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Doug White
 
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Default STAINLESS STEEL Blueing (or blackening)

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In article , my_2¢ wrote:
Does anyone know how to "blue" or blacken stainless steel? I know that
from a cold chemical standpoint a mixture of Selenium Dioxides and
Copper Sulfate is the standard "cold blue" formula for carbon
steel....but how does one darken stainless? With chromium in the steel
the copper method seems useless and an acid preferable....has anyone
used chemical methods in stainless with success? What works?


I used to make my own printed circuit boards at home using ferric
chloride as the etchant. I have a pair of polished stainless steel
hemostats that I used to fish parts out. They are still a dark matte
grey after 20 years. I don't know if it was the ferric chloride or the
copper in solution or what, but something definitely stained the
stainless. The resulting finish is also pretty durable.

Doug White