Aging steel

[Puzzledprofessor]

I read somewhere here on the fourm in the past few days that bleach was a good agent to age steel. I am a newbe with a newbe's questions, but could some of you share you techniques for using bleach to age steel? I did a test tonight by standing a piece of polished steel in a half an inch of undiluted bleach for two hours. The portion that was submurged under the bleach was unchanged. The area at the " waterline" was corroded, but the area above the level of the bleach had a really nice soft gray patina. Am I on the right track? Do you folks fume you steel parts to age them? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Vance

[Ed Wenger]

Welcome to the forum...  Do a search on aging steel, I'm sure you'll get some good info.

To answer your question, the part should first be cold blued, then submerged in the Clorox bleach.  Monitor it carefully, because you'll get a much faster reaction than what you described.  Use course steel wool and naval (sp?) jelly to clean.

Another method is to brown the part with Laurel Mountain Forge browning solution, and simply let the solution react longer, i. e., rust longer.  You can clean with a soft wire brush.


          Ed

[Lucky R A]

Prof,
       To do the process involves an investment in equipment.  First, you will need a tank, preferably heavy aluminum.  The tank should be a minimum of 48" long to do most barrels.   You will need a 20 gal. propane tank and a burner 4" long constructed from black iron pipe.  The pipe burner will need an air regulator to control the mixture to get the hottest and most efficient flame.  You will need a mixture of about 3 gallons of water and 1/2 gal of Clorox bleach--inexpensive brands do not work as well.   
        Your barrel and steel parts that you wish to age should be cleaned.  I polish down to 180 grit.
The barrel should be should be securely plugged both at the muzzle and the vent.  Small parts can be put in a basket that will fit your tank or wired together.   After the parts to be aged are submerged in the water bring it to a boil and add 1/2 gal of bleach.   (CAUTION---this should only be done outdoors, and make every effort to stay upwind of fumes--they are dangerous)  You can keep track of the aging process by occasionally lifting the parts from the solution.  I find that 20 minutes will produce a pleasing result.  The first time you do it will scare the $#*! out of you, as your parts will be red rusty and look like they have been in the ground for a year.  Hang in there, and go at least 15-20 minutes as things are not as bad as they look.  After the required time remove your parts from the boiling solution and submerge them in a bucket of cold water.   Wearing heavy rubber gloves scrub down the parts with a Scotch Brite pad.  I like to clean them down to nearly bare metal again.  You will notice that the surface of the steel is now mildly etched to pitted depending on how long you left it in the solution.   The metal parts should be dried.  You may get some flash rust that will again need to be cleaned.  The parts are then coated with B.C. Super Blue, and then rubbed back in the areas of greater wear leaving anything from a dark almost black to a light grey coating.  I then oil my parts with Mobil # 1 synthetic oil and hang by the wood stove for a while take in any oil that they will.  The parts can then be wiped down and assembled.   
      Again this is not something you should do in your kitchen or indoors, the fumes are extremely dangerous..
All the best    Ron

[bob in the woods]

Just an opinion, but perhaps worth considering.  To me, clorox"d barrels look like clorox'd barrels. Using other methods more closely approximates the look of an " aged" barrel. 

[Pete G.]

I agree with Bob. A barrel boiled in bleach has the distinctive look of a barrel boiled in bleach. A much better alternative is to brown the barrel, then lightly sand off most of the browning with a 220 grit. After that, apply cold blue and then rub it back with steel wool.

[Mark Elliott]

I am not a fan of bleach either.   I use cold blue and tincture of iodine (must be tincture), but applied while the other is still wet.   The tincture of iodine is an oxidizer.    This just rusts the metal really fast with a black oxide undertone.   You end up with a nice gunmetal gray.   I don't usually let the rusting go to pitting.   

[Puzzledprofessor]

Wow, thanks to all for the really great ideas and for taking the time to type out the detailed instructions. I can't wait to do some testing

[Lucky R A]

Pete and Bob, 
     You kind of put me in mind of the guy who said "All Indians walk backward. at least the one I saw did."   Using Clorox in the way I do is highly controllable process.  I can get everything from discoloration to a mild etch like browning being rubbed back to a deep pitting like is sometimes used on hand forged knives and hawks by some makers.   There is no distinctive look, as the result can be so varied and controlled.   Just sayin!

[Pete G.]

Don't know as I've ever seen an Indian walk backwards, but I have seen a lot of bleached barrels.

[oakridge]

I agree with Ron. It can be done right when properly controlled. "Controlled" is the key word here. However, a lot of people just throw it in the bleach and hope for the best. It comes out with that heavily etched look that just screams "Clorox". I've seen it on guns, hawks and knives, and it looks like s#&t.