Steel Grenade weathering tip

I was able to acheive a great result thoday,but sitting my frag body in my gas fireplace for about 20 mins. It had a nice dark black dust all over it. I rinsed it in cold water lightly just to cool it off and stuck it in the reezer for 15 mins. When I took it off and burshed it off under cold water, it remained very dark...nearly black. I love that it has the darkness that I desire without looking like paint. It is very similar in appearance to bluing. It was easy as pie.. Now to weather the windvane. I couldn't be happier as I was nervous about trying to weahter it myself. I will post some pics later.

Be careful, you're case hardening it.

Do it too much and the steel will become REALLY brittle.

Thanks James. I'm done with it now. Also, I didn't leave it on the fire logs that long...just pretty much kissed it with the flames over and over. Nope..it's done now. Thanks! I would've been heartbroken to have messed it up.

Ok. today is a good day. I not only weathered my russrep steel grenade to my exactly liking,but my balance pipe replica just got back from Boba Debt today. He did a great job! I couldn't be happier with these parts.

I just dropped the brass parts in some Easy Off and they should darken nicely... Its all coming together.

Last pice of the puzzle is to get my black oxide booster from russ...here's hoping it ships this week.

Feedback is welcome!!! Remember the frag was weathered from start to finish in one hour using fire and water and a freezer.

You can round off some of the sharp edges with a ball peen hammer.

FB

Oh...is that what people mean by rubbing with a hammer? I see. I can do that. How does the color look?

I'm guessing if you bang it with a hammer, the clean steel is gonna show again, no?

I like the color. Can you take a pic of it with outdoor lighting in direct sun? It really lets you see the color much better.

FB

James Kenobi 1138 said:

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Be careful, you're case hardening it.

Do it too much and the steel will become REALLY brittle.

Actually it depends on the temperature and time at which he's doing this. When it comes to heat treatment of steels it can go either way, you could be greatly increasing the hardness through phase transformation or decreasing the hardness by inducing grain growth. The important thing to do in this kind of instance is to make sure that after you heat it in an oven you [COLOR="Red"]don't air or water quench it[/COLOR]. My recommendation would be to [COLOR="Lime"]furnace/oven cool it[/COLOR] by just letting it sit in the oven long enough to return to room temperature, maybe crack the oven 1 or 2 cm. This will ensure that any heat treatment effects on mechanical properties will be minimized.


(Mechanical Engineer)

I like the colour

I can take more pics tomorrow outside. As for the heating and cooling. I didn't damage it as far as I know and I'm done. The heat wasn't extreme at all...just kissed it with flames. Anyway, this is the color I always thought it should be so no need to do it again.

Dewy said:

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Actually it depends on the temperature and time at which he's doing this. When it comes to heat treatment of steels it can go either way, you could be greatly increasing the hardness through phase transformation or decreasing the hardness by inducing grain growth. The important thing to do in this kind of instance is to make sure that after you heat it in an oven you [COLOR=red]don't air or water quench it[/COLOR]. My recommendation would be to [COLOR=lime]furnace/oven cool it[/COLOR] by just letting it sit in the oven long enough to return to room temperature, maybe crack the oven 1 or 2 cm. This will ensure that any heat treatment effects on mechanical properties will be minimized.

(Mechanical Engineer)

It also depends on the type of steel; more than likely this is a mild steel with a low carbon content. For phase transformation or grain growth to occur, the entire part would have to be heated to and maintained at a temperature approximately twice what his gas fireplace could manage. Based on his description of the treatment he gave it the exposed surfaces may have been slightly hardened, but I'd doubt it was heated long enough for the entire part to have undergone any serious metallurgical transformation. With regards to furnace/oven cooling, the entire part would have to be heated to the same temperature it was heated to in the gas fireplace (or slightly higher), maintained at that temperature ±10[FONT=Times New Roman][FONT=Verdana]°F for a couple of hours, and then be allowed to cool at the same rate as the closed furnace/oven.[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][FONT=Verdana][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][FONT=Verdana]Since this is a prop item and will likely see nothing more than a little rough handling in it's lifetime, I don't think his treatment will have any adverse effects considering it's intended use. Still, I wouldn't hit it with a hammer...[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][FONT=Verdana][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][FONT=Verdana](former heat treater)[/FONT][/FONT]

