When I was Younger just for fun I would take old horse shoes and make boot pulls out of them. I would heat them up with a torch and when hot spray WD/40 on them. This would put a prtective coating on them and they would come out with an almost antique patina on them. I was wondering if this could be used on a gun barrel and steel furniture.Has any one tryied somthing like this or ir it dangerous to the temper of the barrel metal. Just a thought . Regards Fisher King :hmm:
WD/40 Metal cure
- Thread starter d.thomson
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It would be OK for furniture, old iron fences ect, but I wouldn't fool with a barrel without a forge and knew what i was doing, there are many different ways to temper steel and home owners usually don't have the means.
I've used torches for 50* yrs, but i know nothing about hardening a barrel to its desired temper.
I've used torches for 50* yrs, but i know nothing about hardening a barrel to its desired temper.
paulvallandigham
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Most steels are not going to reach their melting points short of 1800 degrees F. If you heat a barrel up to the boiling temperature of water( 212 degrees F.) you should be able to use something like WD40 to spray the barrel and cool it down, without destroying the temper. Tempering temperatures are in the 400 plus ranges for steels. If you spray the hot barrel, the oil should burn partly or wholely depending on hot you have gotten the barrel. It will leave a blackened stain to the barrel.
I used this technique with cold blue compound to touch up some rust spots on the barrel of a modern .22 rifle barrel. The combination of the cold blue, the heat, and then cooling the barrel down with WD40 gave me a blue-black finish that was very close to the factory finish. I repeated the process several times, to get a consistent color. The result was that, except for some very small pin holes, you could not tell where the spots of rust were on the barrel, and then you would only see those holes if you were looking closely at the barrel in good light, and knew what you were looking for. The color from my touch up was matched exactly to the factory blueing.
I suspect that burning just WD40 will give you a grey finish, rather than black, but I have never tried using just WD40. Try it on some scrap metal, and see what works, before going at the barrel.
I used this technique with cold blue compound to touch up some rust spots on the barrel of a modern .22 rifle barrel. The combination of the cold blue, the heat, and then cooling the barrel down with WD40 gave me a blue-black finish that was very close to the factory finish. I repeated the process several times, to get a consistent color. The result was that, except for some very small pin holes, you could not tell where the spots of rust were on the barrel, and then you would only see those holes if you were looking closely at the barrel in good light, and knew what you were looking for. The color from my touch up was matched exactly to the factory blueing.
I suspect that burning just WD40 will give you a grey finish, rather than black, but I have never tried using just WD40. Try it on some scrap metal, and see what works, before going at the barrel.
Fisher King: Something else you might what to try. I have a Mountain Rifle I got back in the 70's and it has never shown a spot of rust. This is what I did: after browning the barrel to acceptable color reheat the barrel until you can melt candle wax to liquid state until it covers the barrel. Take a clean cloth and wipe the wax off just before it turns to a solid. After it cools polish your barrel. Now you should have a clean barrel wax sealed that shouldn't rust unless left in a salty inviroment for prolonged periods of time. I just did a pistol barrel and it looks great. This might leave fingerprints when you handle it until it gets a little use but they will wipe right off with a rag. You can and should still wipe with and oily rag just as a precaution.
Fox :thumbsup
Fox :thumbsup
paulvallandigham
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I used a paste, but I haven't found what box its in from my last move, so I can't tell you which brand it is. I think I got it from Brownell's. I liked the idea that I could put a glop of it on a cleaning patch and cover a large area of the barrel with one swipe. I keep the propane torch on the section of barrel I am blueing, and when I have the whole barrel done, I remove the heat to spray the barrel with WD40 to cool it down. The oil burns at first, and I keep spraying it on until it stops sizzling, and stays wet looking. I most the spray can back and forth( up and down, as I actually suspend the barrel from a wire coat hanger from the track for my garage door ) The first time I tried this, I was not sure I had the whole barrel hot enough. so I used the torch to heat the barrel up again- burning off all the oil in the process. Then I cooled the barrel " Up " by spraying the muzzle and working my way up to the breech end that closest to the hook through the tang screw hole. I left newspapers on the floor to catch the dripping oil. I let it dry over night, and the next day, I first wiped off all the oil, then washed the barrel with cold water to remove any of the paste residue, then dried it, and degreased it with alcohol. At that stage it was back on the wire hook, and ready to redo. I prepared my cold blue on my cleaning patch, held by pliers, and then lit my propane torch and started to heat the barrel again. Each time I redid the blue, oil, and heating, the finish got darker, and seemed to go deeper. Each morning I check the barrel in good daylight, examining the barrel carefully for any patches, or lighter spots. Frankly after the second application, it was as dark as it would get. I did a third coat for piece of mind, and in deferrence to " Murphy's Law ".
I used the same technique with cold browning solution, ( Plum Brown ) to achieve a deep, dark, chocolate brown color on my shotgun. It has proven very durable, over the years.
I used the same technique with cold browning solution, ( Plum Brown ) to achieve a deep, dark, chocolate brown color on my shotgun. It has proven very durable, over the years.
Johnny Tremain
Silversmith in training
Nay a drop of petrolium based anything gets within 10 ft of my BP rifle
