Some black oxide pics

[LoneGunman]

A few members here were interested in finding a way to restore their impact sockets or Snap On industrial finish tools. I'm using black oxide for all of the nuts and bolts and some other parts where wear is a concern during the restoration of my Dayton bandsaw.

You can purchase the black oxide kit from Caswell, as I posted previously, do not get the kit just get the black oxide concentrate. Follow the instructions exactly, the biggest problem with the application of any plating or coating is lack of surface preparation, if the material is not degreased properly you will get a crappy coating, even the oil from your skin can ruin coatings.

Make sure you use distilled water for the black oxide mixture.

You do not need Caswells cleaner, it is overpriced. For small parts brake cleaner, acetone, MEK, will work fine. I use Simple Green in a large container that is heated to 180 degrees, Simple Green works, obviously not as good as solvents but I plate quite a bit and would be using way too much solvent. After the part is clean do not handle the part unless you are wearing gloves. The final rinse should be done with distilled water or water from a reverse osmosis system.

Tie a piece of fishing line to your part, lower it into the black oxide and rotate the part through the water for 1 minute, the parts take a maximum of 3 minutes, anymore and you'll get a sludge buildup on the bottom of your container. If this happens it can be strained using coffee filters.

After the part is removed it may not look a very deep black, it also may have some rust spots. It is extremely important to wash the parts with tap water then immediately submerge in oil. I use a water dispersing oil that I purchase 5 gallons at a time. Caswell's oil is also overpriced. Plain old motor oil will work, even used motor oil will work fine. Remove the parts from the oil after a few minutes soaking and rub down with a red shop towel or blow them off with compressed air (very messy).

The MAC socket I had lying around and looked worn, the other parts in the pics are parts of my bandsaw. The last pic is a pic of the oil draining back into the container, if you do a good amount of black oxide it's worth it.

 

[billymade]

Wow, your results look better then the "stock" finish! I wonder how well it will wear with use? Good job!

 

[LoneGunman]

It should wear just as well which unfortunately is not all that great but if you have a lot impact sockets or industrial finish tools you can do them yourself very inexpensively. Below is what I order from Caswell, you could probably do a couple hundred sockets with this amount. They have a smaller quantity but you still want to have enough to swirl around any parts in the solution.

BOCONC1Q Black Oxide Concentrate (2.5 Gal) 1 Quart $35.48

 

[terabyte]

dude you are the freaking man!!!

thanks a bunch!

 

[justinmc]

Nice! So did you blast that socket before you coated or just use the cleaner on it and then set about coating over whatever was left of the original oxide finish?

 

[LoneGunman]

Nice! So did you blast that socket before you coated or just use the cleaner on it and then set about coating over whatever was left of the original oxide finish?

The socket was not blasted, just cleaned, I wanted to see if it would take without it being blasted. Word of caution though, I can't say I have BO'd many sockets but I have BO'd (parkerized) a whole bunch of firearms, if you are trying to go over old BO you really need to soak the parts, preferably overnight. The BO etches the metal which helps it hold oil, so going over old BO you really have to make sure no oil exists. If you have the capability to blast I would blast.

 

[kartracer55]

Haha gotta watch out. There are going to be quite a few "NEW" tools for sale on ebay...

 

[Bolster]

Outstanding. Thanks for the tutorial. I may have to try this.

 

[LoneGunman]

Outstanding. Thanks for the tutorial. I may have to try this.

LOL you may not feel the same after trying it. I kept looking for things to black oxide after the first time I used it.

 

[LoneGunman]

Forgot to add to make sure you use distilled water or reverse osmosis water for the black oxide mixture. I edited the original post but added it down here in case someone read the first post already.

Tap water is the kiss of death to this stuff

 

[Stuey]

Very impressive tutorial!

 

[GDA]

Excellent thread. We should sticky a tool maintenance DIY thread and this should definitely be one of them that should be linked for future reference.

 

[Bolster]

Agreed, you don't want best threads like this one getting buried in the stack. Let's ask Kartracer if he will open a "How To" or "DIY" chapter in his best threads sticky:

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5024

 

[Stuey]

Agreed, you don't want best threads like this one getting buried in the stack. Let's ask Kartracer if he will open a "How To" or "DIY" chapter in his best threads sticky:

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5024

That thread was last updated two+ years ago, and needs a major upheaval anyways. It might be better off to create a new thread with an updated directory.

