About to jump into LMF

[mahkagari]

This is as much to get things straight in my head as let y'all ID any gaps in my process.

My ultimate goal is copying a museum piece. Sacrifice victim for practice is a Traditions .50 Kentucky pistol kit.

Here's the finish I'm going for: http://s288.photobucket.com/user/mahkagari/media/Rear_sight_zps8wnie9mt.jpg.html

Plan:

1) Remove any remaining wax with cloth and laquer thinner
2) Plug barrel with 1/2" wooden dowel
3) Apply LMF in single, even coat with a cloth without rubbing
4) Sweat box:
I'm in CO with pretty low humidity. After surfing around for ideas, I have 2" piece of ABS with a cap. I'm going to drill holes to thread baling wire to hang the barrel. That will stand in a mason jar of hot water. I have a home dry sauna (big cedar box big enough for one person to sit in with ceramic panel heaters) that goes up to 140F and can be run for 2 hours at a time. I'll stand the ABS-Mason jar contraption in that for 2 hours with the heaters on and let it sit for another hour or so as the sauna cools.

5) After first sweat, apply second coat sparingly, only enough to dampen barrel
6) Scale with denim and hot water
7) Repeat LMF application, sweat, and scale 4-5 times until desired color
8) Wash with hot water and baking soda solution, use a toothbrush for crevices
9) Rinse with hot water
10) Heat barrel to 120-130F
11) Apply motor oil and cure for 24 hours
12) Polish with soft cloth
13) Finish with gun oil

Miss anything? For heating the barrel, I can use the oven for a pistol, but I'll need to trust myself enough that I can heat it evenly with the torch to do a 36" barrel.

 

[Vaino]

The finish shown in the photo will not be produced w/ the procedure you stated. You'll end up w/ a nice matte finished browning. A brisk rub w/ steel wool might come close.....Fred

 

[necchi]

The finish shown in the photo will not be produced w/ the procedure you stated. You'll end up w/ a nice matte finished browning. A brisk rub w/ steel wool might come close.....Fred

Agreed, when you do the finish as you describe, you'll have to rub most of it off with steel wool.
The best thing about it is you are using LMF. If your not happy you can easily take it all off and start again.
LMF and the finish you want will have a small learning curve,, but again it's easy to work with.

 

[mahkagari]

The finish shown in the photo will not be produced w/ the procedure you stated. You'll end up w/ a nice matte finished browning. A brisk rub w/ steel wool might come close.....Fred

D'oh. Yes, I'd seen that somewhere. That I'll need to build up a good layer and then scrub it with steel wool. So, between 7 and 8 plan to build it up and then rub it down with steel wool then proceed with curing?

Or am I just going totally the wrong direction? The original looks like it has some pitting in the patina that I don't feel the need to replicate.

 

[don hepler]

It must be humid, here in Virginia, I didn't go to near that much trouble and it turned out perfect.

I degreased the metal, applied the LMF browning solution, laid it on the work bench, keep an eye on it for a few hours, maybe overnight, wiped it with a piece of duck cloth, added a little more, watched it again, wiped it off with water and baking soda, applied heavy coat of Rem-Oil. Done.

Just take a small piece of metal and give it a try.

Sounds like you're over-thinking a simple process

 

[necchi]

Or am I just going totally the wrong direction?

Take it easy, don't over think it. You'll be able to see what's happening as you card. You'll know when to move ahead with the steel wool.
p.s.
If/when you use the steel wool,, know that steel wool has an oil coating. If you want to proceed with the rusting process of the LMF,, you'll have to de-grease before the LMF will rust evenly (or) wash the steel wool to remove it's oil's before using it.

 

[M. De Land]

This is the color and texture LMF will give you:

 

[necchi]

This is the color and texture LMF will give you:

Until you rub it off with steel wool,, Right?
Or does it stay like that forever no matter what you do?

 

[Vaino]

Shown below is a bbl treated w/ 44/40 cold blue and then cut back w/ 0000 steel wool. It does look nice, although it isn't the brown color you pictured. After rubbing back, the bbl was coated w/ CLP to prevent rusting. All it took to achieve the color was 10 minutes. Below that is a pic of what you can expect using your procedure.

Using green Scotchbrite will speed things along w/ reducing the browning and then finish up w/ the steel wool.....Fred

 

[mahkagari]

So next question would be how do people think the original was done?

 

[Vaino]

Don't really know whether the finish of the bbl that you showed was the remnants of a brown, the result of aging or a redo. Seeing there's some pitting, it's possible that the bbl was redone....the finish doesn't coincide w/ the pitting. Don't have a clue as to the original finish....Fred

 

[mahkagari]

Don't really know whether the finish of the bbl that you showed was the remnants of a brown, the result of aging or a redo. Seeing there's some pitting, it's possible that the bbl was redone....the finish doesn't coincide w/ the pitting. Don't have a clue as to the original finish....Fred

The original was a fullstock that was broken/cut and repaired/customized to a halfstock with an oak underrib on the barrel. My plan is to go with the original fullstock. I don't plan to recreate the warp in the ramrod or various scratches, either. With that in mind, an original brown finish should work.

 

[Vaino]

What is an "original brown finish"?.....Fred

 

[mahkagari]

What is an "original brown finish"?.....Fred

Just regular brown finish. As though it was originally browned and without any further aging or artificial wearing, etc. E.g. what's in your second picture.

 

[M. De Land]

I use a wire wheel with .003 wire made just for carding rust blue or brown finishes.
The pitting left by either method of finish,if seven or eight applications and then cabinet cured, will not be removed by wire wheel or steel wool.
The wire wheel is far and away the better method for blending a finish in my opinion.

 

[necchi]

Have you looked at his photo? He's not much interested in getting a blended/even finish.

 

[M. De Land]

Yeah, I did look at it and I don't think he can get that finish with LMF.
I think he'd stand a better chance of duplicating it with something like Burchwood Casey brown.

 

[Pete G]

The finish you are searching for can be accomplished by first browning the barrel, then sand it with a 400 grit until the barrel corners are bright, then apply a coat of cold blue and the rub that back with 0000 steel wool. since the brown is merely an undercoat you don't need the elaborate setup you have described. Just follow the normal instructions. You might want to spread out the applications over several days since you humidity is so low.

Incidentally, a heat gun is much better for heating a barrel than a torch.

 

[don hepler]

Pete, you are right on.