Rust Blue

[anchorsawy]

Okay. I've finally decided to rust blue my barrel, lock, and trigger assembly. I've got my bottle of LMF and instructions printed from this forum but I need some advice.
1st question: Do I need to remove the front sight which is silver with a brass base?
2nd: I have the lock completely disassembled. Do I treat the inside of the pan and the will the treads get messed up on the cock screws?
3rd: I have the double trigger assembly stripped to the plate with the two triggers still attached with pins. I don't really want to remove the triggers. Will that cause any problems?
Thanks.

 

[Longsmoke]

Moose, I have rust blued a few guns with LMF.
1: No. Although you will have a little crust around the sight and base. It will leave both brass and silver looking a little used. Can be cleaned up with a soft wire brush. I file my bases to match the contour of the barrel, so knocking out and back in is not an option.
2: Yes do the pan. The threads will rust but can be cleaned up with a tap.
3: It is best to remove the triggers but if you don’t dip the plate it should be OK.
If you are rust bluing you shouldn’t be going so far as to get pitting, so in turn you will not have problems with metal to metal contact points. In all 3 cases you have to make sure you get the LMF neutralized completely to stop the rusting. Oil well.

Bruce Everhart

 

[Goldhunter]

Follow the instructions to the letter. should turn out nice for you.

I used distilled water I bought at the grocery store. Small parts I put right into the pot I boiled the water in. The barrel I had to make a scolding tank.

 

[J.D.]

I was instructed to use a soft wire wheel, .003 dia wire, to card with after boiling. I was also instructed to boil and card every two hours for a good finish, so it would probably be best to do this on a week end, 'cause it might take 24 hours, or more, of rust, boiling and carding every two hours to get a really good finish.

Do degrease and handle the parts with clean gloves. And make sure there is no grease or oil to seep out of the breechplug threads.

LMF needs 80 degrees and 80% humidity to work properly, so a heat box, or some such is necessary.

And finish all parts to backed 320 grit wet/dry paper prior to rusting for best blue. 220 grit should produce a decent finish, but the finer grits will produce a bright, translucent blue like those on the high end English guns.

I haven't tried this as yet, however, these instructions came from a very accomplished builder who builds high art guns for a living.

Good luck,
J.D.

 

[anchorsawy]

Thank you all. I have my PVC pipe trough made for the barrel and am getting ready to go. This forum has been a great help through the entire build. Thanks again.

 

[Goldhunter]

Interesting proceedure.

I guess it depends on what type of finish you're going for. I wanted the deep, dark mat finish. By following the instructions, that's what I got. The finish you're talking about sounds like it resembles more of a chemical blue color. Is this what it looks like? :hmm:

 

[J.D.]

LMF lends itself to many different types of finishes. The matte finish is one, but a deep, translucent blue is another, and there are other variations for those who are willing to experiment.

Moose,

What is the PVC pipe for? It should work for a hot box, but it probably won't work for boiling the barrel. You will only get a brown without repeated boiling and carding.

The muzzle and touch hole or nipple needs to be plugged to prevent water from rusting the bore when boiling.

 

[Goldhunter]

I gotcha, I just hadn't read about that technique yet. Sounds interesting. BTW, I'm guessing finer sanding helps with a shinier blue. I don't go beyond draw filing my barrels so I get a more mat appearance.

If I were guessing, the PVC pipe is a scolding tank. You put the barrel into it, then pour the boiling into the tank and it starts the bluing process. When I did mine, I poured the water in and then let it cool to the touch. Then I pulled the barrel out, and carded it with coarse cloth and water. Then barrel had developed a good blue color by then, but I did the process once more (applied LMF stuff, hung it in my bathroom, waited 3 hours, then scolded the barrel in the tank again, then carded again).

 

[paulvallandigham]

If you have a couple of propane hobby torches, you can keep the water at boiling temperature by holding the flame down at the water from above when using the PVC tank. Just don't let the flame stray over to the pipe itself. A couple of torches is required to keep the water hot the entire length of the "tank" and having a friend help you with this is the way to go. :hmm:

 

[Goldhunter]

You could, but I think that's making it tougher than it needs to be. If you have a 4 foot section of rain gutter, capped on both ends, and a large propane burner or two, you could boil in that. But it didn't take much to boil the water in a pot and then dump it into the tank.

YMMV. :wink: