Torching a stainless body

[flyingpootang]

Anybody have any insite on appling heat to a stainless body to give it an oil slick look. Can it be polished out if you didn't like it....

[Spider-TW]

Luke does. I asked him about the colors (some blue, iirc) he gets from welding the feed necks. Those colors polish out, so I expect you could polish out any coloration.

Were the "golden" mags plated? It would almost be funny to get a titanium nitride coated body.

[Newt]

Were the "golden" mags plated? It would almost be funny to get a titanium nitride coated body.

Now that I would really go for.

[Guardian]

To polish it out may require using a course abrasive first then step up to finer grit to bring back the mirror finish . Changing the appearance of steel with heat also changes it's physical properties (including inner and outer dimensions , roundness , etc...) . My recomendation is to pick up another body and use one of them as a test piece .

It would be much better to have access to a heat treat oven than to experiment with a torch because you might not get it right on your first five attempts . With a heat treat oven , the heat will be applied evenly and you will have control over temperature . The effect you are wanting might only be able to be produced by a specific temperature . Start at a low temp like 400 degrees and work your way up .

If someone has done something like this with a torch , I would like to see it .

[flyingpootang]

It would be much better to have access to a heat treat oven than to experiment with a torch because you might not get it right on your first five attempts

I don't have access to an heat treat oven any longer, so a solder torch "Caveman Style" is the only option

[Newt]

Actually, I'll agree with your method, flyingpt. I wouldn't bother with re-inventing the wheel messing around with heat-treating ovens. AGD has the hardness right. Hitting the surface with a blowtorch quickly will burn the carbon out of the top layer of the steel, leaving shades between a straw-brown and a nice medium blue. Quick is the word, though. You only want to hit the top layer.

Anything you do can be reversed (cosmetically, you change the steel temper and you're on your own) with abrasive polishing.

[flyingpootang]

Newt, If quick is the name of the game I'm the man for the job, just ask my wife

[Guardian]

First off , you cant burn carbon out of steel . Second , I seriously doubt AGD went out of their way to use anything other than a standard 300 or 400 grade stainless for their bodies .When you apply heat , even if it is controlled heat at a low temperature of 400* , you will change the hardness of the steel . It is that very change that will produce the effect you are seeking . The hardness of the steel is not critical , if it was , there wouldn't be thin aluminum ULE bodies . Using an oven is not reinventing the wheel . The oven just doesn't carry nearly the potential to warp the body as a torch does . An advantage a torch has over the oven is it will produce more variation in color (i.e. a more wild finish) as you are not applying an even heat . If using the torch , just make sure you don't heat the body to the point it starts turning orange . Just pay real close attention to the fit of the valve , barrel and use a straight edge to check the body for any warpage .