How dose home Blueing work?

[Alaksa girl]

Has any one tried Blueing a Barrle at home??? Do you know how it works best??? Or should I even try to do it??? Thank you for your input!! :)

[John Allen]

Google it, this will give you a basic understanding.

Here is some good info on blueing types from Brownells http://www.brownells.com/aspx/learn/learndetail.aspx?lid=11043

[DeanWinchester]

...it usually doesn't. YMMV

[kencha]

What type of home bluing?

Hot caustic bluing? Leave it to the pros. Cold bluing, like with the Casey Birchwood stuff? It's really hard to get an even finish, the finish is not durable either. Best for just small touchups.

Rust bluing is easy to do at home, requires little in the way of equipment, and can give excellent, durable results. It takes a long time to accomplish. Most of the time is just spent waiting though, so you can be doing other things.

I just finished my first rust-bluing job, so I'm no pro. I had a little bit of a problem, I think due to me not letting it rust long enough initially, but was very happy with the results.

Lots of information here and all over the net on rust bluing.

[codgerville@zianet.com]

Has any one tried Blueing a Barrle at home??? Do you know how it works best??? Or should I even try to do it??? Thank you for your input!! :)
Depends on what you use. I have used the old Neidner formula rust blueing involving nitric acid, hydrochloric acid, distilled water etc. Lots of work but gives a beautiful finish. Also have used Brownells Oxpho-Blue, which I like, and it is easy to use. Have blued, or blackened, if you prefer, guns using Precision Brand Tool Black which I got from MSC. Preparation of the metal is key to the whole process, it must be clean, and oil free.

[rattletrap1970]

Any of your cold bluing is garbage and best used for touch up's (if you cant figure out rust bluing). I have used every manufacture of rust bluing compounds including some from a book published in 1914. I like Mark Lee express blue. A pair of nitrile gloves, a torch, carding wheel and a pot of boiling (in my case city tap) water and I can do a 1911 frame in around an hour and change.

1. Clean and thouroughly degrease
2. Finish the metal to be blued to the desired surface finish you want (bluing doesn't hide anything). Rust Blue like a 320 or so finish.
3. Clean and thouroughly degrease
4. Put on some nitrile gloves
5. Get a pot of water boiling
6. Warm the part being blued with a torch till its just uncomfortable to hold
7. Rub express blue on in long complete strokes. (the heat will make it dry almost instantly)
8. Boil in pot of water for 10-15 min. (time is dictated by part size, you want it to reach same temp as water for at least 5 min)
9. Remove from boiling water and blow water off leaving no watermarks.
10. Brush under a carding wheel (available from brownells, basically a very fine wire wheel)
11. REPEAT from step 2
12. Keep repeating till you get the color you want (darker with more repetitions, but as some point the steel simply won't rust anymore "thats good")
13. Warm metal up with torch and oil liberally, and leave till next day. Then wipe down well with lint free absorbant cloth.

It sounds like a lot, but once you get rolling it goes by quick.

http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51/rattletrap1970/Guns/Colt%20Gold%20Cup/b48f74b5dbb4e61c66bb5438bbb946ee_zpsa83ec251.jpg (http://s885.photobucket.com/user/rattletrap1970/media/Guns/Colt%20Gold%20Cup/b48f74b5dbb4e61c66bb5438bbb946ee_zpsa83ec251.jpg.h tml)

http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac51/rattletrap1970/Guns/Colt%20Gold%20Cup/f969d5d06965f26c6239812338992463_zps9de16608.jpg (http://s885.photobucket.com/user/rattletrap1970/media/Guns/Colt%20Gold%20Cup/f969d5d06965f26c6239812338992463_zps9de16608.jpg.h tml)

[Alaksa girl]

What dose YMMV stand for????

[Alaksa girl]

Very nice ... thanks for the input !!! :) looks like that works very well :)

[HangFireW8]

Your Mileage May Vary.

[Deep Six]

I've actually had really great luck on one Mauser rifle (barrel+action) I did with brownell's Oxpho blue. I started with all parts polished out to 600 grit. Then you boil the small parts in hot soapy water. Larger parts you clean by hand. Then degrease with acetone. Repeat this several times until the parts are 100% free of grease, oil, dirt, or other contaminants. Now heat the part up with a heat gun until it's too hot to touch. Immediately hit it with a swab dipped in the bluing solution. Repeat this process as many times as necessary (I was doing between 12 and 20) to achieve the level of depth and darkness desired, blending the finish using steel wool between passes. When you are satisfied with it, slather a thick coat of Hoppe's gun oil over the entire surface and let sit for a few days, then wipe dry with a rag and apply another coat of oil before storing the part. My Mauser really turned out looking sharp with this method - super deep and glossy blue. Then again it probably took longer than hot tank chemical bluing would have.

[500MAG]

I plan on refinishing a Model 94 I picked up and am going to try airbrushing the Birchwood & Casey Perma Blue. There's a fellow who posted online his whole process he used on his 94 and it came out real nice.

