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Caustic black oxide without tank immersion - could this work?

Q. I have a friend who is a sculptor. She is working on this magnificent sculpture of a horse, made out of mild steel rods, welded together.

I was wondering; could she possibly have luck putting a black oxide coat on it by painting it with a solution of NaOH/NaNO3, and heating gently with a torch? I do not expect that this would produce the kind of uniform coat expected in a job shop production piece. In an art work this might not even be desirable.

Has anyone ever tried something like this?

Dave Wichern
Consultant - The Bronx, New York
November 29, 2016

November 2016

adv.

A. Hi Dave. With millions of firearms black oxided and then touched up with cold blackening solutions, I think we'd have heard of it if it was practical to do hot black oxide without immersion. So I'd suggest experimenting with cold blackening.

Regards,

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