Stuarts is spotting blue, it’s designed to be non-drying. I suspect that you are looking for layout blue which you paint on a surface and it dries quite quickly so that you can then scribe setting out lines on it.

I normally use a refillable Edding 850 marker, though I do have some copper sulphate solution too.

Keep the Stuarts, you’ll need it for other jobs, but somewhere dry, so the tin doesn’t rust or it will get very messy.

Bill

For marking out, you need a spirit blue., which is thin and very runny

Thicker blues, such a “Micrometer” are intended for checking flatness, or concentricity of surfaces (Such checking the match of tapers)

Howard

Layout fluid I’d fine if you have the need to cover large workpieces. For smaller stuff, permanent jumbo markers are much more convenient and a lot less messy in my experience.

Depends on what it’s for, large areas or small.   I’m mostly small.

Unbranded layout blue is sometimes sold by hobby suppliers, but it comes and goes; possibly because a leaky bottle of dye causes havoc in transit!

Dykem is by far the most common brand, available in Red and Blue, brushed or in a spray can.   Not all stockists keep the full range.  Red vs Blue is largely personal preference I think, but there are probably times when it’s useful to highlight two or more surfaces in different colours.   Dykem is a serious product, quite expensive, and they recommend cleaning the metal with their preparation fluid, and removing it with their proprietary cleaner.  It doesn’t come off too easily.

Dykem is over the top in my workshop, and – when coverage is needed – I just splash on some unbranded blue.   However, buying a DRO for my mill removed much of the need for conventional marking out.  Having established a few references on the job, it’s generally easy to accurately move the table into position, and less work than painting, scribing, centre-popping and cleaning up.  I rarely do old-school marking out now, but it does depend on what your workshop is doing.

Mostly, I find it easier to mark out with a felt-tip pen, only applied where needed, not all over.  Cheap felt-tips are usable, but the more expensive brands have better depth and wearing qualities.  I’m using Berol at the moment, non-permanent, because Tesco’s were selling them reduced!

Home-made.

At a pinch adding Meths to Stuarts paste produces a mildly inferior layout blue fluid – they’re both based on Methylene Blue dye, which is soluble in alcohol.

In the good old days, steel was painted with acidified Copper Sulphate solution, which leaves a thin layer of Copper on the metal.  Works well, but even worse than dye to sort out when it’s spilled, and being toxic means it has to be handled with care.    Another mix involved meths, size (animal glue), and ‘Whiting’.  Whiting seems to mean ‘any cheap white pigment’ – finely ground chalk, or Zinc Oxide.   Not as effective as Copper Sulphate, much stirring needed, and messy, but it can be painted on any metal.

These days felt tips are an excellent option unless a lot of metal has to be covered.

Dave

On 10 February 2024 at 17:30 Mark Rand Said:

On 10 February 2024 at 09:41 SillyOldDuffer Said:

 

Dykem is by far the most common brand, available in Red and Blue, brushed or in a spray can

 

I would humbly suggest that Dykem is a product of the North American colonies and is not the most common brand on these shores. Spectracolour (also marketed as Spectracolor) is UK made and more likely to be found in engineering suppliers.

I’ve got a gallon of the stuff so if anyone is local in North Kent bring a pot and you can have enough to last you years.

Not heard of Spectracolour before, but searching for it on the web finds several sellers.   Made by Walters and Walters who turn out to have a large range of other marking products such as crayons, french chalk etc.

 

Spectracolor may not be as easy to find as other brands. It didn’t work for me in any case

If you take an empty washed out and dry plastic washing up liquid bottle to your local engineering firm, they just might fill it for a box of tea bags. Worth a try. John

rtefillable marker has just arrived and well made it is so looking forward to finding a non messy way to fill it up with dykem.