That manky looking wrench...

[ZRX61]

.. that was in the toolbox I rescued last week just got the mapp gas/oil treatement...

Before, 2nd from top:

After a run through the blasting cabinet..

After heat/oil...

Waiting for it to cool down to finish it so it ends up like the one at the top of the first pic..



& that Penens wrench..

 

[TheGrooveking]

So you oil them up and cook them in the grill?

TheGrooveking

 

[ZRX61]

LOL! I heat it with the mapp gas torch, thats just where I put it down to cool off

 

[DavidB]

So what's going on here? Oiling it and then heating to get the color change?

 

[cegreen]

So is this technique based on the same process that turns new, charcoal gray cast-iron frying pans into jet black pans after you've cooked fried chicken in them for a couple of years?

I've always wondered about that.

 

[mikevango]

Yea. What are you trying to accomplish? Industrial finish?

 

[ZRX61]

It's actually a primitive version of case hardening. I was shown how to do it in HS when we made our own tools in metal shop. I just like the finish.

 

[DavidB]

It's actually a primitive version of case hardening. I was shown how to do it in HS when we made our own tools in metal shop. I just like the finish.

And you'll be showing us too right?

 

[ZRX61]

And now it matches it's bigger brother

 

[ZRX61]

And you'll be showing us too right?

What? How to do it?

Ya just grab the tool with some visegrips, heat it up, plunge into oil, heat up, plunge into oil, repeat until it looks good.

It can be a bit messy with flaming oil flying off the tool.. & smoky.. so don't do this in the kitchen...

Probably won't see much color change for the first few cycles, but stick with it.

Just use some old junk tool to try it with.. or just a piece of steel

 

[DavidB]

Ah simple enough. It turned out pretty well. I'll have to try it sometime.

 

[ZRX61]

Don't be worried if it looks a bit *mottled* black/brown looking. It may even look a bit *rainbowy* in places. Look at the pic of it resting on the grill, it looks pretty mottled in that pic.
After it's cooled off just give it a polish with a soft cloth & Pledge. This will improve the look quite a bit. After the first attempt you'l get a feeling for how far to go with the dipping/heating.
Both those wrenches in the pic look completely black, but have a couple of dark brown patches.

 

[ZRX61]

One thing that is important is a uniform matt finish before you start. That's why I give em a quick going over with glass bead.
I tried it on some old 50c junk wrench a while back & even after glassbeading the finish looked patchy at best. That shows through after the heat/oil treatment.