Question: Plasma nitrite finish

[Thierry Duguet]

Hello,

I recently heard about a Plasma Nitrite finish, it is suppose to give a nice grey finish as well as harden the surface (skin deep) of the metal. Have you heard anything about it? Is it compatible with gold inlay?
Any and al information about this finish would be welcome.

 

[JJ Roberts]

Thierry,Never heard of Plasma Nitrite,Niter blue witch I do here and is compatible with gold inlay.You can buy the Niter salts from Brownells gunsmithing supplys. J.J.

 

[DKanger]

I think you are referring to plasma nitriding, which is a specialty surface hardening process. It's used on gears, turbine wheels, etc. You can google the process. I don't think it would have any engraving applications.

 

[Thierry Duguet]

I think you are referring to plasma nitriding, which is a specialty surface hardening process. It's used on gears, turbine wheels, etc. You can google the process. I don't think it would have any engraving applications.

You are right it is not an engraving process it is a finish process from what I have read it can advantageously replace color casehardening as it is a lower temperature and give a very hard surface which protect the surface of the gun as well as the engraving, it seems to be similar to metalife but with a more desirable color.

 

[Ron Spokovich]

I'm vaguely familiar with the process, as the company I used to work for was going to employ it in their die coating process to replace chrome plating. They made pultruded products, from fiberglass, and plasma was more environmentally friendly. It would do no good for any of us in engraving, as it's too costly, and there are other manufacturing reasons to forget about it, as well. I don't know if the gun industry is into it, but temperature is a consideration. It wouldn't work for you, I don't feel.

 

[Ragnarok]

Nickle Boron can give a sort of gray finish. I've had some of the parts I use in the custom 1911's I build done with Nickle Boron. It's a pretty hard finish. Tennifer(euro name/Melonite in the US) is what's applied to Glocks and is a very hard treatment. The black coloring on Glock slides is just a coating over the Tennifer. The Tennifer/Melonite is actually a hardening process. The outside of the part can be done in any color. I believe the finish done on Fail Zero's AR15 bolts in a form of Nickle Boron, and those have a nice gray color. You might try contacting Fail Zero and check with them. Metalife is just another version of Hard Chrome, with different additives, and a very slightly different process than standard Hard Chrome.

 

[GTJC460]

Glock uses a nitride finish. That's what was done to the special 30th anniversary guns I and other FEGA masters engraved for them in 2015. Gold inlay did survive the finish. I don't believe anyone did anything overly complex with inlays like banknote shading. I inlaid rollmarks on several of the guns and it survived nicely.

 

[GTJC460]

Nickle Boron can give a sort of gray finish. I've had some of the parts I use in the custom 1911's I build done with Nickle Boron. It's a pretty hard finish. Tennifer(euro name/Melonite in the US) is what's applied to Glocks and is a very hard treatment. The black coloring on Glock slides is just a coating over the Tennifer. The Tennifer/Melonite is actually a hardening process. The outside of the part can be done in any color. I believe the finish done on Fail Zero's AR15 bolts in a form of Nickle Boron, and those have a nice gray color. You might try contacting Fail Zero and check with them. Metalife is just another version of Hard Chrome, with different additives, and a very slightly different process than standard Hard Chrome.

Tennifer is no longer used due to epa regulations. It's a nitride finish. I spoke to my contacts at Glock extensively regarding this subject

 

[Thierry Duguet]

Thank you, GTJC460, for your very pertinent information

 

[Ragnarok]

Tennifer is no longer used due to epa regulations. It's a nitride finish. I spoke to my contacts at Glock extensively regarding this subject

"Nitride" is shorthand for ferritic nitrocarburizing. Nitride is not a finish, it is a surface hardening treatment. You can take all the black stuff off the slide with a wire wheel, and the Nitride is still there, hence it's not a finish. The black coloring on the outside of the slide is a by-product of the cooling bath. Different companies have different trademarked names for it, I.E. Melonite, and Tennifer. Glock doesn't use the trademarked Tennifer process anymore, but a lot of folks use Tennifer as a generic term for nitriding. l call it Tennifer since it's just a nitride process. Although I find myself using Melonite more and more as a generic term for all nitriding. Tennifer is not used by Glock anymore because that specific nitriding process has, and creates cyanates as a by-product. Tennifer also has non-cyanate salts for the molten bath available. You simply change from cyanate-bearing salts for the molten bath, to salts without, and no more EPA problems. You still get the same end result of ferritic nitrocarburizing. Talking with the great folks at Glock is the reason I started using Nitriding on a lot of pistol parts fifteen years ago.

ETA: The outside black coating on some of the newer Glocks, it not nearly as tough as the old Tennifer. Those usually have an almost gray color. The shiny black colored slides still seem pretty tough.

 

[Thierry Duguet]

Do you really want to argue about what is a finish or not? If it transform and protect in anyway the surface of the metal and if it is the last operation done it is a finish, as would be a mirror polish or bluing which are not only cosmetic but also practical.

 

[Ragnarok]

Do you really want to argue about what is a finish or not? If it transform and protect in anyway the surface of the metal and if it is the last operation done it is a finish, as would be a mirror polish or bluing which are not only cosmetic but also practical.

There's no argument, I'm simply stating facts that you didn't know, and it seems it bothers you for some reason. The last operation is quenching, it's a simple by-product of that. It's like quenching a knife blade, and it leaving scale. Scale is not a finish either.