Barrel Browning with Laurel MTN product

[Joemolf]

I prepped my barrel for browning wipe it down with REAL MEK and then washed it in hot water.

As soon as I went to apply the first full length stroke of the acid when I came back to make a second pass below the first I noticed a copper finish? No supposedly that can happen if you rub it I didn’t in fact waited 3 hours for the cure and I have rust and copper lots of copper. What for you scientists out there is causing it I’ve already filed it off and the same thing happened on the second application! I have no patience now adays as dementia is setting in! Please advise!
Thanks
Joe

 

[Buff1958]

i am no help. I just used it to do a barrel and it rusted like it was supposed to. My only problem with it is that after 3 days of treatments, it turned black and I was shooting for brown

 

[Joemolf]

i am no help. I just used it to do a barrel and it rusted like it was supposed to. My only problem with it is that after 3 days of treatments, it turned black and I was shooting for brown

Interesting you’re supposed to be able to get blue but I think you have to use heat looks great I like it

 

[deerstalkert]

Joe, if you are using tap water as your rinse i would suspect chlorine as the residual culprit.
try rinsing between buffing with distilled water and make sure if you are using steel wool to rinse the wool out with MEK or Acetone. Can also use Lacquer thinner. steel wool comes oiled.
for the barrel that turned black, swab it again with the browning solution. some of my efforts have turned black in the intermediate applications.
also with the black barrel you can buff it to a nice gray if so desired.

 

[Joemolf]

I rubbed off all the rust anywhere the copper plating occurred it didn’t rust so I draw filed it again and sanded with 220 washed the barrel and reapplied the solution again! Same thing! Is it the barrel? I called Laurel Mountain line is always busy so I sent them an email hopefully they read them. If i don’t get a reply I guess I’ll try a different solution I’ve done a couple other barrel using Laurel Mountain and it worked well. I’m going to try the birch wood casey plum brown next. Any recommendations appreciated

 

[Joemolf]

Joe, if you are using tap water as your rinse i would suspect chlorine as the residual culprit.
try rinsing between buffing with distilled water and make sure if you are using steel wool to rinse the wool out with MEK or Acetone. Can also use Lacquer thinner. steel wool comes oiled.
for the barrel that turned black, swab it again with the browning solution. some of my efforts have turned black in the intermediate applications.
also with the black barrel you can buff it to a nice gray if so desired.

I did once over it with steel wool I will get some acetone can’t get real MEK anymore. Thanks for your advice!

 

[rich pierce]

I don’t worry about it and keep going. Are you using humidity?

 

[Joemolf]

I don’t worry about it and keep going. Are you using humidity?

Yes I have the barrel in the bathroom with the tub filled with hot water. It has dark spots where the copper appeared. Pretty neat the way the warm moist air really gets the rust going. I’m going to reapply another coat this evening around 6 and just leave it until the morning bar my wife. I’ll see how it looks in the morning hopefully those copper areas take. The mistake I think I made was the rinse with tap water as deerstalker mentioned. I just don’t want to end up with a blotchy barrel but if I have to take it down again I will and use the casey plum brown. Laura montain. Notes copper if you rub the barrel which I didn’t do; the don’t offer a corrective action and worse they obviously take there phone off the hook. Lol

 

[Eric Krewson]

I have done a good bit of browning with LMF and often get the copper color from over wiping the solution on. I panicked at first, sanded off the finish and started over. I found the next time it was no big deal, keep adding more coats, let the part rust, card off the brown rust after every coat and the copper color will go away. I have never had a blotchy browning job after going over a coppery area with more coats.

I clean my parts with acetone on a rag before I start the browning process, I sand with 220 grit paper and am not a fan of steel wool except for applying cold blue.

All of these parts had coppery places on them somewhere. One of the know-it-all jerks here made a snide comment on my post that my parts were TOO brown and should be plumb colored to be correct. I like dark, sinister looking rifles, I make them that way to please ME.

 

[Antelope Pete]

i am no help. I just used it to do a barrel and it rusted like it was supposed to. My only problem with it is that after 3 days of treatments, it turned black and I was shooting for brown

Funny, I just did a barrel and wanted dark and got brown. Oh well maybe it's the type of metal the parts are made of. The rear sight is darker.

 

[Treetop]

It was a copper tint on my sample steel also. The secret is to be patient with the process. I applied/slathered the sample again after 3 hours and the set it outside in the open humidity for the magic. After 2 days the copper darkened to a deep rusty brown. I then cut it back with an oily white scotchbrite pad & it looked amazing.

 

[Tom A Hawk]

I am not a fan of the accelerated / fast result browning methods and get excellent results with the traditional slow rusting solution. I prefer a more polished surface finish and this one by Wahkon Bay works best for me. They apparently have patent protection on their formula. TOW has developed their own version, however I found it to be too aggressive and caused pitting.

This barrel took over a week to finish.

 

[Joemolf]

I have done a good bit of browning with LMF and often get the copper color from over wiping the solution on. I panicked at first, sanded off the finish and started over. I found the next time it was no big deal, keep adding more coats, let the part rust, card off the brown rust after every coat and the copper color will go away. I have never had a blotchy browning job after going over a coppery area with more coats.

I clean my parts with acetone on a rag before I start the browning process, I sand with 220 grit paper and am not a fan of steel wool except for applying cold blue.

All of these parts had coppery places on them somewhere. One of the know-it-all jerks here made a snide comment on my post that my parts were TOO brown and should be plumb colored to be correct. I like dark, sinister looking rifles, I make them that way to please ME.

