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Q&As since 1989


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Need to change the color of nickel and steel without coatings

Is there any process that can turn nickel and steel into various colors without paints or coatings?

Billy Tucker
researcher - Livermore, California
2003

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The literal answer is "no" because nickel and steel are the color they are, and anything that would change the color of the surface is a coating. But there are conversion coatings that are inorganic and are very thin that you might not really want to exclude, such as black oxide processes for iron and cyanide-based blackening agents for nickel.

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
2003

Cut us some slack. What is the proposed part to be used for.Examples of color change-heat treat it in a dirty furnace with an oxygen rich environment. Well that will not work as the blue/yellow oxide is a coating. Two companies advertise at this site for highly special anodization of stainless steel, but wait that is a coating also. Well so is a paint or a dye or anything else that will let it remain the original metal, IS going to be a coating.

James Watts
- Navarre, Florida
2003

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2003

I've heard about a process called oxide layering for making stainless steel different colors, my questions are: 1)can it be done to .008 ga stainless steel wire? 2)if so how much of a change the gauge? I know different colors require different layers just a round about figure of the gauge change is what I really like to know. 3)does the color last as far as rubbing off? 4)what companies can I contact that does this process? any in California it doesn't matter where really.

Last of all if all of this is possible, is it very costly? I'm talking thousands feet of wire. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

THANK YOU!

Billy Tucker
personal research - Livermore, California

The simplest way to change the color of steel is to heat it. it changes from its usual dull silver to a light gold then darker gold to a red, then iridescent blue/purple, to dull blue, and finally to an flat grey. there are a some restrictions however... to see any effect the steel must be free of surface scale and rust or a patina of any sort. a once over with 100 grit sandpaper is the minimum, I'd say. Also, this will not work with galvanized steel. I'm no chemist but heating galvanized steel gives off nasty smoke which is most likely bad for ones health (does anyone know why or what it is?). the range of colors is limited but they become part of the metal itself.

James Blake
- Petaluma, California
February 11, 2010