How Do I Blacken Armor

Gucca · Post by **Gucca** » Fri Apr 06, 2001 8:19 am

One thing I have seen on some of the armorer's pages is blackened armor.
How does one blacken armor? I had seen a couple of sites that stated they blackened the stuff on a Bar-B-Que grill. After it's balckened how durable is the black? I have several suits of butted maille I'd like to blacken & also access to some plate that Im sure the owners would love to blacken.
Anyone want to share the acncient smith's secret ???
Thanx
Gucca

Garridan · Post by **Garridan** » Fri Apr 06, 2001 2:02 pm

Pretty easy, actually: fry it up on a grill like you saw, or use a blowtorch, and spray it/rub it down with some sort of oil... some use WD-40, some use motor oil (used or unused), deer tallow, corn oil...
Do the spraying/rubbing down quickly and evenly, or you'll get a splotchy finish.

PaulyP · Post by **PaulyP** » Fri Apr 06, 2001 5:58 pm

I have used old dirty motor oil and an oxy acetylene torch to blacken helms. Simply pour the oil on and take the torch to it. Then hold your breath and get ready for a lot of smoke. This turned the helm very black, but I never fought in it, so I don't know how permanent it is.
For my crossbow parts, I use Super Blue, which is a gun bluing compound. This stuff turns the metal a deep, dark blue, that really looks black. In fact, to me it looks more black than blue. This is easy to use and it is not messy. But, it is a bit pricey. If you have any gun stores around (I am in the South, so there are plenty) call around to get prices.

Sir Dan · Post by **Sir Dan** » Fri Apr 06, 2001 10:49 pm

What kind of material is the maille? You can put it in something like lemon juice. This works for galvy. This will severly darken, but not blacken, it. You have to be careful not to leave it in too long. It will take off the glavy if you do. This is best done with rings and not whole shirts. There are numerous posts on this on the chainmaille board.
http://www.chainmaille.prohosting.com/cgi-bin/Ultimate.cgi?action=intro&BypassCookie=true

Dwarlock · Post by **Dwarlock** » Sat Apr 07, 2001 6:43 am

There are lots of ways to blacken steel, you can cold blue it. buy a $2-$4 can of gun blueing and spread it on. This is prety durable, but can scratch if you scrape metal things against the armour.

You can Hot blue it, this is much tougher than cold blueing, but requires heating the steel while it is covered in chemicals.
you can parkenize it, (very pricey, but also very durable) this gives you a very flat black almost no reflectability. Parkenizing the last i heard could cost $300 for a small gun, so large pieces like armour would be pricy.

You can paint it. This isn't realy durable but there are some enamels, look for a farm or industrial one at a paint shop, also look for baked enamels. that are prety tough, but because they don't flex and the steel will, they will flake off. Spray paint works also but will also flake off

you can ruberize it, coat it with a ruberized car undercoat, or a truck bead liner, these are tough, and flexable, but also generaly have a very fuzzy look (bumpy) and why cover steel to make it look like plastic?

you can do a low heat oil burning, this basicaly puts a layer of soot on the helmet, not realy durable.

you could powder caot it, powder coating kits generaly run about $200-$300 bucks

you can do a high heat oil blackening, heat the steel to a red or even orange, and coat it in oil (or dip it) This is prety durable, and looks good, but can be scratched.

you could heat it till it develops firescale, (generaly you'd then do an oil treating after) fire scale basicaly looks like hot rolled steel (the black stuff on hot rolled stel is firescale) and is prety durable.

for maille one of the best things I've seen is One Step rust converter from Marhyde, it's a spray that turns steel black, converts orange rust to black rust, and clear coats the steel at the same time. I've used it on plate as well, but before you use it, try a small area. I nicely blackeded several pieces at my place, then tried to blacken a friend's (joaquin's) gauntlets, the alloy of the steel must have been differnt, and they turned the worst color of splotchy purple i'd ever seen.
somehow he avoided killing me that day.

hope one of these methods works for you.

