Bluing 12L14 Steel

[Kermit]

Peanut Oil in a 500 degree oven until the smoke stops plus thirty minutes will give you a black coating that is much harder than any of the other 'cooking' oils I know of.

It is a recognized method of seasoning black iron skillets and I use it to keep my large barbeque smoker from rusting away on the outside. I apply it every time I use it(well, almost everytime )

kermit

 

[shred]

I've got a little programmable kiln, but given how close the temperatures are, you'd need really fine hysteresis control to hit a particular color-- ovens tend to cycle the heater on and off such that there's considerable variation in the actual temperature, to end up averaging about what the dial says.. The colors in the charts are listed in ten degree steps with a +/- 5 degree error.

When the weather cools down I'll give it a try.

 

[gmac]

I'll break out an old toaster oven (with a glass door so I can watch the colors develop) and see what happens. If that's not enough my small tabletop BBQ becomes the next test. Thanks for the effort Gail - much appreciated. Thanks to all actually.

Regards
Garry

 

[vlmarshall]

I blackened another of my wheelsets today. No beadblasting, just degreasing, and they came out looking just like that Stirling heater cap. Thanks, everyone.

 

[GailInNM]

Thanks for the update Vernon.
We are all learning together.
Glad it's working for you.
Gail in NM,USA

 

[vlmarshall]

 

[shred]

FWIW, the base seen here is 12L14 after a quick wipe with some Dicropan T4 gun-blue touch-up creme from Brownells.