Browning with low humidity

[rschissler]

I live in low humidity and don't want to build a sweatbox, so what if I used a mister bottle to spray a mist of water on an item being browned several times a day? Would that help any?

 

[Birddog6]

Fix a hanger in the shower & get it steaming hot & hang the parts in there & close the door. About every 2-3 ours take it out & card it & reapply the solution & steam the bathroom up again & do it again.
Put a old towel under in case it drips on momma's shower stall & keep your butt out of the dog house...... :shake:

 

[Darkhorse]

I browend a barrel and fittings a couple of years ago in Feb. We had a cold front and low humidity. I ended up letting it sit for 12 or more hours before carding. It worked pretty well that way. Even a few hours longer wouldn't have hurt anything.
I ended up with a smooth chocolate brown a long way from pitting.
By contrast the rifle I'm building right now already has a browned LC Rice barrel just from me handling it in this heat and humidity.

 

[Bear Rider]

Large diameter abs or pvc pipe with slip caps. Drill one cap for a piece of iron wire to hang the parts, and get a piece of sponge to dampen and place in the other. Put your parts in it, cap it, and lean it in a warm or sunny corner -- make a stand for it if you want to get fancy.

 

[Old40Rod]

I use the BirdDog method with LMF. Hang the barrel from the shower curtain rod using a bent coat hanger. Steam the bathroom up every 1/2 or so and close the door (no fan)... 2-3 hours per carding for me works very well. And don't worry if it looks like a mess after the first few coats. I usually go about 4 minimum.

The shower method has an added benefit... your wife might think you are in there actually cleaning something ::

And don't forget that it is possible to have the barrel too smooth at the start to get good browning action. The smoother the finish you start with the slower the process in my experience. If you have good humidity, good solution coverage and aren't getting much action (kind of a weak copperish hue at the edges), try backing the finish off a notch to a coarser grade paper or wool. The nice thing with browning is that at the early stages its relatively easy to start over.

 

[Birddog6]

I glass bead my barrels & parts before I brown them. It opens the pores of the metal & lets the browning start better.

:results:

 

[Black Hand]

I stopped using high humidity as I get a much better, more even brown without it. I degrease with acetone, hang the parts in my shower and apply the cold brown. Any incidental moisture (shower taking) is the only moisture it gets. I used to close the door and fill the tub with hot water to get steam, but all I got was streaky browning. Now my barrels are a fantastic dark brown, with a very even color from tang to bore. I only card with a piece of pillow ticking as the 0000 steel wool would take off too much scale giving an uneven look. Apply even coats that are thin, as heavy coats "bite" unevenly and give blotchy, uneven color. My barrels usually take 2-3 days to finish browning, then neutralize with baking soda paste, rinse in hot water and apply deer tallow/bore butter/crisco/gun oil. I also like to apply a final coat to the metal with melted beeswax after letting the greased parts sit overnight.

 

[Doc Arroyo]

I live in Northern California and the humidity here in the summer is low. A barrel takes 3 to 4 days to smooth brown, and another couple of days to get a texture to it. I never used a shower, sweatbox, bucket of water or even a dog dish to add moisture to the air. The browning solution does it fine. eace:

Of course I substract 2 days of time during the winter foggy & rainy months.

 

[Birddog6]

I wait til they forcast 2 days of rain....... Get ready on the first rainy day & brown on the next one. Takes me about 21-24 hrs to obtain a deep rich brown, carding with a Dixcel wheel every 3 hrs & reapplying the solution. Set the alarm & get up & do it again, keep applying & carding til I get it done. Usually takes about 7 applications.

I have done them in the shower a few times but any more I just wait til it rains.

:results:

 

[DEMON]

My grand daddy used to tinker around and build furniture. He had a contraption he used to steam wood to get it ready for bending. That thing worked great. All it was was an old kettle, some flexible tubing, a hot plate and a piece of 3-inch PVC pipe. Demon