antique barrel finish techniques

[dalebertram]

Does anyone have a reference for techniques and products used to get interesting antique barrel finishes? Here is a link to a page from a catalog showing a knife with a very beautiful finish on the blade. Does anybody have any ideas as to how one would produce such a finish?
http://www.trackofthewolf.com/(S(d...ID=9&SUBID=58&STYLEID=224&PARTNUM=KNIFE-SCALP

 

[mazo kid]

Maybe bleach or muriatic acid?

 

[Zonie]

dalebertram:
The finish on that knife looks to me like it was not descaled after it had been heated red hot and quenched in water.

If you like it that's fine with me but I personally feel it looks a bit shoddy. I doubt that anyone in the 1700-1800s would have wanted to own something that looked like that.

As for antiquing steel parts there are many different ways of getting many different looks.

As mazo kid said, bleach will rapidly "age" steel.
It leaves a very pocked rough rusty finish and it works fast.

Others have found that applying one of the Cold Blues made for guns and then using steel wool to wear most of the color off gives an interesting look.

For a mildly frosted look that can be combined with Cold Blue, some of the Browning solutions or bleach can be achieved using Muratic acid, or even Naval Jelly. The Naval Jelly isn't supposed to eat steel but it will leave a frosted look if it is left on the metal for a few hours.

I'm sure others will give some more ideas. We have a lot of them here.

 

[Randy MacInnes]

You can also give this a try and see if you like it. Take your barrel to a auto body shop ask if they can do glass bead sand blasting? If you want to see if you like it plug both ends of the barrel then have them do a small area of the bottom flat. You can use duct tape on the flats the you do not want to glass blast. GO SLOW! Do only a same area! Then if you like it brown your barrel then if you like that go back and do the rest. Like I say GO SLOW and only the bottom flat! :wink:

 

[Allan Gray]

I like a Mustard treated finish

 

[Steve Blancard]

I have aged a number of guns over the years. I think using a combination of techniques works well. After the original finish is removed, you can start with some bleach or mustard. Then apply 2 coats of cold blue. After that, use 1-2 coats of LMF brown, then use a green scrubbing pad (used for cleaning pots and pans) and scrub it down removing anywhere from 30-70% of the brown/blue. Steel wool cab be used, but it is more aggrssive. Apply a little more cold blue, scrub a little more. A little more brown etc.

Varying this combination will give different results. Experiment on some scrap first, taking notes of how you do it. When you find a process that gives you what you like, work on the barrel.

 

[renovato]

One of the things that give a nice antiqued look is letting LMF browning solution rust too long for a few coats. This pits the metal a bit, but is controllable. You can pit it as deeply as you want by letting a single coat rust longer, or increase the number of pits by doing more coats, but not letting them rust as long, etc. Tinker a little and see if this gives you the finish you're looking for.

 

[Mulebrain]

You can plug the barrel up, and place it into a pvc tube then pour in boiling bleach.

Times vary, so be careful

 

[FPDoc]

I have also aged many guns and knives as well as leather and clothing.. I bought or made them.. then I used them daily, hunting, fishing, camping, trekking, shooting.. after a while (50 yrs or so) they have begun to look really old (ya almost can't tell them from the real thing). Works for me. :wink:

 

[dalebertram]

Don't want to sound stupid but what is mustard? Your not talking food mustard like you put on hotdogs are you?

 

[Randy MacInnes]

You got it table mustard! If you look back about a month or so ago there is a topic on this along with photo's and how to do this. I you do not like the way it looks when you are done well you have extra mustard for the summer for hotdogs. :rotf: :rotf:

 

[Zonie]

A sure fire way to age and antique your gun or knife is to lend it to your brother in law, or if you don't have one of those but you do have a teenager, give him/her a crack at it for a year or so.

When (if) you get it back you won't recognize it and you won't think it is possible to cause such damage.
:rotf:

 

[dalebertram]

Well I have gotten a lot of good suggestions. I especially like the one about lending the gun to the brother in law and getting it back all rusted and pitted, sure to work - if you get it back at all! I have heard tell that in times of old folks who needed a quick powder foul cleaner would piss down the barrel. My brother in law would probably be enthusiastic about pissing on anything of mine.

I would still like a reference to some printed material if anyone knows of one. Also a reference for technigues for hardening steel (frizzens) would be useful.

 

[cmuchalek]

Hi
I just finished doing a new barrel. Very simple and no bad fumes or toxicity. Degressed barrel, plugged both muzzle and flash hole. Washed barrel with super hot water, let air dry. Placed barrel in the shower after I let the shower steam up good and hot. Let barrel sit for several hours on the steamed up shower floor. Dryed barrel and steel wooled the surface rust to where I wanted the finnish. Turned out perfect. For more pattern on barrel leave it longer to rust. No fuss, no chemicals.

 

[Gemoke]

now thats an idea I like.

 

[ike]

You might want to search for French Gray in this Forum. I finished a Wilson Trade Gun last Fall. I used a browning solution but did not card off the rust between applications. After several applications the barrel had a thick coat of rust. I then submerged the barrel in boiling distilled water. The boiling water turns the rust black. Some of these posts explain the chemical process that takes place. Some of the parts of my barrel were almost like the black on a cast iron skillet. I then carded this off and used steel wool to take the black back to a gray. It looks like a very old well used gun that the bluing has been worn of of. Be creative and take as much or as little off as you want. One word of caution. I worked the metal down to 400 sand paper. This is to smooth. Leave it rougher. Just another idea for you to consider.

 

[Razz]

A friend told me about taking a piece of 50 grit sandpaper, laying it on the barrel flat, laying a piece of flat stock on this and hitting it with a hammer. Move the paper/steel and hit again. I tested on the bottom flats of my barrel and like the minor "pitting" I set in. Once I finish my kit, a Chambers Mark Silver Virginia, I plan on distressing the barrel this way and then the rubbed back browining mentioned here. I'll post pictures when I get to that point on the gun, but it's gonna be a while so don't hold your breath.

 

[Billhuntz]

I used naval jelly on a Haines I built and like Zonie says it left a mild frosty finish. It is not perfectly even and looks used but not old. I like it.

 

[mazo kid]

Don't want to sound stupid but what is mustard? Your not talking food mustard like you put on hotdogs are you?

Several posts back I had posted a picture of 2 of my pistols showing the difference between mustard finish and bleach. Here is another picture of the mustard finished barrel (mustard bottom, bleach top).

 

[tg]

I like the Naval Jelly method, paint it on heavier in places for more recation and a blotched/mottled effect, I like to put a patina when using a gun that is 30=40 years old persona wise, you can paint on the NJ then re-apply evry 45 minutes for 6 hrs then neutralize with washing soda and see what you have you can add more or wool it back to brite, I like to test any new method on the bottom of the barrel first, you don't really have to do the part covered by the stock.

this barrel/thimble was "greyed" with Naval Jelly