Rust Blue question

[Twhessler]

Hi
I have just completed my rust blue project using Brownells rust blue.
The finish came out fine, but I must say everything is black there is nothing blue about it.
I really don't wont it black it doesn't look right in my eyes, I was hoping for dark blue.

Does anyone have experience like this ?
Can this be changed ?
Maybe I did something wrong, but being that the finish is fine I think it's right just the wrong color.
Thanks for any advice, Tom

[aspangler]

You might have used one or two coats too many. The more coats the darker it gets.

[Twhessler]

Thanks for the reply

The butt plate was finished after two coats and it is pure black, and nice Finnish .
The barrel and receiver got six coats before it was uniform, not sure if it was ever dark blue or not.
Thanks, Tom

[waksupi]

The various gun metals seem to color differently. Kinda like the box o' chocolates thing, I think.

[gnoahhh]

"Bluing" is a misnomer too. The only blue tinted finish you're likely to see is on guns/parts blued by methods other than simple rust or caustic bluing . A dark charcoal grey with just a hint of a blue cast when caught in just the right light, is normal for a rust blued object. There may be rust bluing solutions out there that provide a "blue" finish, but I haven't stumbled upon them. Then, there's what Waksupi said about different steels reacting differently too. Personally, I like the charcoal grey but if someone comes along with more insight toward a "bluer" finish I'll be paying attention too.

[Bent Ramrod]

I've read that if the rusting solution is dilute enough and it has been allowed to rust just long enough, and the carding is just enough enough, that the black oxide particles on the surface of the part will be small enough so that only the shortest wavelength light (i.e., blue) will reflect off the otherwise blackened surface, giving a blue highlight to the surface of the part. I have rust blued several guns and obviously never have gotten this delicate balance, as the parts all come out black or dark charcoal gray.

The way I got the blue color was by cheating. Some of the early rusting formulas in Angier's book contain copper sulfate, put in there to coat the part with a thin wash of copper to show you where you have already applied the solution. So at the end of the rusting and carding process there is still a tiny amount of copper plated on the surface of the part. I wiped the part down with ammonium sulfide solution (liver of sulfur) before the last pass with the rusting solution and boiled and carded after the last pass. The copper sulfide gives a blue highlight to the otherwise blackened surface of the part. I didn't figure the copper sulfide would survive much more carding so there is where I stopped. However the color has held up as well as the rest of the finish to normal handling.

Ammonium sulfide smells terrible and can be poisonous to those who are careless with chemicals. I used to work in a chemical lab and had access to the stuff. Here is a picture of a barrel done with the copper sulfate containing rust blue solution plus the sulfur treatment attached to an action which had the copper sulfate rust blue solution without the treatment. I hope the difference shows up; my photography skills aren't great.

[Reg]

Nice looking old 44 !!

Different formulations will often show as a different color but then again different steels and I often think, different water will affect appearance.
The old Neidner formula will give a bit more of the bluish coloring but sometimes will turn a bit very dark purple after so many coats. I still prefer it for bluing any of the older guns especially the single shots.
A heads up.
Many older single shot actions and especially shotgun actions often have a high iron content and often if you can get them to color at all will often turn out with a strong purple cast, same with Eddystone Enfields. The Eddystone was due to the heat treatment more so than metal content.
Also a bunch of the post 94 Winchesters will really add to your vocabulary.