"dan" wrote in message
...
I remember reading some where(RCM?) that you can make a black surface
finish on hot steel by applying oil. Anyone know what kind of oil to
use. I'm guessing it is like seasoning a cast iron frying pan.


--

Dan H.


Old-timey blacksmiths used to "blacken" iron by heating it to about dull red
and quenching it in HORSE MANURE. Then, wiping it with oil of some sort.

Yep, the softer it (the manure) was, the better. The thought then was that
the carbon that was added to the surface made it black. Blacksmith's shops
smelled that way for a reason !

The most modern method for it is used motor oil, natural, not synthetic.
Back in the days before there were so many "non-petroleum additives" to the
gasoline and the oil, it worked better.

But it still works. Hardens (depending somewhat upon the alloy) and
blackens at the same time.

Flash