Need to darken Stainless

[Highhorse]

I bet some of you boys have achieved this already, so rather than trying to reinvent the wheel, here goes.
I need to gray up, darken, take the shine off, of some stainless steel that is already a part of a finished product. Is there a cold method that works for this ? If so , what is it and where can you get it ?
Jim

 

[Goldhunter]

I used mustard (its the vinegar in it) once on a stainless blade. took a few more applications than on nonstainless.

 

[ameling]

You can also try some household bleach.

Stainless will tarnish, it just takes a lot longer to do so than regular iron/steel.

Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

 

[bingo1952]

A lot is going to depend upon what alloy was used for your s/s parts. If it is ferritic it will respond much better to any darkeng agent. If it is a high chrome content 300 series good luck. The application of heat or black chroming is probably your only option. The 400 series "kitchen sink grades" will respond to chemical agents to varying degrees.

 

[geologist]

Hydrochloric Acid or Muratic Acid will tarnish stainless.

 

[renovato]

A couple years back, one of our members experimented until he got an outstanding finish on a stainless knife. Search for posts by 41aeronca in the late 2006, early 2007 range. I don't remember his method, but it seemed pretty easy and he posted pics of the results which were impressive. I just searched my favorites, thinking I might have kept that one, but I didn't so I can't post a link to the thread for you.

 

[AeroncaTAL]

Here's a link to the thread I started that Plink mentioned.
http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/200271/post/338623/hl//fromsearch/1/

You can get stainless to rust and turn dark, but the results were not really all that great. But it was a fun little project!
Scott

 

[Highhorse]

Thanks Fellas,
I did some playing around and found that the muriatic worked the best on what I had!
Jim