Homemade marking blue

[Suzuki4evr]

Hi guys.
I know I have seen threads on homemade marking blue, but I can't seem to find it. Can anyone point me in the right direction or maybe have a recipe for making your own easy to use effective marking blue.

Thanks
Michael

 

[Larry$]

Sharpies, wide tip.

 

[Ulma Doctor]

just a point of information...Tom Lipton of OxTools, suggested using artists pigments in one of his videos- if Cannode ink is hard to come by in your area.
i have used a water based artistic pigment in yellow for pre spotting when scraping, it worked well, the pigment was able to be spread thinly by finger pressure and didn't need to be thinned to work out

i have heard of folks using a kerosene or animal fat lamp to make soot, i have not done it myself.
the soot can be collected and used directly by smudging it on, or mixed with a touch of mineral oil to make a mess and create a ink-like substance

Prussian blue is available most places, but it's nasty to work with- it gets everywhere and is difficult to clean up- it does indicate high and low spots well as a positive attribute

 

[Suzuki4evr]

Sharpies, wide tip.

I have been using something similar to that that is available around here,but when you want to clean up a spoiled thread for instance, you want to lay some color in the threads to see where the threading tool touched and for this a sharpie would not work so good.

 

[benmychree]

One recipe is to use an aqueous solution of copper sulfate with a little bit of hydrochloric acid added, this will plate copper on steel and makes for very fine layouts, I have used it in the past, many years ago, but I think the suggestion of using a broad tip felt pen also works very well and dries much quicker than layout dye.

 

[Ulma Doctor]

Clickspring made an insanely detailed video along the lines of what we are discussing here
have a look...

 

[Larry$]

I have been using something similar to that that is available around here,but when you want to clean up a spoiled thread for instance, you want to lay some color in the threads to see where the threading tool touched and for this a sharpie would not work so good.

I mistook what he was asking. The sharpies work for layout. I've used artis's oils mixed with some thinner. Works, probably not ideal.

 

[martik777]

White latex paint

 

[graham-xrf]

I

Hi guys.
I know I have seen threads on homemade marking blue, but I can't seem to find it. Can anyone point me in the right direction or maybe have a recipe for making your own easy to use effective marking blue.

Thanks
Michael

Hi Michael
I confess - it was me --> DIY Blue Spotting Blues
I ended up with jars of several kinds of blue, Prussian Blue, Water trace dye, etc.
.. and 2 Yellows, and Dye-Kem style red, etc.

Marking fluid is way easier than spotting, but generally, any colours pigments or dyes you please can be used. You can even mix the (oil mix) marking blue with methylated spirits, and dissolved in shellac. My stuff starting with my own mix was nicer.

Tha basic way to get a marking fluid that will easily wipe off with alcohol (like rubbing alcohol or IPA) is to mix a little shellac (eBay) with the alcohol, and colour it with Prussian Blue, or any other dye. It dries fast, you can scribe a line, it's quite hard to rub off - until you use some alcohol.

You can raid any tube of artist's paint, and cut it with enough rubbing alcohol to null the linseed oil in it, and again, a little shellac gives you the scribe-able surface as it dries.

 

[graham-xrf]

I mistook what he was asking. The sharpies work for layout. I've used artis's oils mixed with some thinner. Works, probably not ideal.

Marking blue, as meaning the Henry Stuart, Sons & C.o "Micrometer" Brand Engineer's Marking Blue is Prussian Blue in oil. Just like artist's paint, except, I think, the oil might be different. It's messy stuff. Artist paint plain linseed oil will (eventually in weeks) dry out. Neither is directly suitable for layout. This stuff is for transfer spotting. Converting some into layout fluid using shellac was taught to me when I was a child. It has always worked OK.

Layout fluid is basically a thin stained fast-dry varnish that will remove with alcohol. Sure - start with artist's paint if you like, but you have to get over the oil, hence the alcohol. I experimented with dry pigment powder. I guess any varnish will work, but I used shellac. I would guess that stained up woodworker knotting solution, or French polish would also work.

Plating copper out of copper sulfate solution allows hyper-fine scribe lines. It's less forgiving if you make a mistake. Not so easy to just "paint over". It suits small fine work like for horologists