Horrible experience with Plum Brown

[Lead Nuggets]

Lmf, 4 coats running the shower every 45 minutes with a heat lamp clamped to the toilet seat. came out a little dark.

 

[oldwoodchas.]

Any time you use steel wool , make sure to drink it in acetone , and then dry it w/ rags. Many times steel wool comes soaked in oil so in storage , it won't rust. Degrease it as the oil preservative , will affect wood or metal finishes.

 

[bpd303]

I have found using latex or nitrile gloves caused me problems with an even coat of plum brown. Seems there is some coating on them, so I use cheap cotton gloves which cured the blotchy problem. Also I use a commercial heat gun to warm and keep the barrel warm throughout the application.

 

[Philip Lebow]

Use PB at the shop, because it's fast..get good color I can touch it up. Cleanliness is critical. I have a helper with a second propane torch and
a non contact thermometer to judge temperature. Put it on with long strokes of a wet cotton pad. Don't get impatient.
When I can I abrasive blast the steel and acetone wash before using PB.
Laurel Mountain takes longer..
Just FYI: some steels have alloying elements that resist browning.
I had a customer want his modern cowboy double side by side browned. I stripped the blue. Tried Laurel Mountain, as I did not want to put the torch
to the barrels. Nothing happened.
Realized the bbls were chrome moly.
Chrome was preventing browning.
So, painted the bbl with a dilute solution of nitric acid in alcohol, and let it sit overnight.
Next day, bbls were green! That was the chrome etched out of the surface!
Cleaned the bbls of chrome, without burnishing with steel wool.
Then Laurel Mountain browned the bbl very nicely in several coats with usual carding in between.
Neutralized finish with baking soda, and then oil soaked.
Still looks good 18yrs later...customer is a regular.

 

[LME]

Any time you use steel wool , make sure to drink it in acetone , and then dry it w/ rags. Many times steel wool comes soaked in oil so in storage , it won't rust. Degrease it as the oil preservative , will affect wood or metal finishes.

I have used a ton of 0000 steel wool and never thought about it not rusting? You make a lot of sense! I got lucky by using acetone as the last step in my process before browning. Thanks!

 

[mrfritz44]

So after 5 coats of Laurel Mt. Forge and a ban on going into the bathroom with a tub for two days, don't worry we showered in the bathroom with a shower stall, the barrel is looking much better and is currently soaking up the motor oil the online instructions said to apply for 24 hours.

The color isn't the plum brown color I applied in the past, but the chocolate brown should look pretty good in the end.

What have you used as the final step to finish the barrel? The instructions say some kind of neutral shoe polish, but what does that even mean?

 

[akroguy]

I do barrels in three sections of heating and PB application. Heat with torch, apply PB, scrub back with wet scotchbrite, repeat heating and daubing on the PB. Repeat, repeat. Turns out great. LMF did nothing for me here in the dry desert. Rigging up humidity chamber and hoping, not for me. PB is complete in a couple hours and when done, soak in motor oil. Looks fantastic.

 

[Lead Nuggets]

So after 5 coats of Laurel Mt. Forge and a ban on going into the bathroom with a tub for two days, don't worry we showered in the bathroom with a shower stall, the barrel is looking much better and is currently soaking up the motor oil the online instructions said to apply for 24 hours.

The color isn't the plum brown color I applied in the past, but the chocolate brown should look pretty good in the end.

What have you used as the final step to finish the barrel? The instructions say some kind of neutral shoe polish, but what does that even mean?

Just rub it down with linseed oil a couple times and let it dry and put it back together.

 

[Rocketman89408]

Adventures in browning take two......

Just put the first coat of Laurel Mt Forge on the barrel so we'll see how it goes.

If you used this stuff before and have a picture of your barrel could you please post it and tell me how many coats you applied?

I used 4 coats total over 2 days in a closed bathroom with hot water run in the shower every hour and after 3 hours rubbed down with denim and rinsed over night.