Wire carding brush / wheel

[Col. Batguano]

I've watched a whole bunch of Anvil Gunsmithing episodes on You Tube where the host Mark Novak uses a wire carding wheel he got from Brownell's to knock back active rust (after boiling the parts in water to re-activate the rust) to turn it back in to blueing (or browning) when he is conserving or restoring historical firearms. It is a purpose-built wire wheel, SPECIFICALLY for carding, not your average hardware store bench grinding wire wheel! He seems to imply that, because the wires in the wheel are very fine, and relatively soft, (he repeatedly runs his fingers in to the spinning wheel in his videos) that it is not prone to knock back the sharp edges of things like engraving or firearms markings. This wheel is somewhat different than the normal coarse wire brush that takes everything off metal taking it back to a shiny bare state. He says you can do the same thing with old blue jeans, or hand using 4-0 steel wool, which is how I've done it in the past myself.

My questions are these;
Has anyone here used this sort of technique (powered wire wheel) in their browning? If so, what did you use as your power source, and the RPM rate? I could easily see setting it up in a drill press at one of the various speeds, but am also wondering if a drill press itself even gets fast enough.

I'm also considering using this very technique on some of my other older firearms, where the finish is something of a mix of original blueing, and chocolate colored patina. Same questions as above. Has anyone else here tried that? Your results?

I'm chicken to be the first guy out of the box on this, and my next thread be a mea culpa along the lines of; "Sorry I gave everyone here bad advice that wrecked all your hard work."

 

[user 34300]

I currently have a hand me down wheel with a non metallic bristle. I run it at around 1000 rpm maybe less. The motor is some old salvage 1/3 HP. It has little torque. It takes only the loose rust. It leaves a lot more rust than aggressive carding I would do for a smooth rust blue. The result is rust with the tiniest bit of texture, like you might get if you carded with cloth.

Brownells sells carding wheels. I need to get one with my next order. They are expensive.

 

[dave_person]

Hi,
I use a Grobet wire wheel all the time. It is very soft because of the thin bristles. You spin it at 200-300rpm, very slowly so you do not build up any heat on the barrel. Using one is the best and perhaps only way you can achieve the almost translucent browns and blues similar to early British work. In combination with dilute browning solutions, finely polished barrels, frequent carding and short rusting periods, you can do something like these.

dave

 

[TDM]

Wow @dave_person those are impressive finishes.

 

[Phil Coffins]

I use one with very fine wires and get a nice finish on blue or brown finish. It has lasted for years for my hobby use.
Not in the class of Dave’s work but makes a basement hobbyist work look OK.
2403B66F-2F84-4AA0-80EB-669B179F6283 by Oliver Sudden, on Flickr

 

[dave_person]

Hi Phil,
That is great work, my friend.

dave

 

[dave_person]

Hi,
The second barrel down in my post is from an original gun by H. W. Mortimer. The refurbished browning on the beautiful stub twist barrel was done by Pete Mazur, one of the best barrel finishers in the world. He generously shared some of his insights with me and I have been using them to advantage ever since.

dave

 

[andy52]

Yes, I use one also and they work well. I use mine mainly for older guns that just need a good surface cleaning.
A word of warning though, the bristles break off easily so make sure you wear safety glasses.

 

[Coldfingers]

I ordered one 2 yrs ago for a project, stuck it somewhere out of my way at the time. Found it this last sunday...just could not buy another knowing it was somewhere. Long since steel wooled the project to get it done.

Looking forward to using it now.

 

[dracer]

Dave that is some impressive work

 

[Col. Batguano]

Have you ever used the technique of boiling parts with a remaining finish mix of blueing and patina, and then carding the patina (after the patina rust has activated to orange) in trying to restore or conserve your older guns?

 

[dave_person]

Hi CB,
No. I would never boil any old finish that I wanted to preserve. Boiling temperature will chemically change a lot of oxides.

dave

 

[nhmoose]

Very fine wheels are the professional's choice to card. HUNDERED THOUSANDS OF BARRELS DONE IN 30+ YEARS. In the shop my gun shop was part of.