Case hardening care

[paulvallandigham]

Does anyone know how to care for a color case hardened lock so that the colors don't fade over time?

 

[Robert an saa fan]

I LOVE color case hardening and that is a tough question as you probably already know.

Since it is only one to a few thousandths of an inch thick I think the main thing is not to "wear" it with too much cleaning, rubbing or polishing.

I try to keep top quality gun oil on color case hardening. Have heard some collectors/museums like to use Renaissance Wax (sp) to protect. Some folks put on a light coat of clear lacquer... Not sure if these will prevent fading over time.

Have also heard that lots of prolonged exposure to sunlight will dull casehardening...

Will be interested to hear others responses.

 

[paulvallandigham]

This came to me from Phil Quaglino in Florida. He says to heat up the part, and wipe it with raw linseed oil, and let it dry. Phil says that will keep the colors from fading.

Does anyone know any other suggestions for maintaining the colors on a case hardened lockplate, or action? I have heard that even Ultra violet light will fade the colors, so that these guns should not be allowed to sit in direct sunlight either. I can't find anything to confirm that thesis, so would be curious to hear from anyone who can say this is true or false.

 

[xxgrampa]

greetings paul,

ken hurst, the past top engraver at colt said; 'the pistols in the display cases had to be recased because the floresent lights would fade the colors'. based on that, light does fade case colors..

..ttfn..grampa..

PS.. be carefull of what you put on the case colors. used some balistol on 1st gen colts that were in the 90 percentile for color. after that they were in the 50-60 percentile. a very expensive lesson. did the same to old winchesters with cased frames.

tt.g :redface:

 

[paulvallandigham]

Thanks, Grandpa. i suspect that is why Phil recommend raw linseed oil, a non-petroleum bsed oil, without additives, as a preservative. I need to ask him about vegetable oil, or olive oil, or jojoba oil. I would stay away from petroleum based oils simply because they contain additives.

I didn't know about florescent light dulling the colors so will pass that on to Phil, too.

I am wondering if coating the metal with lacquer or one of the polyurethanes would act as a UV barrier, and not contain acids that might damage the finish. Any ideas? Since case hardening colors are very thin, and basically a form of silica coating on the metal, perhaps something else can be used in addition to linseed oil. Boiled Linseed Oil is available commonly at hardware stores. Raw linsed oil is another matter.

 

One form of raw linseed oil can be found at health food stores under the name of Flax Seed Oil.......it is fully edible and is the best "grades" of linseed oil available.....like all linseed oil it is a drying oil and like most vegetable oils is not acid free (see linoleic acid).
Heating steel/iron and then applying linseed oil is an old blacksmith's method of sealing said metal.....be careful not to overheat though as case color is essentially heat oxidation.......

 

[xxgrampa]

hi-ho paul,

do know that winchester coated their cased actions with lacquer. bought a nice hi-wall one time just because the coating was intact.

sorry, but i don't know anything about the other coatings you mentioned..

..ttfn..grampa..