5 WAYS TO RUST PROOF Without Paint!!! CHEAP, FAST & LONG LASTING

Never ever ever ever ever heat up hi-tensile bolts. You'll either soften them or make them brittle. Either are bad! Its like heating up a knife. It loses it's temper.

I'm a blacksmith/blade Smith and I use beeswax. You heat the metal until it's hot enough to make the wax smoke. You wipe it on with a rag soaked in melted wax. When you wipe it on the waxed rag doesn't have to be hot, the wax will melt out of the rag onto the iron. It turns your iron black and seals the pores of the iron and coats it. Exactly what he's trying to do.

I'd like to see these parts put out in the garden for a week or 2, then see how they weathered the elements. Good video :)

WARNING- I had a mate blinded when a strand of wire brush in a bench grinder hit his eye…..always always use eye protection…🙏

Linseed oil burning is actually a traditional method for rust protection, however you only want to dip the object quite rapidly in the oil before you pull it back up. This way you'll end up with a surface hardening in case you heat it to red-hot, instead of a deep hardening if you let it cool down in the oil. 😊

I learned a trick a long time ago while taking a collision repair course at an insurance institute approved university. Better and stronger than powder coating, you can use a rattle can of any paint color applicable for metal surfaces and spray one to two coats on the metal surface including bolts. Once it dries completely bake it in an oven or toaster oven at 275° F for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Let the metal object cool down to room temperature and you will have a hard paint coated surface. That is more durable than powder coating. It’s not magic.

You can also dunk clean iron in copper sulfate. This does a "replacement plating" process that puts about a one atom thick layer of copper on the surface of the iron part. It looks good but needs a clear coat to stay looking good. It is a way to make cheap stuff look like more expensive. It also works on aluminum parts.

I finished a muzzleloader barrel with Casey’s Plum Brown. You heat it with a propane torch. I can’t remember the temperature but it was close to blue. The product is an acid. After it etched the bare metal, apply gun oil or a oil like 3M. That was 40 years ago. All I have ever done was apply gun oil and it has maintained that antique brown patina.

You might want to try a small toaster oven to heat the parts more evenly. It takes longer to heat up but as the heat is more evenly spread accross / through the part the finish should be more even. Didnt know the brass brush trick, cheers!

I've been building muzzleloaders for many years and this is my method for machine screw heads and screw heads. The oil I use is generally 3-in-1. Always works and always looks good.

Thank you for this great video - I've always wondered which oils and heating methods will result in different finishes. I especially appreciate your comments regarding how this process may result in metallurgical changes to the part that could render it mechanically unfit for its original purpose. Failure of a fastener on a high-speed vehicle is obviously extremely dangerous. Thanks again!

Very interesting and simple procedure. I did something similar when I built my flintlock rifle in the 1970s. I heated the barrel in an oven and put a browning solution on it. I believe it was a mild acid. it turned the rifle barrel a wonderful dark brown color like the original rifles. It still looks great to this day and I use it every year for hunting.

I slightly modified the color scheme on my MTB and in keeping with this, I painted the hex bolts. Besides the problem you mentioned, the paint somewhat clogged up the heads and made it hard to get the hex key to correctly fit. I look forward to implementing this technique that you have shown us!

Very good example of optional coating treatments! A lot of powder coaters heat parts up to release the oils in the metal grain, then clean off that residue prior to coating. Could be part of the reason you got the irregularities in the finishes.

Cool! Thanks for sharing this experience. Pretty useful to start making it ourselves, avoiding the test time. I'd love to see in another video, if you please, the oposite order. First coat the parts with any of the oily liquids, and then heat it all up. That way a Carbon layer may still form without overheating the steel piece and losing temper.

I know I've commented already quite a few times, but this video brings up memories of things I've tried. One idea I had was to etch some letters or some design into some steel, fill in with bronze using a brazing rod, sand down until the excess bronze is gone, and then torch blue. I've always liked how the colors of bronze and blued steel go together. I considered doing this to make a speedometer face.

Playing devil's advocate here, but I've sadly tested pretty much everything you've mentioned here in actual-world conditions. If you left those samples outside for a week, they would all have corrosion. Industrial plating or replacing with stainless hardware is the only way. If you are plating also, get the plater to heat the bolt's to degas after plating, which will help to maintain their structural properties. @dirtygarageguy has more on this and goes really deep into the science. On cold bluing, it does work, but it is also something that constantly needs to be maintained. That along with hot bluing. If done correctly with the correct chemicals such as sodium nitrite and sodium hydroxide it can also inhibit rust for a longer period. Still, as this is common with firearms it consistently needs to be maintained and I would say it would be impractical for the majority of automotive applications.

Backyard ballistics is the channel for all things bluing 👍

I've been using tempering colours and oil for rust prevention for years, the key for larger items is even heating, you can try chasing the colour but once you go past the colour your looking for there's no going back, you've got to start over. I made a concoction of old engine oil and molybdenum disulphide grease for dipping but be aware that used engine oil is bad for you so try not to get it on your skin or breath the vapour.

Paint and plating works. Burning soot onto steel doesn't ever work. And please don't ever recommend that people handle oil near a stove or bbq. That's a good way to get 3rd degree burns. And another thing, bluing doesnt ever involve oil.