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Thread: bluing tank

  1. #1
    Boolit Master
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    bluing tank

    Anybody here found a way around spending the crazy amount Brown-give me all your money-ell's charges for a tank to boil a barreled action? I only need it to boil stuff in water in the course of rust bluing.

  2. #2
    Boolit Buddy Casting Timmy's Avatar
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    Weld up a mild steel tank, don't use galvinized or Stainless steel. Don't braze it together either as the copper in the brazing rod will ruin the solution.

    Don;t forget a lid and make it deep enough so the water is a littel bit away from the top edge.

  3. #3
    Boolit Buddy handyman25's Avatar
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    mild steel is correct. Make a angle iron frame to hang the tank off of, then you can use sheet stock which will cost less.

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    On the occasions I have had to do rust bluing, I made the tank from PVC. Cap the ends, and cut out an area to allow the metal to be put in. I like to pre-heat the metal some, but don't think it is necessary. Bring distilled water to a boil, and pour it over the metal immediately.
    The solid soft lead bullet is undoubtably the best and most satisfactory expanding bullet that has ever been designed. It invariably mushrooms perfectly, and never breaks up. With the metal base that is essential for velocities of 2000 f.s. and upwards to protect the naked base, these metal-based soft lead bullets are splendid.
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  5. #5
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    Midway used to sell them a few years ago, 30.00 IIRC.
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  6. #6
    Boolit Master
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    I took Waksupi's advise, with a slight variation. I capped a long piece of 2" PVC, dropped the rusted barreled receiver in (After making it hot with a hot air gun), poured in a gallon of boiling distilled water, capped it, let it sit for 15 minutes, dumped the water, and voilá- perfect black. Carded, repeated 6 more times- perfect even blue. Looks like, well, a custom rust blue job. Thanks!

    Lots of subtle details that spell the difference between a frustrating failure and a professional looking job. Once the learning curve was surmounted, it did indeed become a simple (but very time consuming) operation. The next one will go quicker and easier. I can't wait to start it!

    (Yes, a proper boiling tank is on order.)

  7. #7
    Moderator Emeritus / Trusted loob groove dealer

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    Quote Originally Posted by gnoahhh View Post
    I took Waksupi's advise, with a slight variation. I capped a long piece of 2" PVC, dropped the rusted barreled receiver in (After making it hot with a hot air gun), poured in a gallon of boiling distilled water, capped it, let it sit for 15 minutes, dumped the water, and voilá- perfect black. Carded, repeated 6 more times- perfect even blue. Looks like, well, a custom rust blue job. Thanks!

    Lots of subtle details that spell the difference between a frustrating failure and a professional looking job. Once the learning curve was surmounted, it did indeed become a simple (but very time consuming) operation. The next one will go quicker and easier. I can't wait to start it!

    (Yes, a proper boiling tank is on order.)
    I am famous for knowing how to do things cheap!
    The solid soft lead bullet is undoubtably the best and most satisfactory expanding bullet that has ever been designed. It invariably mushrooms perfectly, and never breaks up. With the metal base that is essential for velocities of 2000 f.s. and upwards to protect the naked base, these metal-based soft lead bullets are splendid.
    John Taylor - "African Rifles and Cartridges"

    Forget everything you know about loading jacketed bullets. This is a whole new ball game!


  8. #8
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    What type of blue worked with hot water? Was an oil/water bath necessary after that?

    I did some hot bluing with my dad. The iron pipe stove (natural gas ) is gone, but I have the tanks.
    Rich or poor, it's good to have money.

  9. #9
    Boolit Grand Master uscra112's Avatar
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    Rather than welding, you can FOLD a tank from a sheet of mild steel. Try it out with a sheet of paper and you'll get the idea. You'll need a length of wood to act as a form. A 4x4 would be about right. It's just like wrapping Christmas presents. A large mallet and several large C-clamps will be needed. You might get a sheet-metal shop to do the two long bends on a press brake.
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  10. #10
    Boolit Master
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    Hiram, rust bluing doesn't involve hot caustic baths. The steel is rusted in a controlled way (with proprietary solutions of very weak acids- someone correct me if I'm wrong on that score) and then put in boiling water which merely converts the red rust to black, which is then carded off (with a soft wire wheel or steel wool) to reveal the black stain (for lack of a better term) on the surface of the metal. When I say "rust" don't think of it as the garden variety of rust we all know and love. The rust in this case is very fine almost velvety in nature. If you let it get really rusty, you've screwed the pooch and you must start over.

  11. #11
    Boolit Master nanuk's Avatar
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    gnoahhh: do you have a recipe that worked well for you?

