Thermal Bluing Steel Watch Hands
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 มิ.ย. 2024
- Flame bluing, also known as heat bluing or thermal bluing, is a traditional watchmaking technique for treating steel parts, such as hands and screws. Nowadays, these hands and screws can be industrially blued by heating them in an oven en masse or through chemical means. That's no fun. In this video, I'll show you how to blue a set of steel watch hands step by step with a naked flame - the way it's been done traditionally.
(Of course if we have to be historically accurate, we'd be using an alcohol lamp - but a gas torch is more convenient and doesn't affect our appreciation of flame bluing)
Bluing is a delicate process influenced by many factors. We'll go through each factor and detail what to do and what to avoid. By the end of this video, you should be well equipped to heat blue your own set of blue hands.
P.S. The exact temperature for bluing depends on the steel alloy composition. The chart shown in the video is based on the steel hands included in our kit. If you're bluing something else, the temperature needed may be different.
Key content timestamps:
▶ 00:00 - Introduction
▶ 00:31 - What is flame bluing
▶ 02:08 - Setup
▶ 03:14 - Preliminary practice: applying heat evenly
▶ 03:58 - Hand Preparation part 1: surface finish
▶ 04:30 - Hand Preparation part 2: hygiene
▶ 05:13 - Heating
▶ 08:34 - Creative use of flame bluing
Watchmaking tools/equipment required for this video:
▶Flame bluing kit : shop.diywatch.club/collection...
Related videos:
▶Watch hand installation Part 1 Hour and Minute: • Watch hand installatio...
▶Watch hand installation Part 2 Second hand: • Watch hand installatio...
Join us to explore the possibilities of at-home watchmaking! We are working on everything from assembling/modding watches, regulating movements, and even bluing your own steel watch hands at home!
▶At-home watchmaker's shop: shop.diywatch.club/
▶Instagram (@diywatchclub): / diywatchclub (we have a weekly giveaway)
▶Facebook: / diywatchclub
Happy watchmaking! - แนวปฏิบัติและการใช้ชีวิต
Why not space all three hands closely together and blue them at the same time? If you heat slowly, wouldn't that pretty much guarantee the same color for all? Thanks!
That's a good question! There are a few difficulties with this approach: 1. it adds to the demand to maintain an even temperature and there's no guarantee you can do that perfectly in one go, 2. the three hands are shaped differently (for example the widths of the hour hand and the second hand are drastically different), so their responses to heat behave differently as well, 3. heating them together means you'll need to manage quenching 3 items at the same time, and by the time you quenched the first, the others might be at a different color already. Of course, I can see some engineering solution being developed for each of these difficulties. But by then, you'd be better off using an electric heater or oven that allows for precise temperature control. Quite frankly, that's how it's industrially made nowadays and there's nothing wrong about that. With proper cleaning and preparation, you can make perfect blue hands in batches. The only thing it lacks is the small variance that is human error. And for me personally that's the charm of DIY. BUT don't let me discourage you from trying that approach out. Could be fun!
I really appreciate that DIYWC posts all these to the public and doesn't have them on unlisted or something like that to only share it with customers.
Really, really good video, held my attention from start to the end. No obnoxious music, simple cuts/editing, straight to the point without skimping on essential information (and what-not-to-dos). Subbed!
I feel like bluing certain hands of my entire collection. Specially those watches with a nice contrasting background that have golden hands. The color combination would look amazing.
YES once I learned how to blue hands my first wish was to blue everything I can get! But I have to warn you that not every hand can be blued, only steel (better be non stainless steel) can be blued. And sometimes coatings, hardness treatment etc. can interfere with the bluing or flat out make it impossible. I tried something that illustrate exactly this in my new video, check it out! th-cam.com/video/6XcgNO_9CjA/w-d-xo.html
@@DIYWatchClub So, step one: replacing all non-steel hands with an exact SS replica 😂
Fantastic, great and helpful video! Thnx!
Oh I love this process, it seems so much better then the sand.
Super video. Thanks very much. And best wishes from Singapore 🇸🇬 ☀️
You guys are the BEST. Great video! 👏🏼
Just came across your channel and watched every video. Great stuff!! Looking forward to the next
Thank you for your encouraging words!
Nice work and excellent presentation!
Thank you for the kind comment!
Very very helpful video. Thanks
Perfect video. Thanks!
Great video. Would like to see more content Leone this. This is a quality product.
Thank you! I actually just published a new flame blue video, this time it's about bluing screws. I had a lot of fun making it, check it out: th-cam.com/video/6XcgNO_9CjA/w-d-xo.html
Very interesting video, thank you for sharing :)
Well done.
thanks ! it will help on my project!
Glad it helped!
Very cool!
Thank you mate❣️
You make it all look simple. Nice tutorial. Wow.
Appreciate it!