[Alaksa girl]

Thanks I am working on blueing... I like what I am getting but it will take me a while to get it to the color I want!!! But I think it's going to work well!!! :) I am using Birchwood cleaner-degreaser and Birchwood Super Blue! I like it so far... The steel wool really did blend the finish nice! Thanks for the tip!!! :)

[Bullshop Junior]

Thanks I am working on blueing... I like what I am getting but it will take me a while to get it to the color I want!!! But I think it's going to work well!!! :) I am using Birchwood cleaner-degreaser and Birchwood Super Blue! I like it so far... The steel wool really did blend the finish nice! Thanks for the tip!!! :)

Where did tou pick that stuff up at? I never find any in stores and cant get anyone to ship anythin like that to ak. I have a 12ga i need to reblue, although am also considering parkerizing or maybe duracoat. I have it powder coated right now but its coming off.

[AlaskanGuy]

A local friend surcumed to my wife's smile and gave her his left over from a recent bluing job.... I wish i had the power over guys that a nice smile brings....lol

[Bullshop Junior]

A local friend surcumed to my wife's smile and gave her his left over from a recent bluing job.... I wish i had the power over guys that a nice smile brings....lol

I hear that lol. My wife could probably gdt away with robbing a bank with her smile.

[AlaskanGuy]

Dont just say it jr... Post it... Pic is needed for verification... :bigsmyl2:

[Bullshop Junior]

Dont let your wife catch you asking for photos of other women, but you asked for it.

86131

I just robbed that from her fb profile. She has better ones but my phone doesnt like searching through them.

[thehouseproduct]

I've blued reloading dies using drain cleaner and a camp stove.
Link to follow:

[thehouseproduct]

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=113049

[AlaskanGuy]

Lol.... Yep, you were right JR.... A bank robber for sure.... Better put a real ring on her finger soon...

[Bullshop Junior]

Im working on it lol. Ive been having a horrible time finding work.

[AlaskanGuy]

Always easy to find work here in cordova....

[Bullshop Junior]

If i had the money to get there lol. I cant drive there right?

[AlaskanGuy]

How you gunna buy my jet if you dont have no money... Better buy a ring first.... Them gals dont wait forever.... Your a handy guy.. Make one and get some gold to make it look purty... A Wedding band with a gold nugget is a great choice. If you dont have one, pm me and i will trade you something for the one that i have that would be about right.. And being made by you really says something to a lady... You can drive here if you jump on the ferry with your beater truck in valdez.... Snow shovelers got 30 bucks an hour here... But they earn every penny.

[Bullshop Junior]

Lol. Im sure they do.

[flounderman]

The mark Lee express is the way to go. You can derust with fine steel wool but degrease the steel wool with acetone first. You can heat the metal in boiling water instead of the torch. after the first time derusting don't swab the blue on very heavy because it will remove what you just did. just a light coat is enough. I have tried a lot of methods and I wish I had used Mark Lee the first time because I would never have used anything else. You need a tank to boil the parts in and the rest is cheap and simple.

[dragon813gt]

So has anyone done a barreled action? My Grandfather's Arisaka Sporter is in need of some help. I should have never pulled the stock off because I knew there was rust hiding there. I'm wondering what I could use for tanks and a heat source. I will not be attempting a bluing job in my, my girl doesn't cook, kitchen.

[rattletrap1970]

I've rust blued barreled actions, no big deal there. You just plug the barrel with a couple silicone corks. Your only maxing out at 212 degrees and you're pre warming the barrel close to 150, so pressure in the barrel is negligible.

[KrisR]

This has been one informative thread, lot of questions I had on bluing, touch ups, And finding one of those Alaskan Gals...............

[starmac]

I know of a few Florida girls up here (my sons wife is one) but You might have slim pickins looking for an Alaska girl in Florida. lol

[beezapilot]

OK- I'm happy that there are products that will let us novices can make a go of a utilitarian finish and am looking forward to giving the process a go. A nice old fella, in the process of hanging up his spurs, gave me his BPS last night and it looks like exactly what it is, his "go to" gun that lived behind the seat of his pickup truck since 1977. The bore is shiney, the action smooth, BUT the outside of the gun is dirty enough to be sold as real estate with an unbelieveable patina of rust, cigarette ash, caked grease, dirt, fish scales..... SO my question is about surface prep- my plan is to strip it down and run it through the blast cabinet (I use walnut shell as a medium), then wet paper & cold blue.
1- Good plan?
2-Anything you can do about rust pits?
3- Good sources for new wood?

As a side note- the dang thing kicked hard enough to loosten fillings and bug eyes... never even SEEN 3 1/2 inch magnum buckshot shells before.... whatta cannon...

[rattletrap1970]

For a workhorse gun that will see the elements... Well.. Everyone has their preference. Mine is Zinc Parkerizing. I love the way that grey looks on most everything. You heat it up and soak in oil then rub down till dry and it will weather a lot. I Zinc Parkerized a Stillson wrench I found in my yard then left it on the back deck since August.. Still no rust on it.

I find that if you buff down pits with a unitized buffing wheel, then abrasive blast with 180 - 220 aluminum oxide then parkerize.. It hides a multitude of sins and ends up pretty tough.