 

[eschoendorff]

dude you are the freaking man!!!

thanks a bunch!

No ****, nicely done!!!!

 

[LoneGunman]

Thanks guys but it's not a very well written tutorial, LOL can you tell I didn't do too well in English class?

Anyway, I wrote the tutorial trying to contribute something, I've learned tons of stuff on this site and I was only trying to return some of the favors. The members on this site have helped me out with so many projects, then again, you guys also cost be a bunch of money.

If it does get stickied maybe Stuey or someone should rewrite it so it's more easily followed.

 

[bushhawg73]

Thanks for the cool info.

 

[Bolster]

That thread was last updated two+ years ago, and needs a major upheaval anyways. It might be better off to create a new thread with an updated directory.

SHould I create a new "best threads" directory? Maybe they should be "per year" threads, such as "Best Threads of 2008"?

 

[Blacknwhitepit]

Well done . I have been wanting to do this for a while. Perhaps a project in the next couple of weeks!!!

-BWp

 

[bgott]

What kind of container do you use for the mix? What is the shelf life of the solution after it's mixed?

 

[LoneGunman]

What kind of container do you use for the mix? What is the shelf life of the solution after it's mixed?

The item number I listed is for 2.5 gallons of solution when mixed, a NEW or extremely well cleaned 5 gallon bucket and cover works fine. I do have various polyethylene tanks that I use for firearm barrels, Ill fill them up from the 5 gallon bucket.

I've used a black oxide bath that was over a year old and it still worked fine, the key is to make sure your storage container is air tight. I mark a line at the level of the solution to see if I'm loosing anything to evaporation.

Another addition: I noticed I didn't mention anything about safety, I'm sure you have all heard it before and if you are like me you blow it off. Wear your damn glasses when you are using any chemical in the shop. I've gotten MEK in my eyes three times when cleaning stuff to be plated, I have glasses on the wall at the door and at every machine now and I do wear them.

You will also notice some color come off when you rub the part down, it's not a big deal. Also, if your part is not dark enough a rub down with 0000 steel wool, degrease and another application will darken the color.

Certain types of steel won't get very black no matter what you do but I have never had a problem with any socket or other tool.

It's also important to keep the parts moving at least when you first put them in and also keep them off the bottom of the tank where all the sludge will settle. On parts that don't want to blacken fully that are NOT plated with something, you can also heat the solution to 140 degrees or so. It's hard to do unless you have immersion type heaters or are only doing small parts that only takes a small amount of solution, you can microwave it. Beware, it stinks.

 

[<>Severed<>]

Have you done any nut and bolt type stuff? And if so how does it hold up to being used ie sockets on it and being tightened down? I am rebuilding a truck that sat outside for about 5 years and all the fasteners are rusty also I have been just cleaning with a wire wheel but I know the rust will just come back and I think this may work perfect. dont want to paint them all becuse I know what happens when you put a socket on paint, if it even still fits right.

 

[LoneGunman]

Have you done any nut and bolt type stuff? And if so how does it hold up to being used ie sockets on it and being tightened down? I am rebuilding a truck that sat outside for about 5 years and all the fasteners are rusty also I have been just cleaning with a wire wheel but I know the rust will just come back and I think this may work perfect. dont want to paint them all becuse I know what happens when you put a socket on paint, if it even still fits right.

I just did a bunch tonight, I'm not sure how they will hold up to extensive socket use, I can't imagine it being a problem. The problem you will have is if the nuts and bolts are galvanized, zinc plated or have any other treatment or plating on them, they will not blacken well.

How many nuts and bolts are we talking about? I'll tell you what, if you want send 20 or so or if it's a lot of them send a variety numbering 20 or so, I'll black oxide them for you and send them back. They must be prepped, no rust, wire brushed is fine. Youll get them back in a ziplock bag still covered with oil, you can clean them. It'll cost you the shipping to me and the return shipping. At least this way you don't spend the money on something that may be of no use to you. If you want to do this PM me and I'll give you my info.

