Thread: Blackening - Not a kitchen cookup

AB,

Those parts look pretty good, how resistant to abrasion is the surface coating?

For $182, precisely what did you get? Value for money?

Ken

Hi Bob,
I'm really pleased that the process worked for you, It would have been a dissapointment for me if it had not worked as I said. I have no idea what I paid for mine as it would have been bought in about 2000. It probably helped that I bought locally in Adelaide & picked up myself. All I really bought was 3 bottles of chemicals of about 1.5 litres each. Probably no more than $80.00 or so. BUT that was 10 years ago & no postage.

Hi NEKSMERJ,
It's not a coating but changes the colour of the metal. It's probably only microns deep so would not stand up to an abrasive situation. For dial indicator clamps & other non abrasive applications it would last forever. (almost anyway) All my quick change tool holders were made in about 2001 & are all still black except for the parting off holder which is starting to wear away in places, but it does get an awful lot of handling.
Ian.

Ken,

The smallest kit is comprised of the following -

2 litres of Degreaser - 1 part mixed with 1 part water.

1/2 litre of Conditioner - 1 part mixed with 9 parts water.

1 litre of Blackener - 1 part mixed with 3 parts water.

1 litre of Soluble Oil Based Dewatering Solution -1 part mixed with 4 parts water.

When mixed the soutions can be stored indefinitely ( supposedly). I have only mixed up a small quantity of each which I have placed in lidded buckets. I don't plan on blackening any large items, but with a maximum 4 litres of mixed blackening solution, I reckon I could blacken anything I could make with the machines at my disposal.

According to the Blackfast website, their product is used by Sandvik and Kennametal, amongst others, to blacken their tooling.

I had to make a pair of slotted countersunk M4 x 8mm screws yesterday and guess what, I blackened them with a gas torch and sump oil. Took about 3 minutes and I didn't have to hump the chemistry set back into the kitchen.

Have you got that AR up and running?

Bob.

Hi AB,

Thanks for heads up on the blackening solution, now I know where I can send my small parts! Perth.

Struth, you've got a good memory, the Hercus 9" is coming along nicely. I have to attend hospital 3 days a week, so that eats into my time. The weather has also been a PIA, rain, wind, and freezing temperatures. Summer is approaching, and with the help of a good mechanically minded friend, we will rip in and finish the old "new" girl off.

My big problem is that it will be too good to use. What's been done so far is in showroom nick.

Love Perth, it's a great city,

Ken

Hello again Ken,

In answer to your question, the Blackfast kit is a lot more expensive than the 25 dollars I spent on Ranex ( phosphoric acid ) and a kilo of manganese dioxide.

I achieved good results when I combined the stove top immersion of the cast iron mill stops (see "Parkerizing" post) in the toxic soup and the subsequent heating and quenching of the stops in sump oil. A messy and potentially dangerous procedure and one that I had trouble replicating.

The Blackfast process is straightforward, somewhat safer ( the blackener contains Selenium ) and repeatable. For me, it's good value.

Bob.

Hey Ken,

I can recall, several years ago, seeing a post by you in the Southbend section of PM where you had some photos of the countershaft support off the 9, and thinking "this bastard's doing a good job!" I look forward to seeing the completed machine.

AB