to do a lot of black oxide, old school diy mix of sodium hydroxide and ammonium nitrate, I forget ratio, keep the kids away, wear protective clothing, eye protection, respirator, do it AT YOUR OWN RISK.

This is a fairly standard process call bluing. Lots of guns are blued
 
Ammonium nitrate is a tad harder to get these days...... Homeland security and all that.
 
Yeah i could just imagine the phone call, theres nothing to worry about officer i just want to put in a tank made out of a old bit of pipe and heat it to 150+ celcius till it turns into a molten salt bath!
 








 
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