Browning Aluminum

[JonnyReb3]

Hello Gentlemen,
I was wondering if anyone has run into the need to artifically brown aluminum? I've disassembled an Investarms Hawkin to brown the steel and noticed the under rib is aluminum..i guess i could order a replacement in steel but was just curious if there was any was to color what i have, short of anodizing or spray paint? Thanks! J

 

[Vaino]

I'd replace the aluminium under rib w/ hickory or steel. What color is the under rib now?.....Fred

 

[BrownBear]

Found a real interesting discussion on the Wooden Boat Forum- Lots of good insights on everything from anodizing to coloring. Look for the thread "How might I change the color of an aluminum fitting?" One that looked interesting was this:


Brown to black color for aluminum:


1 lit. water
10 gm. potassium permanganate
4 ccm. nitric acid(38 Be)
25 gm. copper nitrate
Working temperature 80-100 °C!
Immersion time 5-30 min!
Remove at desired color.

 

[necchi]

I ran into that same problem years back,
Short of paint, there isn't any way to change the aluminum to a rust brown.
I decided to leave the barrel in it's factory blue, the expense of the steel rib wasn't worth it.

 

[bubba.50]

birchwood casey aluminum black may get it to a color ya can live with. works pretty good on some alloys.

 

[50cal.cliff]

They use to use a cadmium based primer when painting aluminum john-boats

A boat man once told me this tip. I was talking to him about the high cost of cadmium based paint,to use as a primer on an aluminum boat!

You can paint aluminum with an oil based stain and it will bond to aluminum as primary coat and holds as well as the cadmium paint!

I have personally used oil based stain on a aluminum and it wears pretty well! That is the best tip I can give you!

 

[necchi]

Another way to look at it is that while rust brown is nice,,
,not every gun out there looks better with rust brown

 

[MSW]

They use to use a cadmium based primer when painting aluminum john-boats

A boat man once told me this tip. I was talking to him about the high cost of cadmium based paint,to use as a primer on an aluminum boat!

You can paint aluminum with an oil based stain and it will bond to aluminum as primary coat and holds as well as the cadmium paint!

I have personally used oil based stain on a aluminum and it wears pretty well! That is the best tip I can give you!

good to know stuff ... thanks!

 

[JonnyReb3]

Thanks to all of you, Brown Bear i appreciate the "professional" recipe and i i also appreciate the tip about staining it..may try that first as it can surely be removed should it not work out.

Indeed Necchi, i agree that not all guns should be browned but this one started off with a lot of pitting, after filing and polishing for the last few days, its ready for finish but my hot bluing techniques are nonexistant. I can either brown it, or i've had suprising good success boiling plumb browned parts till they turn black. Would go the black route this time but brown just fits all this brass better. i'm gonna try to get this rib brown, thanks for all of your help. J

 

[shguns]

you could have it powder coated just about any color you want