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Fireplace blackening procedures?

WE are looking for know-how, equipment and chemicals to blacken steel made home fireplaces. We just want our products (fireplaces for homes, 40 x 60 x 1200 cm size appr.) to look black and to stay that way!

Petar Maric
- Sl. Brod, Croatia
1999

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1999

Dear Mr.Maric,

One answer is that the cheapest process to blacken your steel home fireplaces is the so called "black oxide" process which is a hot (140°C) alkaline (caustic) treatment. You will need a treatment line including tanks for cleaning- flow water rinse-acid pickling-flow water rinse-black oxide-flow water rinse-emulsion oil. There is also another process for luxury articles including bright nickel plating and plating of a gray-anthracite nickel alloy, but more expensive.

Emmanuel Popesco
- France

I bought and installed a free-standing wood burner ('The Earth Stove') myself just last week; it's really a very nice stove, but ...

It was painted black and came with instructions for how to do the required 3-stage 'burn and cool' curing process. It was a total pain in the neck, with the stove unusable for three days, and the house smelling unbearably like an insecticide factory for those three days plus a few more days as the paint cured under heat.

By all means, market your line with a black oxide finish rather than black paint!

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
1999