Help, please: Slow rust bluing how to

[dlilazteca]

Hello, ive been searching the old threads but I dont seem to find anything dedicated to this subject.

Slow rust bluing

I've seen youtube videos and have a general idea on what I have to do, perfect for experimintation, my question is

1. what brand do you guys recommend the most. Are there different ending color variations depending on the brand? (meaning are some more blue in color and some blacker in color?)

Second Ive seen this video.

He uses both a carting wheel and 0000 steel whool.

2.. How do you get in there to remove the velvet rust from areas inside the slide that are hard to get to

4. how do you get the velvet out to the nooks in the engraving

3. he uses a humidity controlled box, I like it but can I make a smaller one for just handguns. (do they sell them)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuP4m6L95K4

I also found this site why so many types of blue???????

http://www.rustblue.com/

Thank you all for your help.

 

[rmgreen]

Carlos - I've been a professional gunmaker for 34+ years and use this method for the blackening of gun metal. Rust blue is the rusting of metal and then boiling or steaming to turn the red oxide (rust) into black oxide. Just like all things as you study this you will find it a subject like engraving that gets deeper and deeper as you learn more about it. Simply gun metal is made from various forms of steel from very low carbon simple steel to steels which have the addition of many alloying elements added and soft metal to very hard metal all of which affects the rusting. One formula may work fine with one type of steel and another formula may work well with another. Some steels rust quicker than others etc. color is also a consideration. Type of finish is a critical consideration. Some formula have more bite(microscopic pits) than others. The greater bite (this is also a consideration of the time the metal is allow to rust) results in a flatter finish less reflective to the higher luster finishes found on the finer gun that have a much higher luster finish. Of course the level of the polish has an effect on this final finish. You may have noticed on this forum the pictures of factory finishes found on the high production firearms (Ruger, Win, Rem etc) as compared to those of H&H, Purdey and others of like quality engraved M. Hunt, P. Coggan and others. The finisher has more to do with the end product than does the formula used but it is important. Bluing, stock finishing is like Engraving one can learn all about it on a simple one page article and then others spend an entire lifetime of study and think they have only scratched (pun intended) the surface. The effort made will determine the end results. Most of your questions will be answered with your first time to use this bluing method and like engraving I would start with a "Practice Plate". The humidity box is not need in high humidity area such as the South and NW etc. Many professionals like to use a humidity box as it results in a more consistent rust and time predictable work schedule. Roger G.

 

[rrupp]

Here are a few suggestions as I was taught and have used to good results. Brownell's sells several formulas all of which produce the same effect. In Rust bluing the color comes from the amount of coats and boils you do. Most of mine require 8 to ten coats depending on what I want, dark blue to black.
The most important thing is cleanliness, Polish by hand 400 grit max you want the pores of the steel open. then several cleanings with a cleaning solvent and finally with TEC. Use rubber or latex gloves from this part on. I have a humidity box I made myself, it is simply a plywood box with a sealed door and dowel rods to hang parts from. I have a light fixture in the base and a tray to put water in if the humidity is low. I use a sixty watt blub. I like to place my parts in there just for safe keeping if nothing else. After the first few coats I will let the parts set in the box for twenty four hours between boiling whether that helps or not, I don't know it was just the way I was taught. I do not use a carding wheel for me they can cause me grief by carding off to much oxide. I start with 00 steel wool that has been cleaned with TEC, as the coats build towards final color I move to a 000 wool to finish and blend. Don't be alarmed by the first few coats they are going to look gun metal gray then slowly the color builds. I finish off with a muslin wheel. For me the final color is always judged by sunlight. Hope this helps

 

[Texasgerd]

Carlos

Third voice echoing the above. I've used multiple mixes for rust bluing (correct term is browning) and spent lots of time learning. Many experts exist on the doublegunshop forum. Look there for some threads there too. I don't know if it would be worth the time and effort to become an expert, but dabbling in it can be fun, but frustrating.

Also (as said above), rust bluing won't have the same color as salt bluing. Many people don't understand this aspect.

Dan

 

[graniteguy52]

Carlos,
Take a look at Steve Hughes web site - http://www.finegunmaking.com/page60/page60.html - for a photo tutorial of rust bluing.

 

[Ron Spokovich]

An older large size paperback NRA gunsmithing book, don't know the year, of which you may find at a gun show, carried a good article & photo tutorial on the rust bluing method. In there, it explained all the steps. Essentially, you made a brew of aqua regia, of which pure electrolytic iron (powder) was part. I was fortunate enough to get some from a company that makes it. You'd need sterile tongs, cotton balls to apply the brew to the work, carbon steel wire cards (brush), a wooden box, a light bulb, neoprene plugs for the barrels, and if using steel wool make sure to dip it in alcohol or acetone to clean off the oil. The previous posts point in the right direction, and it takes some time. It's said that rust bluing has more durability than does conventional hot tank bluing. Of course, you'd protect your finished surface, when done. There's enough info out there to read over. . .you just have to find it, and books at the gun shows are a good place to start.

 

[dlilazteca]

thank you guys!

 

[LVVP]

Carlos,
Take a look at Steve Hughes web site - http://www.finegunmaking.com/page60/page60.html - for a photo tutorial of rust bluing.

Thank you Gordon for the link