Zombie_61 said:

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It also depends on the type of steel; more than likely this is a mild steel with a low carbon content. For phase transformation or grain growth to occur, the entire part would have to be heated to and maintained at a temperature approximately twice what his gas fireplace could manage. Based on his description of the treatment he gave it the exposed surfaces may have been slightly hardened, but I'd doubt it was heated long enough for the entire part to have undergone any serious metallurgical transformation. With regards to furnace/oven cooling, the entire part would have to be heated to the same temperature it was heated to in the gas fireplace (or slightly higher), maintained at that temperature ±10[FONT=Times New Roman][FONT=Verdana]°F for a couple of hours, and then be allowed to cool at the same rate as the closed furnace/oven.[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][FONT=Verdana][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][FONT=Verdana]Since this is a prop item and will likely see nothing more than a little rough handling in it's lifetime, I don't think his treatment will have any adverse effects considering it's intended use. Still, I wouldn't hit it with a hammer...[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][FONT=Verdana][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][FONT=Verdana](former heat treater)[/FONT][/FONT]

Touché my friend! (I also didn't realize he was talking about a gas fireplace my mind interpreted it as a gas oven.) My only concern is effect, like you said, on the surface. I plan on dulling the crisp corners of the grenade when the time comes and I assume many others do as well. I think we can both agree that its probably best to not heat up the steel and immediately quench in cold water.

I'd love to know the exact alloy steel that's being used on some of these parts to get some more info on their properties!

the weathering looks great im still on the fence on weathering mine or doing the as first built look.

In my mind, there is no other way to display the prop,but I was scared to mess up. I took my brass parts out of the ziplock baggie and the easy off did a fantastic job.. I'm once again please at the results. I will update pics later today.

Nice job on the darkening, are you going to burnish it with a hammer? I would.

Thanks. I will likely rub the sides with the hammer,but I don't plan on wacking it at all. I don't really want any dents or pits...just my personal preference. For me it was all about the color. I didn't want alot of rust...just the color associated with a well lived piece of steel. THat's what's so fun..no right or wrong way. I'm just doing what it the way I see the saber in my head and my interpretation of what I see in the Chronicles pics.

Sure would be cool to see some long lost clear color shot of this saber...

Tried it in my gas fireplace. The only thing it did was turn BLUE inside the recessed areas.

Hey Clutch..that's weird. You are using steel right? I didn't have any areas turn blue..at all. Also, I didn't add anything, it was only the fireplace and water to rinse afterward.

I soaked my brass in Easy Off last night...
Here's the best pics I could take outside..kinda overcast today.

Yep, steel. The recesses turned blue and the inside started turning. I got out the permablue and darkened it, but it doesn't look as nice as yours.

Now that's a mystery. I wonder what the difference was. Did it get that chalky black stuff on the outside? I had planned on using perma blue,but I didn't have any and walmart didn't have it and I didn't feel like going to a gun store. I decided to just start messing around and lucked into something that worked for me. IT should have worked for you too though.. strange.
I'd love to see a pic of yours too.

How long were the brass parts in the plastic bag?

FB

FB.. they were in there overnight. I put them in about 9pm and took them out about 6 when I got up this morning to get ready for work. I checked on them after a half hour when I put them in and was worried...some was black and others untouched brass,but I ended up with a natural very very dark look that I wanted...with light splotches that look like the Chronicles pic. I wanted it to be black or almost black,but not painted so I appreciate the tip to use Easy off very much as I already had some in the kitchen.
What do you think?

Peacefrog35 said:

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I appreciate the tip to use Easy off very much as I already had some in the kitchen.
What do you think?

Thanks! I think it looks great. I never left mine overnight but on my next one I will. I learned the Easy-Off trick from my friend.

FB

Thanks FB..big compliment coming from you. When I saw your saber, I knew Easy Off was the ticket.. .that rich dark color looks great. Something about paint makes it not look like metal anymore. I love this method!