[TheForge] A different needle question

[Bruce .]

Umm, yes.  A bit of organic matter falls in and my apparatus (and me)
disappear with only a small mushroom cloud left behind.
Turns out lye has about the right melting point too, and I don't plan to
use that either!

Bruce
NJ


On Tue, Oct 22, 2013 at 2:57 PM, Mike Spencer <mspencer at tallships.ca> wrote:

>
> Bruce wrote:
>
> > A tempering operation (to purple or blue, probably) is quite easy on
> > a chisel, but even SEEING the colors on a needle is a challenge.
> > For one thing, there's no good surface to polish.
> >
> > I've tried a couple methods, all without success -- my toaster over
> > doesn't get hot enough, like, maybe 450 F, despite what the dial
> > says.  (520 F = purple, 540 F = blue, 590 F = peacock, according to
> > one reference.)
>
> Molten sodium nitrate (MP 306C  582.8F) or potassium nitrate (MP 334C
> 633.2F) or a mixture of them.
>
> I recall reading a long time ago that some person or company used a
> molten KNO3/NaNO3 mixture to create an ornamental blue patina [1] on fancy
> dress spurs. [2] Temp seems about right for what you're doing.
>
> With your background, I don't suppose I need to mention the potential
> risk of dropping random organic material into molten nitrates. :-)
>
>
> - Mike
>
>
> [1] Not to be confused with "hot bluing" in a water solution of
>     potassium nitrate and sodium hydroxide.
>
> [2] Does anyone here wear spurs with formal wear?  1st Cav officers at
>     the innaugural ball? Senior RCMP officers at a coronation? Or
>     maybe just drugstore cowboys with hand-made $1000 boots?  Or kinky
>     people who...um, not going there.
>
>
> --
> Michael Spencer                  Nova Scotia, Canada       .~.
>                                                            /V\
> mspencer at tallships.ca                                     /( )\
> http://home.tallships.ca/mspencer/                        ^^-^^
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