Iron, Steel, and Nickel Blackener - problem

[dhjnyc]

Hi,

I used an Iron, Steel, and Nickel Blackener on black iron (an area that had been ground down). The metal was rust free and silver in color before I started. It did turn black but as it dried it also rusted in what was a matter of minutes. I am confused. The instructions were not very good maybe I did something wrong. The brand is Jax.

Any ideas as to why this happen and how to prevent it when I redo it?

Also what is the best way to clean the rust off?

thanks dj

[erckgillis]

Stiff SS wire brush or Soft Brass brush. The Red Oxide (rust) is the impurities leeching from the metal pores. BO is a chemical "oxidation" like rust.

It must be clean...and rust free...

See my BO post.

E

[dhjnyc]

Hi E,

Are you saying that, even though it was ground down to the silver finish it still needs additional brushing with a steel brush? ( I will say a few days passed between the grinding down and the black oxide process). But the metal looked shiney silver and rusted immediately when I put the BO on.

The surface appeared rust free before I put the BO on it. If I don't see the rust how do I know when I have removed the rust?

I am very new at this - thanks

dj

[tagged]

When you was the acid off of your piece you should use a weak bleach solution to nutralize the oxidation. I'm not a real expert on this but I have been doing a lot of blackening lately and this has helped my flash rust problems.