Can I rust blue, kasenite harden screw heads?

[Rolf]

I want to use kasenite to harden the scews + trigger on a pistol. Would it be possible to rust blue the screw heads afterwords, or will this remove the casehardening?

Best regards

Rolfkt

[Dave B]

Rolfkt,
You can do it with out any problems. The rusting may be a little slower due to the tendency for the suface to resist rusting so I have heard. You would wipe off the existing color with naval gelly or polish them after hardening with 320 grt sand paper and rust them up. I always run my screws into a section of hard wood to keep them all where I don't drop or loose them (My old shop had gaps in the floor boards just like Hershel's). If your only running one project at a time its not as critical but when doing two at the same time it gets to be a problem.

[Acer Saccharum]

If I can rust blue a frizzen it should work for hardened screws. I have heard of glass bead blasting the metal for more 'bite' as Dave says. But that gives a frosty finish.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

You only need to polish off the oxides left by the case hardening compound...  then rust blue away.