Crane Senior
40 Cal
Has anyone built a browning chamber out of PVC pipe and plastic? It seems that would be fast,easy and inexpensive
Home-made humidity chamber & a question about rust browning
- Thread starter MIOutdoorsman
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I used to work for a construction consulting firm who mainly built government contract schools.
The guys who installed all the kitchen stainless steel got to be friends of mine.
I hit em up about making some SS tanks for me.
The foreman made me 2 for $50 total!
I'm using them for years, work great for parkerizing, degreasing & slow rust Blueing.
The guys who installed all the kitchen stainless steel got to be friends of mine.
I hit em up about making some SS tanks for me.
The foreman made me 2 for $50 total!
I'm using them for years, work great for parkerizing, degreasing & slow rust Blueing.
user 34300
54 Cal.
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Yes, sort of, I have used a length of ABS to steam a barrel. I put a hole in a cap and inserted a pressure cooker lid fitting. I ran it with a hotplate. The steam condensed, it gurgled, the barrel got water spots.
As far as humidity chambers, I made a fancy plywood box with a temperature thermostat that ran a hotplate. There was a fan, adjustable baffles and a light bulb to prevent condensation. I still got condensation and messed up the work.
My best result was from suspending the barrel several feet above a bathtub of tepid water and close the door to the bathroom.
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I saved this image from TANSTAAFL
Here's a picture of my home made browning box. It's based on an article by John Bivins called, "The DAMP-BOX for fine rust-browning or blueing" in the book, "Gunsmithing Tips & Projects", © 1989.
It uses light bulbs to heat the water in the pan that can be seen at the bottom and to heat the interior of the box and provide the thermals to move the air inside. I used an adjustable variable brightness type of wall switch for the bulbs power so I could regulate the heat.
It has several removable shelves that can be placed at different heights. One of these can be seen towards the top. These shelves are narrow enough to allow air circulation on the front and rear sides to help to even out the humidity and temperature. When a barrel is being browned, the shelves come out and the barrel is hung from the hook you see at the top.
It uses light bulbs to heat the water in the pan that can be seen at the bottom and to heat the interior of the box and provide the thermals to move the air inside. I used an adjustable variable brightness type of wall switch for the bulbs power so I could regulate the heat.
It has several removable shelves that can be placed at different heights. One of these can be seen towards the top. These shelves are narrow enough to allow air circulation on the front and rear sides to help to even out the humidity and temperature. When a barrel is being browned, the shelves come out and the barrel is hung from the hook you see at the top.
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Zonie, mine is very similar. What is the foil covered paddle by the upper bulb?
Like you called it, it is a foil covered paddle.
I put it in there next to the air heating bulb to protect the lower end of the barrel from the direct heat the bulb gives off. Notice, it is closer to the wall that the bulb is mounted on. That causes the barrel to be in the paddle's shadow. Without it, the barrel in the area of the bulb would (theoretically) get much hotter than the rest of the barrel. That could cause the hot area of the barrel to rust at a different rate.
I put it in there next to the air heating bulb to protect the lower end of the barrel from the direct heat the bulb gives off. Notice, it is closer to the wall that the bulb is mounted on. That causes the barrel to be in the paddle's shadow. Without it, the barrel in the area of the bulb would (theoretically) get much hotter than the rest of the barrel. That could cause the hot area of the barrel to rust at a different rate.
Crane Senior
40 Cal
Just joined and am a novice... with that said, I used a casket cooler with some scalding water in pots/mason jars. 1st sit was the longest and last sit was the shortest. Steel wool between sits. I wanted a high level of oxidation and a somewhat older maybe slightly pitted look. Someone mentioned copper looking deposits as being a bad thing. Assuming my first pic is what he was referring to... Final product is the look I wanted but the actual future corrosion resistance is more important.
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7 coats in, carding with denim every 3 hours or so. I used 0000 steel wool a couple of times to try to even it a little. The brown is definitely still looking unfinished so will keep on going. There’s enough browning fluid in the small LM bottle to brown my F150 I bet (if it wasn’t an aluminum body!). Hehe.
Thanks for posting these pics.... my oxidation hasn’t been as severe as the first pic you posted, and I love the color you achieved eventually... gives me hope that I’m on the right track!
Guys—do you all continue to brown even the parts of the barrel under the tang —eventually to be inside the stock?? I have been...
Couple of pics after about 10 3-hour rusting/carding sessions... does this look about right? Seems rough and bumpy to me, but I’ve never owned a browned barrel:
I think you’re right Pep.. it’s about as brown as this process will get it. I am hoping that after the finishing process it’ll look smoother. That’ll come tomorrow or over the weekend. It has one more coat of the LM on it now and I’ll card it in a few hours.
Just a FYI...
On your next project, you may want to reconsider having deep pits.
It does exactly the opposite of "Rust Prevention".
Moisture gets & stays in those pits & it's almost impossible to get it out & keep it out over time (prolly best to keep a pitted barrel greased instead of oiled).
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Thank you. As a novice it's quickly become apparent that there is a difficult balance in terms of appearance and durability. Those two characteristics may be broken down into endless subsets or categories. After completion, I noticed a daily thin layer of oxidation on this barrel despite daily oils (CLP). Switched over to bore butter and wiped on each day for the better part of a week. Think there was also an application of Ren. Wax mixed in too. Just handled it after a little over two weeks and the oxidation seems to have ceased, completely.
While building, I messed up by not having my front sight filed to a point where all of it would be able to go in. Marred the barrel and had to try to brown/antique/blend. Used the solution w/o any humidity exposure. Applied the browning agent daily (maybe 5-7 coats) and that resulted in that true brown which still seems to be debated as far as its PC. So, I have a barrel now w/ a mismatched appearance I'm mostly fine with and will be able to compare the finishes over the short term (before moving on to #2).
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stewart.leach
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When you get done with all the rubbing down with wet worn out blue jean fabric, re-applying LMF chemicals, and finally- after 5-7 sessions, neutralizing with baking soda solution and rinsing, let it sit for a few days. My procedure at that point is to heat the barrel and other parts with a hair dryer and rub in MinWax wax polish or wood floor wax. I do this two or three times, over several days.
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