I just tried bluing my barrel an boy does it look like you know what. I cleaned the hell out of it with acetone and let it dry with a fan for 2 hours, I applied it as even as possible, after burnishing it with steel wool. I tried coat after coat using oxpho blue and it looks awful! What the heck do I do now? Is there any other method at this point I would use a browning methos if there was a way to dip the whole dang thing in there. Im very frustrated, please give me some ideas. Thanks! (when I say awful I mean uneven and not dark at all, I tried about 4 coats and let each one sit for about 1-2 mins)
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Bluing Help!
- Thread starter mickman15
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Little Wattsy
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I am a novice myself but I just BROWNED a barrel useing LMF Browing solution. By following the directions it come out pretty good.
Im not sure how exactly you would remove the existing blueing but I am sure you could crefully sand off the blue and I suspect that a LITTLE blue would be covered pretty easy with the Browning by the way it worked....
Good luck!
Im not sure how exactly you would remove the existing blueing but I am sure you could crefully sand off the blue and I suspect that a LITTLE blue would be covered pretty easy with the Browning by the way it worked....
Good luck!
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Cold blue is not intended to be a finish. It is for touch up. Your best bet is to brown, or leave it in the white. Most guns of the 18th c. were charcoal blued, or left white. I would say brown it. However, if you blue it with cold blue, it will soon turn a pleasant grayish blue, like a well worn blued gun. Here's an example.
paulvallandigham
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If you want to blue it, you are going to have to heat the barrel up, using a propane torch, and apply the bluing on the metal HOT. It needs to be between 200 and 300 degrees. Water boils at 212Degrees F, so if you spray some water on the barrel and is "sizzles", the barrel is hot enough to blue.
You will have to put on several coats. You will need to let the barrel cool between coats, and wash off the whitish residue from the metal between coats. You will then have to degrease the barrel again before putting on the next coat, and before heating the barrel again.
When the blue seems to be the even color you want over the entire barrel, wash off the last residue, and then clean it and heat it back up. Do this in a well ventilated place-- outdoors if you can. Then spray the barrel with oil- i used WD40 because it was available, and it really does displace water. The hot barrel will burn the oil, and the burning oil will help to darken the blue finish so that it looks almost black. Not to worry.
Leave the barrel soaked with oil and let it drip over night. Then, wipe off the oil. With it will come a lot of the "soot " or black color from the burned oil, and the blue will come out again.
Heating opens the pores of the steel, so that the bluing goes deeper into the steel surface. That makes it last longer, and gives a more even color to the barrel. Burning the oil also seems to set the blue into the metal, so that its not so easily rubbed off, as cold blue usually is.
Now, when the barrel and other parts are done, give the barrel a good coat of oil, or wax, or both, before assembling your gun. Keep the barrel oiled, or waxed, and the finish should last much longer than any cold blue finish ever will.
The blue you get will not be as" Permanent" as Rust Bluing, or a true Hot Blue. But it will give you years of good service. And, if it begins to wear, you can easily clean the barrel off, heat it up and apply more blue to it, followed by burning the oil again. :thumbsup:
You will have to put on several coats. You will need to let the barrel cool between coats, and wash off the whitish residue from the metal between coats. You will then have to degrease the barrel again before putting on the next coat, and before heating the barrel again.
When the blue seems to be the even color you want over the entire barrel, wash off the last residue, and then clean it and heat it back up. Do this in a well ventilated place-- outdoors if you can. Then spray the barrel with oil- i used WD40 because it was available, and it really does displace water. The hot barrel will burn the oil, and the burning oil will help to darken the blue finish so that it looks almost black. Not to worry.
Leave the barrel soaked with oil and let it drip over night. Then, wipe off the oil. With it will come a lot of the "soot " or black color from the burned oil, and the blue will come out again.
Heating opens the pores of the steel, so that the bluing goes deeper into the steel surface. That makes it last longer, and gives a more even color to the barrel. Burning the oil also seems to set the blue into the metal, so that its not so easily rubbed off, as cold blue usually is.