Gucca · Post by **Gucca** » Sat Apr 07, 2001 8:19 am

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Originally posted by Dwarlock:

for maille one of the best things I've seen is One Step rust converter from Marhyde, it's a spray that turns steel black, converts orange rust to black rust, and clear coats the steel at the same time. I've used it on plate as well, but before you use it, try a small area. I nicely blackeded several pieces at my place, then tried to blacken a friend's (joaquin's) gauntlets, the alloy of the steel must have been differnt, and they turned the worst color of splotchy purple i'd ever seen.
somehow he avoided killing me that day.

hope one of these methods works for you.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

OH YEAH!!!!! I remember that stuff I used to use it on my '71 Volkswagen, worked like a charm. I never considered using it on armor. GREAT IDEA!!!! Thanx guys for all your ideas & suggestions!

Gucca

Gundo · Post by **Gundo** » Sat Apr 07, 2001 8:28 am

You can also simply heat the steel with a propane torch, just until the color change is visible inside the flame [then move the flame over a bit], without even bothering with an oil or other treatment.

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The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it emotionally - Flannery O'Connor

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Johannes · Post by **Johannes** » Sat Apr 07, 2001 10:40 am

Anyone want to share the acncient smith's secret ???

Don't know the ancient secrets, but there is another industrial option called black oxide. It is an immersion method very like hot blueing but which uses a chemical compound to treat the surface. A high polish piece comes out a black mirror using it and it is very tough. It can be scratched away, but doesn't turn colour like blueing tends to do when you add moisture and is much more rust resistant. Check machine shops in your area, because it is too caustic and dangerous (rolling boil at 450F) to use at home. We have had great success with this stuff, but it tends to wear off of mail over time because of the constant rubbing.

Johannes
Windrose Armoury
http://kingskeep.com

Trull · Post by **Trull** » Mon Apr 09, 2001 1:39 am

Hmmm.. If you go the smiths route, you could always carburize a helm or other armor. Get an oxy actylene torch, heat up a piece of steel and add beeswax. Very durable coating. I'll bet some of the smiths around here or at a smiths messageboard could tell you more. I forget the specifics of temerature and such. Trull

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ugh dusty...eeewwww slimy....AHH! Moving!

-the things we find under our couch..

Extortionist · Post by **Extortionist** » Tue Apr 10, 2001 12:01 am

Seeing this post interested me, and I quickly threw together and tried to blacken some small pieces of chain.

I tried using a propane torch on a small piece... I heated it until it was a really bright red (I didn't go any hotter because the rock I was torching it on exploded a few times...heh) it turned a really dark grey and has some black spots, but it's soft enough to pull apart with your hands. It looks cool enough, but I wouldn't trust its strength at all. I'll try to upload a picture in a bit...
<a href=http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=1599758&a=12191414&p=46253130>My attempt at blackening armor</a>

I also tried soaking another piece in vinegar... after about 30 minutes with no change, I dumped the vinegar and tried lemon juice... this had no effect, either.

The torching method was obviously more effective... but how do you keep it hard enough?

[This message has been edited by Extortionist (edited 04-10-2001).]

Gundo · Post by **Gundo** » Tue Apr 10, 2001 7:42 am

Don't go all the way to bright red, for one...just until you see color change, then move the flame to allow the surface to oxidize. Then quickly dunk it in water for a rapid cooling, to avoid annealing.

------------------
Gundobad,
Wise Ogre Armory
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Wise Ogre Armory T-shirts & more

The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it emotionally - Flannery O'Connor

A position worth taking, is worth defending.

Extortionist · Post by **Extortionist** » Tue Apr 10, 2001 2:44 pm

Is it better to do one ring at a time or do a whole section at once?

I'm going to try again in a while (I want to line the face of my coif with a different color, and I don't have the money for bronze at the moment... this seems like a good way to go, provided I can do it right...heh). Any other tips?

Gundo · Post by **Gundo** » Tue Apr 10, 2001 9:14 pm

I'd do as large a section at once as I could practicably handle.

------------------
Gundobad,
Wise Ogre Armory
Wise Ogre Pic of the Day
Wise Ogre Armory T-shirts & more

The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it emotionally - Flannery O'Connor

A position worth taking, is worth defending.