If you decide to get the BO solution and do it yourself, put the solution in a 5 gallon bucket, put the nuts and bolts in a small plastic collander with a handle (walmart) and just put the collander in enough to cover the parts and move it around like you were making popcorn on a stove. Two minutes or so is more than enough.

 

[<>Severed<>]

PM sent. Let me know.

 

[Stuey]

You might want to check McMaster Carr to see if they have the fastener sizes you need with a black oxide coating, or in a stainless variety.

Another thing that we can do to make certain threads (such as this one) stand out, is to rate them positively. Up at the beginning of the thread is a "rate thread" control box.

The 5 star rating already shows in the forum's listing. If/when someone wants to link to the most informative threads, they can run a search for say, threads with more than 20 replies, and when the results come up, rated threads will be easier to find. Or they can just sort the threads in a category according to rating, and bam, they all come up.

 

[<>Severed<>]

You might want to check McMaster Carr to see if they have the fastener sizes you need with a black oxide coating, or in a stainless variety.

That was a thought but it is a Mazda truck so all metric and some like the steering ones are realy odd. But I will check in to it for some of the more common ones. thanks

 

[terabyte]

Order 79219 Placed At Caswell Inc.

Thanks LoneGunman I'll post picks of how my ish turns out.

 

[Bolster]

This is one of my favorite GJ posts so I'm bumping it for any of the noobs who haven't seen it yet.

 

[TheToolMan]

I got one of these kits for christmas, Love it!!!!

 

[walrus]

This is one of my favorite GJ posts so I'm bumping it for any of the noobs who haven't seen it yet.

I can see why its a fave, very cool

 

[r6_cannibal]

Great tutorial!

 

[Lump]

Wow, I just bought about 500 old USA-made sockets, plus a whole lot of old wrenches at a garage sale. I don't plan to clean or plate any items which I will sell (too much time/labor), but many of them I plan to keep for myself. Plus I already have quite a few old Mac brand unplated combo wrenches in my tool box, which have faded or even rusted finishes now. I have often contemplated "painting" those old Mac tools with some of those "super paints" on the market now. But this sounds like a MUCH better idea. Thanks so much!

 

[Teken]

I noticed this thread was created way back in the day. Lonegunman, what is the status of all those BO impact sockets?

 

[Lump]

I recently bought some Evaporust, after reading about it on Garage Journal. I really liked the results. So, after reading this thread, I just now placed an order with Caswell for Black Oxide concentrate and some of their "non-oily" sealer.

I took photos of the step-by-step stuff for the Evaporust...so now when the BO stuff arrives I'll go ahead and coat the parts, and post photos of the whole "restoration" process to a bunch of black sockets, wrenches, etc.

THANKS, Lonegunman!!!!!!!!!

 

[bonneyman]

I just scored on some NOS Bonney impacts, and a few have rust spots. Glad I could find this tutorial. Thanks!

 

[alittle1]

Been 3 years, should be due for a bump up to the top.

 

[356vintage]

Just saw this! I've used the system before but not with distilled water.
Thanks for the tip.
I like the heated solution idea. Seems it might seep (soak) into the nuts and bolts after bead blasting a little better.
Will the beadblasting and heated method last longer than the cold solution method?
Anyone have any experiences?

Rich

 

[daparrothead]

I've looked all over the net for info on black oxide coating for impact sockets, I should have know I would find what I was looking for on here. I will be ordering some casewell's BO concentrate tomorrow.

 

[Adam.C]

With respect, I've gotten the same finish using Brownells Oxpho-Blue gun bluing solution. I have the cream version. I heat the socket gently over a candle, and apply the bluing with a clean qtip, rubbing until the qtip turns green. Then I heat some more over a candle. The heat is what helps produce the deep black. Let cool, rub with mineral oil- looks beautiful. And no super degreasing step, no distilled water, and you can touch up parts. But you can also do large things. I redid the finish on a GS80A like this.

 

[daparrothead]

Well I just happen to have some Brownells Oxpho-Blue in the liquid solution. I'm going to give it a try on a socket, I'll post the results and hopefully they are satisfactory.