  12. #12
    Boolit Master
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    Yes. The recipe called for sending virtual dollars over the internet to Brownell's and getting in return a bottle of their proprietary stuff. If by "recipe" you mean what steps did I follow, I won't bore you with all the mistakes I made thinking I knew more than the manufacturer. Follow the instructions to the "T" and you'll be alright. Start out doing a couple of the small parts to get the hang of it, then go whole-hog. I boiled the small parts in an old stainless steel stew pot. The real problems started when it came time to do the barreled action, which prompted my original query. I now have a tank on order from Midway, even though the PVC tube idea worked well.

    This was quite an adventure. Now that I've gotten the kinks worked out I can't wait to do more. A severely rusted/pitted (but perfect working condition and very accurate) pre-War Colt Woodsman is tempting me. That whole thing can be boiled in the stew pot.

    For anybody tempted to try rust bluing on their own, I have a couple of observations. First follow directions perfectly. Shortcuts will bite you in the ***. Second, it's very, very, time consuming. Hand polishing parts down to 400-600 grit while being careful to maintain crispness of lines and lettering is not a quick operation and will be mind numbing- but totally necessary. If all you want is a quick job, give to a gunsmith who will wheel polish it and caustic blue it. If you want old world looks and craftsmanship, do it yourself or be prepared to spend extra to have someone else do it.

  13. #13
    Boolit Master
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    Rust Bluing STICKY!??

  14. #14
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by gnoahhh View Post

    If all you want is a quick job, give to a gunsmith who will wheel polish it and caustic blue it. If you want old world looks and craftsmanship, do it yourself or be prepared to spend extra to have someone else do it.
    Note: that is NOT a condemnation of the run-of-the-mill bluing operations in small gunshops. A smith has to eat too, and time constraints balanced with what customers are willing to pay dictate the most efficient means to an end.

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by waksupi View Post
    On the occasions I have had to do rust bluing, I made the tank from PVC. Cap the ends, and cut out an area to allow the metal to be put in. I like to pre-heat the metal some, but don't think it is necessary. Bring distilled water to a boil, and pour it over the metal immediately.
    ^THIS.

    Thanks for the tip waksupi! It's working well for me, too.

    ATTN. MOD.: Sticky?

  16. #16
    Boolit Master


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    This is of interest to me also. I too have a candidate for this in an old High Standard 22 semi-auto that was improperly stored by a previous owner. Thus it came to me as a good deal. I would like to do something like this to it. So if I have a vote, I'd like to see a rust bluing sticky too.
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  17. #17
    Boolit Grand Master

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    PVC rinse tanks and for the boiling tank take a 6" square tubing and weld on ends and then cut out the top. If you make a lid is also serves as a oven for dura coat. Mine from scrap was less than $20.

  18. #18
    Boolit Master nanuk's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by gnoahhh View Post
    Yes. The recipe called for sending virtual dollars over the internet to Brownell's and getting in return a bottle of their proprietary stuff.
    actually, I meant what was the "Salts"?

    because at first read, it sounded like Waksupi just put metal in a tube and poured boiling water over it...

    but I am now thinking there was a step or three previous
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  19. #19
    Boolit Man
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    I slow rust blue / german bluing, i have a custom built tank made from stainless I also have a smaller aluminum tank for doing small parts and hand guns. aluminum and stainless are not a problem for slow rust bluing

  20. #20
    Boolit Master

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    Just to add a warning here about prep for bluing of any kind, lot's of discussion everywhere about how to get the blue to work properly but it seems proper prep just get's passing discussion. However poor preparation has not only caused failure of the bluing it has ultimately RUINED a great many guns being blued! Improper sanding and buffing has ruined many, many fine firearms and will undoubtedly ruin many more because once the crisp lines, lettering, etc have been blurred the damage is done and it's not something that can be undone- after the metal is gone there is no putting it back! There is much to know about how to properly polish a part prior to bluing, more than can be covered in a short post, so learning how to properly sand and polish should be the first consideration but unfortunately it often gets overlooked until the damage is done. Doing this right can be labor intensive and requires a great deal of attention to detail and the attitude that "aw that's good enough" or "that little bit won't matter" will result in poor results every time, remember bluing will only magnify blemishes and it will not hide ANYTHING! However by far the worst mistake is sanding away the crispness of the lettering and rounding off edges, if a person has any questions at all about how to do this properly they need to learn BEFORE attempting to work on anything of value because once it has been ruined it will stay ruined, the metal will be gone and the original crispness of the firearm will be gone forever.
    Last edited by oldred; 03-06-2013 at 02:24 PM.

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check