Also known as ‘Cold Black Oxide’, Chemical Blacking is a cold chemical process for iron and steel. The process is performed at room temperature and involves the auto-catalytic reaction of copper-selenide depositing on the stainless-steel surface. Applications for the chemical blacking process are in tooling and architectural finishing on steel, and creation of a patina for stainless steel.
The benefits of chemical black are:
- Aesthetically pleasing
- No dimensional change
- The post treatment provides protection against corrosion
- No distortion (unlike hot processes)