When you are blackening metal, you want to be able to do it in the most effective manner possible. There are many different ways for you to give your metal that perfect black finish. Each technique has a different method and there are different ways that each method can be achieved.
If you are unsure about the metal blackening process, you might think that it is extremely complicated. However, this is not the case. There are several simple ways to give your metal the finish that it deserves.
Hot Black Oxide
As the name of this method suggests, high temperatures are used to blacken the surface of the metal. The metal is placed in a hot bath which contains various chemicals such as sodium hydroxide, nitrates, nitrates. These chemicals are designed to darken the surface of the metal. Water is added to these tanks to make sure that they do not overheat and cause damage to the metal.
There are many advantages to this type of metal blackening. Firstly, metal can be blackened in large batches that can be dipped into the hot mixture. This will save lots of time and is ideal for a business that needs to blacken lots of metal in a very short space of time.
This is an extremely cheap way of protecting metal against corrosion. Painting the metal to make sure that it doesn’t corrode is another good technique, but this can prove to be extremely expensive. You can buy an affordable chemical blacking kit metal blackening solution to protect your metal.
Mid-Temperature Black Oxide
The mid-temperature blackening takes place at a lower temperature than high-temperature blackening. This usually happens at temperatures between 108-114 degrees celsius. This type of heating changes the surface of the metal to magnetite. This makes the metal much more robust and it will not corrode at all.
This temperature means that no caustic fumes.
Cold Black Oxide
This is the lowest temperature that the blackening process is applied. The cold black is applied at room temperature, which makes it suitable for in-house blackening and does not require specialist premises. This method can save a company a lot of money if they are trying to blacken the metal without using a specialist service.
What Metals Can Be Subject To The Blacking Process?
There are several metals which are subject to the blackening process. Each type of metal reacts slightly different to the blackening process, so they need to be handled differently and they need to be subject to different blackening methods.
Copper
Blackening is a popular method that is applied to copper. The surface of the metal has to be at least 65% copper for the blackening process to work. The heating process can be up to 400 degrees celsius because the copper will remain completely stable up to this point. However, above this point, the copper will start to degrade.
Stainless Steel
Stainless steel can be blackened at room temperature, which means that companies can do the blackening process in their own premises without having to hire specialists. The steel will acquire a quality finish.
Choose a quality blackening company to get the job done.
