Post War Lionel FM Frames

[ezmike]

Hi, I'm sure someone out here knows whether these frames were "blued" or "blackened". I'm repairing one of mine and want to refinish spots of the frame.

Thanks in advance.

Mike

[TRAINCAT]

Mike I recently did one and I think mine was painted like most Lionel non motor, metal chassis are.  Try lightly scratching it on the inside and see.

Roger

[ezmike]

Roger,

This is a Virginian FM frame, it definitely is not painted. I'm trying to determine if the color was "blued" or "blackened". Thanks

Mike

[cwburfle]

In my experience, gun bluing will not be a great match. It's my impression that Lionel used a commercial blackening product called Essotex. I recall seeing an old Essotex advertisement showing a Lionel train, and touting the fact that Lionel was a customer. I tried googling Essotex, and could not find that specific product.

[arkady]

"Bluing" is a bit of a misnomer; so-called "bluing" actually is blackening.

That said, as a WWII firearms fan, I should mention that not all gun cold-bluings are alike.  How effective a given product is will depend upon the particular alloy being blued.  Brownel's 44/40, just to give one example, will do a fantastic job on an SKS, but not on any of my Enfields.  There are many different commercial cold bluings, and many different alloys.  You may have to experiment to find the correct metal/bluing combination for a particular situation.

Hot bluing is another topic altogether.

[ezmike]

Thanks guys!

Mike

[MrG-man]

I am looking to "re-Blue" trucks and frames that have been cleaned with an oxide remover. I found 2 reference to Essotex, http://www.hgzx.com/Shop/25790412-Esso-sewing-machine-oil-ESSOTEX-SM10-1522.html this one shows that it was a sewing machine oil made be Esso before then were Exxon. The other references just called it mineral or emulsified mineral oil, Not sure how this was used though, there is a black smith process where the piece is dipped in mineral oil then the residue is burned, once the mineral oil is burned off you are left with a good black. I dont think this a good way to do it unless it is just sheet steel, i have a gg1 that i am restoring i got all the rust off but all the oxide also, now to get it back to black without painting.

[Firelock76]

The best cold-blue I've ever used for gun bluing, and I've been a gun enthusiast for a good 45 years, is Birchwood Casey brand cold blue, if you want to blacken those trucks and frames without painting.

What Lionel used in the old days looks to me like what the military calls "Parkerizing," which is an iron-phosphate coating that's blackened by immersion in a oil bath with black dye mixed with the oil.  Parkerizing is a complicated process you don't want to try at home.

B-C cold blue works pretty well provided the steel is completely free of oil or grease.