Now, when the barrel and other parts are done, give the barrel a good coat of oil, or wax, or both, before assembling your gun. Keep the barrel oiled, or waxed, and the finish should last much longer than any cold blue finish ever will.
The blue you get will not be as" Permanent" as Rust Bluing, or a true Hot Blue. But it will give you years of good service. And, if it begins to wear, you can easily clean the barrel off, heat it up and apply more blue to it, followed by burning the oil again. :thumbsup:
mickman15 said:
Oxpho is very intolerant of any oils or WAX.
Noting that you were "burnishing it with steel wool..." I must ask.
Did you dewax the steel wool?
Steel wool has waxes applied to it to prevent its rusting as it is sitting on the shelf of the store.
Normally, the waxes don't cause a problem if the wool is being used on furniture finishes or cleaning up rusty tools but this wax, when deposited on a steel part that is going to be browned or blued can cause all sorts of havoc.
There will be areas where a bluing like Oxpho Blue will not be able to touch the steel so it will not blue the area at all. (Were there areas where it seemed to "bead up"? If so, then wax was the problem).
My suggestion is that you need to first remove the wax from the barrel.
A good strong ammonia will cut most waxes although acetone will sometimes remove them (but not always).
After the barrel is dewaxed, wear rubber gloves. Even the slight oils on your hands will cause problems with Oxpho Blue.
It was made for professionals who know about these oil problems so, unlike some of the local gun shop blues that are made for the general public it does not tolerate little mistakes.
If you want to continue using your steel wool you first need to degrease/dewax it.
I use a fairly strong solution of Muriatic Acid and let the steel wool bubble and boil in it for a few minutes before washing the acid out of it.
After this treatment it will not contaminate the barrel. It will also rust away in a few weeks so clean only what you think you will need.
paulvallandigham
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I don't know about our work area. I use a coat hanger to hold my barrel from the tang bolt hole, and suspended the barrel from the Garage door rail overhead. I had the door open for full ventilation. Since heat rises, I began heating my barrel with my propane torch( every hardware, and home store sells them) at the muzzle, which was the bottom of the barrel as it hung. I used a flat stick of wood to move the barrel around as needed, so I didn't burn my fingers. Any grabbing device can be used. I mostly put the stick up near the tang, and turned it a bit, until I could move around the barrel with the torch, and the swambs used to put the blue on the barrel. I started bluing at the muzzle, and worked my way up. I made sure the barrel section I was going to work on was hot enough by stopping periodically and flipping a few droplets of water on the barrel from a glass of water I had out in the garage. If it sizzles, it was ready to blue. If it didn't, I kept the heat working that section of the barrel, until it did sizzle. The liquid blue tends to run down the barrel over the areas that were already blued. I put newspaper on the garage floor to catch the drips.
I think it took less than 5 minutes to blue the entire barrel, and only that long because I was taking my time. Each succeeding bluing session took less time. I used a couple of cotton cleaning patches that are 3-4 inch square, as swabs to put the blue on the barrel. The large swatch of fabric allows a lot of the liquid to be carried by the swab, so I could walk around the barrel and swab an 8 inch section at a time. Just like painting a downspout for a gutter( but mostly up strokes.)
If you can find an easier way to blue a large surface like a barrel, I am all ears. :grin: :hatsoff:
I think it took less than 5 minutes to blue the entire barrel, and only that long because I was taking my time. Each succeeding bluing session took less time. I used a couple of cotton cleaning patches that are 3-4 inch square, as swabs to put the blue on the barrel. The large swatch of fabric allows a lot of the liquid to be carried by the swab, so I could walk around the barrel and swab an 8 inch section at a time. Just like painting a downspout for a gutter( but mostly up strokes.)
If you can find an easier way to blue a large surface like a barrel, I am all ears. :grin: :hatsoff:
