Is there any practical or workable way to "re-blue" or "re-finish" pocketwatch hands? Can you strip them and re-blue with the gun type bluing mixtures? Would appreciate any information on this.

Robert--here's a lengthy answer to your question from my experience.

You can re-blue steel hands with gun bluing sold at gun shops, but I DOUBT the results will please you entirely. Gun bluing might be used to touch up a couple of scratches in a blue hand without polishing though and be a quick-fix.

The best appearance is achieved with heat-bluing as the hands were originally done for that "deep blue" appearance. It is possible to get the plum or purple color such as Illinois used early on also by this method.

First, the hands must be buffed or wheel-polished with compound VERY gently with a small wheel or Dremel tool. The hands must look like chrome before bluing (mirror finish) without harming the sharp detail of the hands. Make sure the floor is clean, don't drop them and keep a magnet handy!

I use a straight pin thru the minute hand and a wire brad through the hour hand and push them thru a piece of corrugated cardboard to hold the hands as a back-up while buffing fron the center hole toward the outer end. For the second hand, try using a pin vise to hold the sleeve with a piece of cereal cardboard between for a buffing backup. I hold onto the pin or brad from underneath so the hand cannot fly off somewhere and this keeps them down against the cardboard also.

Clean off all compound, fingerprints, etc. so the hands are clean and bright. You can use WD-40 or another waterless solvent to clean them, so long as rusting doesn't begin.

One method to try is place the hands in an aluminum pie pan in the kitchen oven set at 450 degrees or so and watch through the oven door that is ajar for the colors to appear. The color changes must take place very slowly so you have control in stopping the hands when they are deep blue in color and quenching them immediately in a small oil container so the temperature doesn't advance.

You will first see in the metal a light straw color that darkens to a bronze shade and then a "Peacock" color. This will be followed by the deep blue you are wanting--so immediately immerse the hands in oil before they go into a light blue last phase and you would then have to polish and start over--and over again until you get it right.

Another way to heat the hands to the proper color is take an 8-inch piece of angle iron or steel of some kind and grind the one side to a bright appearance (need not be polished--just bright). Clamp one end in the vise and heat the outer end underneath with a propane torch while a hand is lying on the top side (again slowly with the heat). The instant the color is "right" or deep blue, rake the hand off with a popsicle stick (to avoid scratching) into the oil container. If you pick the hand up with tweezers, they will likely absorb the heat from the hand instantly.

A problem that increases greatly with bringing the heat up too quickly is that the thin, outer point of the hand will absorb the heat more quickly and go beyound the dark blue while the rest of the hand is reaching that color phase.

Two things I must stress are: bring the heat up SLOWLY so you have control over the color change occurring and PRACTICE FIRST on some hands you are not in love with or will need later.

With a little determination--you can do this!

Best regards,
Larry

Here is a chart of tempering or heat treating temperatures that I saved from somewhere?

Heat Treating Temperatures

Heat Glow Temperatures (semi darkness)

Temp ºF Color

1125 Dark Red

1300 Blood Red

1350 Low Cherry Red

1400 Medium Cherry Red

1450 Cherry Red

1500 Bright Cherry Red

1550 Full Red

1650 Bright Red

1750 Orange

2100 Yellow

2250 White

Tempering Temperatures

Temp ºF Color

450 Straw

475 Light Orange

500 Bronze

525 Purple

550 Full Blue

575 Medium Blue

600 Pale Blue

Thank you Kenny and Larry for the information. I had tried heating hands over an alcohol lamp and then plunging them in water, but I guess that's all wrong. When you say dip them in "oil", what kind of oil? Regular watch oil or what? Thanks again very much for answering my question.

Robert,
I would think that would be fine if you quench them precisely at the right color. The main thing would be to have the entire hand evenly heated. I`ve never done much tempering, mostly taking the temper out as with mainspring ends. To do that you let it cool at room temperature.

Robert,

You can use a cup of any type of oil (even 10W40 or 20 weight automotive motor oil works fine) as long as it has some body to it for the quenching. Using watch oil or WD-40 would be of too thin a consistency and WD-40 can "flash" from hot metal or flame. The hands may almost immediately be removed from the oil and they will be cool to the touch and can be sprayed with WD-40 and wiped dry. Good luck!

Larry

Going to try this on some old watham hands which don't look blue anymore.

What do you ussually with the dremel polishing routine?


Michael

I´m about to do the same thing with my rusty Illinois 161 hands. Don´t you think it´s possible , after polished them,to put them in a steel jar embedded in brass chip to ensure that the thinner parts like the top of the hand get the same temperature as the whole hand? This of couse means that you have to know (by experience) the exact temerature at your owen to create the right color. To me it´s seems quit hard to create the same color all over the hand not using the brass chip jar because the temperatur in the owen usaually have the tendensy of going up and down quite much.