Grinder heat turns nickel blue

dave gibson

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This is my first time doing this so if I'm doing something stupid it's natural. I cut some belt buckle blanks out of nickel. The cuts were a little wobbly so I went to the grinder to smooth the edges before dressing them out with files and sandpaper. The heat from the grinder turned the edge blue & brown.

I plan on silver soldering and pickleing them, will the pickle take that color off or is there another step I'm missing.
 

Marrinan

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Equal time in water and on grinder/don't hog as hard. Remove discoloration with appropriate sanding. Be aware you may have changed the hardness at the edge when cutting your borders. This can be neutralized. - Fred
 

monk

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best to clamp in a vise with pads and use a double cut file. it's quick wo. the problem of discoloration. the other way-- clamp the file and drag the blank across the file. this 2nd way better assures a good, straight edge
 

dlilazteca

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I use my knife grinder, you can dip a cloth in water and clip it on top the belt, dragging on it and as it drags over the belt feeds a steady flow of water that keeps your item cool.

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dave gibson

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Aug 18, 2009
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Livermore,CA
Thanks for all the input, everything cleaned up fine with files and sandpaper. So next I get to learn to silver solder the backplate hardware. Once I get that figured out I'm in the belt buckle business!
 

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