doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Flame or Torch case coloring?

There is a lot of shock that takes place during the quench and parts can warp on you if precautions aren't taken. Some guys reduce the risk by quenching at lower temperatures which probably duplicates what a lot of makers did historically. I personally think it is wise to block anything you care about and pay attention to how it hits the water, if it was an action than annealing it would be a good bet for a first step. I've found that the colors are better if the parts are subjected to a drawing operation following the quench, for me this is mostly cosmetic; however, it certainly takes away any excessive brittleness that might occur in thin sections, or, if you are dealing with a high carbon steel to begin with.

Years ago I read about the Ersatz jobs that were done with cold blues that had been dropped in drops of water. Bill Brockway did this on some of his parts with nice results; however, he never presented it as anything but what it was, an imitation color case job. I also remember reading in one of Ralph Walkers books that Tincture of Benzoin would provide the reds and yellows with a low heat source if used properly and was supposed to provide a decent simulation of the color case hardening effect. I tried this process and got less than great results, but it could be what Ed refers to and I'm sure Walker had more success with it than I ever did. In these applications I wouldn't knock the process as I think the temperatures you are dealing with are safe, at least as safe as any Birchwood Casey hot brown or Belgium Blue ever was. However, I think at best it resembles cyanide case colors which might suite a Stevens restoration more than the other processes, certainly it doesn't have the look of a properly done, traditional bone and charcoal job. This would be the best case scenario, worst case, as has been mentioned, would be that whoever takes a torch to the receiver is drawing the temper way past the point that would be permissible to do without substantially reducing the hardness. I wouldn't want to shoot one of those guns anymore than I would want a botched genuine bone and charcoal hardened one, I would not, however, have any objection to the latter process when performed by someone who knows what they are doing.

Alex Johnson