homemade picks rusting... :-/

by **Timmy321** » 15 Jun 2004 22:52

pretty much the only place I need it is on the shaft...where I have polished the picks and gotten the paint off there...the handle is fine really...

so how to I apply this stuff?

by **Romstar** » 16 Jun 2004 1:21

Well, my honest opinion is to take off all the paint. Use a wire wheel, or sandpaper.
If not, it's not that big of a deal.

Sand the picks again with a fine paper, and then steel wool. Try to get some laytex or vinyl gloves for this. That way you are not leaving finger prints on the steel.

After sanding and polishing, wash the picks in lighter fluid, or rubbing alcohol. Allow to dry, and wipe with a lint free cloth.

Wear goggles and the gloves for the next step, just in case.

Using cotton swabs, or a small brush libberaly apply the bluing chemical. Allow to sit for aproximately five minutes. Then, wash the picks in water to nutralize the chemical.

Another option is to simply dip the picks into the bottle. The problem with that is that you could spill the bottle. This is bad.

After the bluing has been nutralized, you should have a pick that is gunmetal blue, and almost impervious to rust.

Romstar

by **CaptHook** » 16 Jun 2004 1:44

I would like to chip in here, follow the manufacturers instructions for the product that you buy. There are several different cold blues on the market, and all pretty much have different methods of application.
Chuck

by **benzy2** » 16 Jun 2004 1:45

Chucklz wrote:Blueing gives you an oxide coating. Probably several times harder than the steel, possibly even thousands of times. That depends on the type of steel, etc. But remember that the blueing is going to be less than a micron thick. It definately colors the pick. It will go from , hopefully, shiny steel to ....well gun metal blue. This is close to the color of HPC or Peterson picks.

Are you sure that bluing is harder? From what i have learned in chem you want a thin coating that is more likely to be oxidized than the steel. This way the steel is the last to go. The great part about a coating that is easily oxidized is that even if you have chips in the coating that you dont oxidize the steel. You dont get to the steel till basically all of the coating has been oxidized. This is why it is better than paint or other materials that stick to the steel but arent metalic. Once you get a chip in the paint the steel directly oxidizes and you get rust. With these picks i would try a blueing first. If you dont want to do that then cover with anything(even tape or paint). If you get a good seal on the handle paint will work fine and so will tape. They arent really a long term solution and need to be replaced a lot.

PS I never thought i would ever use a single thing from chem. I guess i did actually learn something.

by **frollard** » 16 Jun 2004 1:49

GO REDOX!!!

anodic protection

I would suggest dipping your picks in egg whites, then doing a rain dance.

okay, ignore that. Blue them. Easy, done.

/me considers self lucky that I have stainless steel picks.

by **CaptHook** » 16 Jun 2004 2:02

Bear in mind, blueing is a form of rust, a controled form. Cold blue(what is sold in department stores) as opposed to a dip in hot blueing salts gives you a different finish and different protection. Cold bluing is as Chucklz said is only microns thick, the chemical reaction does not penetrate that deeply into the steel. Some store bought touch up kits, are merely paint (avoid the pen type applicators).
The surface of the metal doesnt harden, it covers itself in an oxidation that still requires care to resist rust (occasional oiling). Hope this helps
Chuck

by **WhiteHat** » 16 Jun 2004 2:04

just a question: what's the difference between "blueing" and "anodizing"?

by **maldotcom2** » 16 Jun 2004 2:14

i just used metal polish, i dunno if is as effective as the other methods but worth a try, mine havent rusted at all

by **benzy2** » 16 Jun 2004 2:22

WhiteHat wrote:just a question: what's the difference between "blueing" and "anodizing"?

Anno doesnt work on steel. It is for alluminum.
Here is a pdf about it:
http://caswellplating.com/kits/lcd_ano.pdf
It tells you waht is happening and how to do it basically. If you have any more questions about actually doing a home anno this explains a lot:
http://www.pbnation.com/showthread.php? ... did=355794

Those paintball guys all use alluminum and they get into anno pretty seriously so they could answer about any question you would ever have. Oh and that pdf is from that forum somewhere too.

by **Hojo** » 16 Jun 2004 4:47

Sanding down the picks is worse that leaving the rust on there as it clears it and it stars again and eventually your wear down the metal what you should do is give them a rub with an oil stone then spray them with a WD-40 or R-P7 or some sort of preasured oil/lubricant and try to leave the original paint on there...thats what i do and it never rusts

by **bembel** » 24 Mar 2006 23:36

Very helpful thread. So that's why I dig it out again.
Since I blue my picks, I've never had any rust problems again.

I use a quick blue where I just wipe the picks with a wet tissue.
Ok - the tips wear off quickly when picking, but since they have no time to rust there's no major problem.

Otherwise I just wipe them again and they're just like new.

Works with hacksaw and feeler gauges steel.

by **Jason13** » 25 Mar 2006 2:33

What did you use for the handles it look cool

by **bembel** » 25 Mar 2006 9:35

Just colored heat shrink tube.

by **Jason13** » 25 Mar 2006 9:41

cool

homemade picks rusting... :-/

Bluing

you shouldnt...

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