Blackening

[ChuckJonesWagon]

It washes right off with lacquer thinner or acetone, and is certainly easier to clean up than inletting black. For that matter, I always used those same solvents to clean up the black, since it has an oil base, as does lip stick. Using the oil, I didn't end up looking like a black face minstrel by the end of the day.

I used inletting black and your right.....it gets everywhere no matter how careful I get. I've also used sharpies which I like better than inlet black, but my favorite is just candle soot.

 

[RobertIN]

I just use a pencil.

 

[ChuckJonesWagon]

I just use a pencil.

So....you're a pencil geek? Hey.........wait..........

 

[Pete G]

I use soot from an oil lamp.

 

[Philip Lebow]

Regarding red lead and oil....when I was an apprentice, we pounded red lead powder into oil in empty snuff cans, until it was a smooth paste.
We used it for spotting in machine surfaces that we were hand scraping flat. It turns black under pressure between machine elements.
Problem was, red lead powder is pretty poisonous, a bad actor, but what did we know? We drank out of hoses....
Please don't use powdered lead stuff, just cast round balls out of lead, and don't catch them in your teeth...Just sayin'