Really cool!!
Subbed. Great content 👍
Hi, Thanks for the video. It's excellent! Question, what did you use to hold the hand while you cleaned it with the Dremel tool? Thanks.
Amazing! Which kind of camera equipment are you using?
Can the bluing process be used on the crown as well? Or is this limited to hands and screws?
Most often than not, the crown cannot be blued. These external elements usually have some form of corrosion resistance in place, or simply isn't steel. But don't let me discourage you from trying, you might get some interesting results!
Do platinum hands also blue? Thanks
Works for stainless steel or steel only?
Does the bluing kit work with one of your other kits? Ie the explorer kits hands or does the lume make it impossible? Was considering perhaps bluing the seconds hand since the lume on that is the smallest
At this moment, only the hands in the bluing kit can be blued. The reason being not about the lume, but about metal composition. (I actually illustrated this in the new video on blue screws, you'll understand it better: th-cam.com/video/6XcgNO_9CjA/w-d-xo.html) You need steel hands to blue. So for now, you can't blue the hands on the explorer kit. BUT, we do have blue-able version of those hands coming out soon, and a companion lume application video guide with it (since you need to flame blue the hands without lume first, then apply the lume on it). So stay tuned! It'll be ready quite soon!
Could you show this technique being used for bezels? Would like to color change a bezel to a bronze/brass-like finish
It really depends on what the bezel is made with. There could be coating or plating that largely makes the bluing process impossible. And then you have to see what kind of construction the bezel has for turning, and determine whether bluing could affect that mechanism. I could give it a try but the result is going to be really specific to the watch.
You can do it on carbon steel and UNFINISHED stainless steel of certain varieties. If you have some of the same stock then practice on a tiny piece or find out what material it is (probably 316L) and get some
W O N D E R F U L J O B ! ! !
👍
If you can blue hands and screws, can you blue bridges in the same ways? Or even the rotor?
Good question. I actually touched upon this in another video: th-cam.com/video/6XcgNO_9CjA/w-d-xo.html&t, where I tried to blue a rotor. In general, the bridges and rotors are made with non steel parts (usually brass and nickel plated). So no, they are not blueable. On the other hand, some gears actually can be blued. But that differs wildly across different movements.
I came on to your channel from retro watch channel, I have a question you mention quenching the hands in acetone or mineral spirits and later in your video you say place the hand in the water. I am confused-which is it?
Acetone or mineral spirits are used for cleaning the hands, not quenching. We use water to quench the hand. Alternatively, oil can be used to quenched the hand as well but it has to be cleaned afterward (by acetone or mineral spirits).
How do you get this kind of sharp, three-dimensional alpha hands? I checked out that it is easy to make flat ones, but the edgy ones seem to require some kind of mold.
That is a good question. To be honest, I just get them from suppliers. How they make it, I'll have to ask them. Let you know if I get any answer. But if I have to guess I would also say some form of molding is involved.
@@DIYWatchClub I see. You just heat them blue
What’s the model of the watch you use on this video? Can’t find it on your website
It's a Mosel (shop.diywatch.club/collections/watchmakingkit-dress-and-vintage-watch). But the particular dial used in the video isn't available yet
Hi, can i do this to all the watch part as long as made of stainless? Like the chapter ring?
For cosmetic purposes, yes. Non-stainless steel works the best. Stainless steel, depending on the metal composition, can still work but usually requires a higher temperature (due to it being harder to oxidize). Anything with coating or plating is no no.
For chapter ring, if it meets the description above, it will probably work. But if there's paint on it (like on the minute markers), paint might be changed by heat, so that's something to look out for.
@@DIYWatchClub thank you for the information. I will try to experiment with this. Awesome content. I learn alot from your channel.
No problem. Have fun and definitely let me know if you manage to blue something!
can I purchase the brass shaving from somewhere separately?
Sure, you can find them in hardware stores or online. But make sure you get the finer shavings. They can be coarse (as in bigger bits), and that's not good for watchmaking
@@DIYWatchClub yes I need them so tiny. do you have any online store recommendation? also I have a question about painting the hands if you have any information? Thank you!
@@DIYWatchClub FYI coarser shavings work well on pocketwatch screws. (bigger screws bigger chips go figure).
Nice vids.
That's true! Thanks for pointing it out
What are the details of the watch?
It is a watch from our Mosel series: shop.diywatch.club/collections/watchmakingkit-dress-and-vintage-watch/products/diy-watchmaking-kit-mosel-lite-silver-open-heart-vintage-dress-watch-w-miyota-82s0
Could you blue a stainless watch case?
In theory you can, but the potential presence of crystal, gasket, and lubricant means that you need to know what to remove and replace before you blue the case
I tried this with my Casio. The hands were plastic! 😢
$185 for a $20 kitchen torch and a metal tray! WTF