doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Iron, Steel & Alloy Staining

I suspect our confusion (other than the fumes and Corrosive Sublimate ) come from http://heuse.spahistoire.info/chinhotcanondamas.html

The illustrations clearly show the 'stars' to be black



Carried on in Sachse's "Damascus Steel"



When the finished product clearly has WHITE stars

W. W. Greener in "The Gun and It's Development" 1907 doesn't really address the contrast issue, and discusses both pattern welded and fluid steel browning
http://books.google.com/books?id=3HMCAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA270&source

The bronzed appearance of the finished gun barrel is obtained by a process of rusting the barrels, the rust being cultivated, then stopped; the complete oxidation of the surface renders the barrels less liable to rust by natural means.
The beautiful figure of the fine Damascus and laminated steel twist barrels is not surface-deep only; the figure runs completely through the barrel, as will be made clear by referring to the description of the process of making the iron for, and the methods of welding, the barrels. Consequently, it is impossible to get by browning any finer or more beautiful figure than is already in the barrel; it is possible, by inferior browning, to hide that figure, or so obscure it that recognition is barely possible. That fine gloss, seemingly the effect of lacquer or copal varnish, is nothing more than the highly-burnished surface of the barrel, which before browning was as highly polished as a silver mirror.
The colours which can be obtained vary from a light yellowish-brown, through various red-browns, to a deep Vandyck-brown. A rich plum brown is obtained if time is taken and a little black brimstone, say 1/4 oz., added to the above mixture. Spirits of nitre and nitric ether are sometimes used in lieu of spirits of wine.
The black-and-white brown may be obtained by using much diluted mixture, and touching up the barrel before boiling by sponging with water in which a little muriate of steel has been stirred. The colours can be heightened also by plunging the barrels in cold water immediately they are taken from the boiling trough. In all fine-figured barrels the coating of rust is necessarily very thin, or the figure could not be distinguished. This coating of brown soon wears off. The only remedy is to have a greater body of brown, hiding the figure, or to use the black-brown, as in military rifle barrels. This last brown is much more durable, and effectually protects the barrels from rusting by salt air, hence is much used on ducking, punt, and wild-fowling guns.
Steel shot barrels, when black-browned, show no tendency to rust, however much exposed to atmospheric changes. The black-brown is obtained in a shorter time, and a much stronger mixture may be used�as, for instance: 1 1/2 oz. spirits of wine; 1 1/2 oz. tincture of iron; 1 1/2 oz. corrosive sublimate; 1 1/2 oz. sweet spirits of nitre; 1 oz. sulphate of copper; 3/4 oz. strong nitric acid; 1 quart of water.
Before re-browning any figured barrel it is essential that the old brown be effectually removed. The barrel must be well polished again before re-browning, if that fine sheen so much desired is required; otherwise, simply rubbing off the brown with emery cloth, with fine emery in water, or by sponging the barrel with strong vinegar, will answer the purpose.

Another example from a photomicrograph as part of the metallurgical study METL performed on the burst Remington barrel. 20X 3% Nitrol etched steel is grey-black, iron silver-white; at least that is what the gin-u-wine metallurgist told me

Finally, I'm still looking for the specific quote, but Dr Gaddy said so

The color of the barrels after etching CAN be manipulated by the browning solution and also the alloys in the metals. Steel with a manganese content (10XX Carbon Steel) will typically etch black. Nickel will produce silver, and chromium gray. And from the limited composition analysis study it appears at least by the 1890s quality steel barrels were at least 1020 advancing to 1030 & 1040 Carbon steel, sometimes rephosphorized.

Drew, in the first post there appears to be three materials in "Carried on in Sachse's "Damascus Steel"
Is that your take ?

I think this comment may be significant. It looks like for differences in color to appear, the barrel surface needs to start off uniform. It's been mentioned that some of the barrel finishes don't just stain or color a component, but physically alter the surface roughness, for lack of a better term, differently for the different components.

While it may not be applicable at all, if you'd like to look at knife making examples, maybe look at wrought iron san mai. It's just a forge welded external layer of wrought laminated on the sides of a blade. Anyway, the wrought, not the modern carbon steel core/cutting edge, would likely be of the era from around when some of these barrels were made. On many of them, you can see how differently the wrought iron finishes based on differing grit of finish from rough forged to high polish on the same piece.

I think a meaningful difference could be that the stringy look of wrought iron that can show, might be significantly reduced by the heavy drawing process that it looks like the barrel makers did on most every step of the way. Always interesting stuff Doc Drew, and I appreciate your historical research.

Amazing they had this figured out by the 1600s. Four Iron Crolle Miquelet barrel reported to have been found during excavation of a dump site in Germany



BTW: the Hohokam decorated shells by etching them with citrus juices.

"From Art To Science. Seventy-Two Objects Illustrating the Nature of Discovery" Cyril Stanley Smith
p. 15
The etching of surfaces by the application of corrosive substances to produce decorative effects, a deliberate mode of �weathering,� was practiced as long ago as the third millennium B.C. in India...Perfected in the armorer�s art in Europe, the technique of etching was more pacifically applied by the American Indians of the Hohokam culture, who used acid fruit juices stopped by natural resins to decorate seashells.

Interesting stuff
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1me32b1AZQqr361CVtb-jeAoK1hDO2ZT6QR1fXQkjY0c/edit

The Journal of the Iron and Steel Institute
London, 1889
http://books.google.com/books?id=6xoAAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA353&dq=
Damascus Steel p. 353
According to Demmin, the treatment of steel known as "damaskeening" is no longer practised at Damascus. The metal used is a cast steel, in which a strongly marked figuration is produced by the presence of crystallised graphite, which is rendered evident by the corrosive action of acids. In 1804 Clouth imitated the oriental Damascus steel, and Stodart and Faraday considerably improved the process of manufacture. At the present time artificial polished Damascus steel is largely made in France, whence it is exported to the East. It is also made for gun barrels at Liege, and for swords at Solingen and Passau. There are black, brown, and yellow damaskeenings, which are produced in the following manner: Several bars of steel of different hardness, or of iron, cast steel, and steel, are welded together, hardened, and formed into blades. They are then treated with acids, where by the harder portions acquire a dark colour, whilst the softer portions remain bright.
The figurations appear wavy, striped, or mosaic-like, according to the manner in which the various bars were hammered together. The finest and most expensive variety is said to be the Liege Renard (possibly Bernard) damaskeening, which is formed of three bars welded together, each of which consists of seventy-two iron and seventy-two steel wires. The gun barrel is formed by smithing this compound bar, which is wound round an iron cylinder placed over a mandril. When finished, the iron cylinder is drilled out.

This should be confirmation of hardness = darkness FOR NON-ALLOY steel

Rockwell Hardness
Grey Cast Iron - 63
Wrought Iron - 65
AISI 1020 - 68
AISI 1030 - 80
AISI 1040 - 93

Brinell
Grey Cast Iron - 100
Wrought Iron
1020 - 121
1030 - 149
1040 - 201