rust bluing

[cwbyengraver]

I would like to know if anyone has any experience with rust bluing over engraving I have seen guns that were rust blued the seemed real fine I read you have to card the finish a few times I would like to know what carding is and will it ruin the engraving thanks

 

[thefox]

rust blueing

Hi. I've just noticed your inquiry about blueing. I am no gunsmith, but I've had several guns done with the cold blue method (double barrels) A friend of mine is a gunsmith, and he takes care of what I have to do. It is a very nice durable finish, and it is about all you can do on double barrels, unless you want to take a chance on separating your barrels. The carding is nothing but brushing the parts after each coat of acid solution is applied, let set in a humin warm place,and then diped in boiling water, let dry, and then "card" the rust scale off resulting in a nice durable blue-black finish. A real fine brush is used that won't hurt the engraving or finish. The process is done several times til it quits "taking on color". I am sending you the address of a site that I printed out a few years ago. If it's not there, let me know, and I will sent you a copy of mine. Go to http:www.finishing.com/4400-45/4469.html and all of the information is there. Browneels probably has what you need. Bryan

 

[cwbyengraver]

thanks for the info I have pilkertons rust blue now I need to get to work

 

[Ron Smith]

cwbyengraver, carding is usually done with steel wool by hand, or a wire wheel at slow rotation and is the easiest. Follow the instructions on the bottle and you should get good results. Make absolutely sure you get it clean and don't touch it with your hands or fingers. Can't have any residue of any kind and you might have to go through the process several times. Carding won't hurt the engraving other than burnish it a bit providing it is not too fine and intricate. The rust blue will leave a slight fine etch and satiney blue that shows up bolder engraving nicely. You might damage very fine bulino lines and dots by carding and they don't show up well anyway on bluing. Good luck!..Ron S

 

[KSnyder]

carding rust blue can also be done with a coarse Turkish towel. The oxide from the rust blue is very fine & doesn't need a heavy hand, also keep in mind most steel wool is oiled and can be a real problem. When I use steel wool i wash it in acetone first to remove the oil.
btw, most cold browning solutions will produce a blue black also. Just have to boil the parts.
good luck,
Kent

 

[BJREBUCK]

The carding process is generally not a concern, it's the etching of the surface that causes problems. If the
engraving has fine shading cuts you may want to consider hot bluing instead. The exception , of course is soft soldered (lead bearing solder) parts, shotgun bbls, sight ramps, etc. which cannot be caustic blued.
If you examine a rust blued surface under magnification it looks like moon scape or as if it were a sand blasted surface. Also if you are planning to gray back the engraving this etching is really noticable.
The longer you let the surface rust between cycles, the deeper (coarser) the etching. It usually takes 5 to
6 cycles to produce a nice even finish.