View attachment 314859

View attachment 314860

They look awesome Eric no surprise coming from you! I thought I cleaned the barrel well but must have introduced something that caused the copper to appear. I have three coats and just applied the forth it’s sitting in the bathroom right now. You are correct just keep applying and eventually it evens out. Thank you!

 

[Joemolf]

I am not a fan of the accelerated / fast result browning methods and get excellent results with the traditional slow rusting solution. I prefer a more polished surface finish and this one by Wahkon Bay works best for me. They apparently have patent protection on their formula. TOW has developed their own version, however I found it to be too aggressive and caused pitting.

View attachment 314956

This barrel took over a week to finish.

View attachment 314957

Very nicely done!

 

[user 34300]

"To apply Barrel Brown, use a piece of clean cotton cloth folded into a pad about 1" square. Moisten the pad lightly with Barrel Brown and apply to the barrel, being careful to apply in a long even coat from muzzle to breech. Do not rub the surface of the barrel with Barrel Brown. Apply Barrel Brown as evenly as you can with a single coat if possible. Rubbing the surface with Barrel Brown can cause a metallic copper colored film to form, which will impede the browning process."

https://www.laurelmountainforge.com/barrel_brown_inst.htm

The OP put it on to wet and applied with more than one stroke. You can see liquid drop tracks, in the copper plate, in the photo provided. No harm, just rub it back with maroon scotchbrite and start again. I find it helpful to warm the steel with a heat gun to speed up evaporation. One pass with a damp swab is plenty of chemical.

 

[Gvilleddie]

Joe, I’m in Alabama and it very humid in the summer. I’ve used LMF in the high humidity summer in ambient air with great success. A couple months ago I tried browning with LMF in the bathroom when the ambient humidity was very low. I got all kinds of crazy splotching and copper spotting. After 4-5 coats it came out good. Very aggravating. I posted questions about it back then. FWIW

 

[Joemolf]

Joe, I’m in Alabama and it very humid in the summer. I’ve used LMF in the high humidity summer in ambient air with great success. A couple months ago I tried browning with LMF in the bathroom when the ambient humidity was very low. I got all kinds of crazy splotching and copper spotting. After 4-5 coats it came out good. Very aggravating. I posted questions about it back then. FWIW

Thanks I appreciate everyone’s input and suggestions. So I just applied the last coat and am going to live with it until summer rolls around and then just redo it. I’ve done one barrel before same stuff same bottle and it came out perfect. This time not so much.
When I originally started yes I washed it and cleaned it I also wiped it down with MEK. The barrel was not wet and as soon as the acid came in contact with the barrel the copper appeared i could not understand it i did not rub it. I have almost brought the barrel back to clean steel with scotch brite and sand paper. The areas that had the most amount of copper i draw filed and then hit the entire barrel with 220 wiped it again with mek stood the barrel next to the wood stove to warm it up. Another coat and again same thing copper. So yeah after 3 or four coats it looks horrible there are spots where it didn’t take tang muzzel area and some spots along the entire length but it is rusted and I did card it. I think it may have something to do with the temperature here being cold so humidity is extremely low but what I fixed the humidity problem by leaving it in the bathroom with hot water in the tub. That really helped with the rust. I’m just going to start over when the weather warms up. I really don’t have the patience anymore I’ve gotten old. I hate wasting time. Next time I’m going to try a different chemical as well I have about a quart of the Laurel mountain that will be going down the toilet lol maybe it will help my cesspool.
Thank you all!
The blotches are where the barrel had copper and the repeat applications just darkened those areas. When carded it would almost wipe down to the copper rest of the barrel fine oh well. I tried lol

 

[Joemolf]

"To apply Barrel Brown, use a piece of clean cotton cloth folded into a pad about 1" square. Moisten the pad lightly with Barrel Brown and apply to the barrel, being careful to apply in a long even coat from muzzle to breech. Do not rub the surface of the barrel with Barrel Brown. Apply Barrel Brown as evenly as you can with a single coat if possible. Rubbing the surface with Barrel Brown can cause a metallic copper colored film to form, which will impede the browning process."

https://www.laurelmountainforge.com/barrel_brown_inst.htm

The OP put it on to wet and applied with more than one stroke. You can see liquid drop tracks, in the copper plate, in the photo provided. No harm, just rub it back with maroon scotchbrite and start again. I find it helpful to warm the steel with a heat gun to speed up evaporation. One pass with a damp swab is plenty of chemical.

The barrel was not flooded with the chemical a damp cotton patch. The barrel was bone dry. As soon as the chemical came in contact the metal turned copper colored in numerous spots. Make the detergent left a residue but i don’t think POR 15 leaves a film especially after being flushed with hot water and then wiped with mek. The blotches you see are areas where copper appeared initially . Not a big deal to draw file it again but I’m going to wait for warmer weather for some reason my wife takes exception to the bathroom being steaming for the last couple days

 

[TDM]

@Joemolf, you received great advice above. And I believe you realize now that over rubbing caused the copper staining. I've had great success with the Laurel Mountain browning, but I use it during our long, hot, humid summers. I also use denatured alcohol for cleaning and no water after that before application. And I wear rubber gloves, even though LM claims you don't have to degrease, things turn out much better when you do. And skin oils are a killer. Also I don't rush it, I let each coat work as long as it needs to.

 

[deerstalkert]

Funny, I just did a barrel and wanted dark and got brown. Oh well maybe it's the type of metal the parts are made of. The rear sight is darker.

Pete, you can boil the barrel after browning with LMF and it will turn almost black.
I use a steam cleaner sometimes to clean the bore. have to be careful with getting the barrel to hot as i like the brown.