Case Hardened to Browned?

[Eric M]

Can a case color hardened item be browned? And if so would it come out looking like it should?

 

[mhb]

It should be polished bright first, since the color case is one form of oxidation, and the idea is to get a nice, even oxide coating of rust by browning. I suppose you could try browning over the color case, but it might not come out right.
mhb - Mike

 

[44-henry]

If you don't like it sand or bead blast it first, it will give a better base for the browning to take hold.