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Mervyn Passmore 2005
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Place some bluing salts on a china crucible or heat-proof tray. Heat from beneath until the salts are molten. Put fine wire onto any clean steel screws or hands to be blued and place them in the molten liquid until blue. Remove and allow to cool. The salts can be re-used again and again.

Salts have no magic chemical action on the steel. They simply melt at more or less exactly the same temperature as steel 'blues'. You can blue steel without the salts, but it is very hard to achieve the uniform colour without them unless you have a temperature controlled oven..