First try at hot blacking..

I was a little apprehensive trying this. Hauling an extremely alkaline salt chemical around and then heating it to 144 degrees Celsius is quite nerve racking. I wanted to set it up properly so invested in an 8.8KW gas stove and a cheapish stainless steel stock pot to do my blacking in. I’ve bought more salts but used all I had borrowed from a gun dealer friend of mine. Bunging the salt in (vapour mask, gloves and goggles of course) and then slowly heating to the desired temperature. Of course I only got to 125 degrees so added the last of the salt and waited for the water to evaporate…got to bang on 144 and stuff in the trigger guard I’d prepared. Used wire to dangle it into the pot and left it in for circa 15 minutes…I wasn’t sure of the timings…took it out…washed in water, inspected then decided to put it in a bit longer. Anyway. I’m quite pleased with the results. I’ve not taken any photos of it yet but will do. I’ve kept the salts in the pot (which have now hardened to a rock salt in the pot!) for further blacking of the furniture. Now I “know” (ahem) what I’m doing!

I’d researched that the art is in the preparation. The metal really did need to be mirror like to get a deep black. This is easier said than done with metal work that is 100 years old of course and partially corroded on the back. Anyway, pleased with the first effort and another gunsmith task that I can hone and understand a bit more.