Rust bluing... A really cool process.

So a few weeks back, I picked up a Traditions .50 caliber flintlock rifle kit. The black powder guys at the range are infectious with the sparks, flash, bang and smoke.

Anyways. The kit came with a run of the mill beech stock which was acceptable for the price of the kit. I had to sand down the wood and some of the brass to get a smooth transition between the mating surfaces. Buffing out the brass was simple enough to do as well.

What was not quite so simple was figuring out what to do with the "white" barrel, i.e. a steel barrel with no finish. Traditional treatments are.
Leave the barrel "white" and let it rust naturally.
Treat the barrel with a rusting compound. This leaves it a dark brown color that accepts oil and prevents more rusting.
Blue the barrel.

I didn't like the option of rusting the barrel, so I went with rust bluing. With rust bluing process, you basically rust the metal, boil it for about 20 minutes and then use 0000 steel wool to knock off the black coating. The process takes Fe2O3 (rust) and converts it to Fe3O4 (magnetite).
So, I used a rusting solution, coated the barrel and put it in a hot shower for a few hours.
When it was nice and orange looking, I put it in a gutter on the stove full of boiling water.
I then lightly hit it with 0000 steel wool and cleaned it very well before repeating the process.

After 4 times, I ended up having a black beautiful looking barrel.
I will post pics later.

looking forward to seeing the results.

I'd like to see the comments your wife made when you were using her stove. :redneck:

Slim

To me , rust bluing is sort of a amazing magical transformation ... going from red rust to a beautiful blue finish . Simple to do but labor intensive as all get out .
Post some photo's of your project .

What comments did the wife have when she wanted to take a shower
Gary

Yeah, 4' gutter on the stove... My wife is a trooper when I do things like this.
The shower was no big deal either.

Here is the "white barrel" when I received the kit.
Attachment 281421

This was after 4 processes.
Attachment 281422

The picture does not do it justice. I sanded it all down with 600 grit before processing and then cleaned the heck out of it.

Way to go!
I like to do slow rust blue too. In fact, I look for projects to keep up on it.

Now Johnson paste wax the crap out of it and it will pop and be color stable .

Nice job, Mr. Baker. If you do more rust bluing look into a humidity cabinet. Easy to make project.

DG

For future reference, no need to sand past 320 grit.

Beautiful job. Congratulations!