Cold Blueing Not Turnning Out

Stewienb

Stewienb

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"Cooeyville" Alberta
I have been trying to reblue (with Birchwood Casey Perma-Blue) a barrel and action a couple of times now and it just aint turning out good at all. Ive made sure that all the metal has been prepped and cleaned. i cannot seem to find de-natured alcohol anywheres to clean to clean it with, so i tried different "gun degreasers" for barrel prepping and even a brake clean that said on the label "leaves no residue". it turns out patchy and just doenst seem to darken, even after 3-4 applications.:mad:

Tried heating the barrel till all the condensation was out of the steel and this never helped.

Has anyone tried Blue Wonder? and is it worth the $35 for the kit?? Does it work as good as the claimer says??

Any ideas would be greatly appreiciated.:redface:
 
I've never blued anything before but am also interested in trying it out. Having said this it's the internet and I can be an expert in whatever I choose. I've only heard outstanding things about blue wonder, SIR has it in stock. I'll let you know if I manage to eek out a real word experience out of the deal.
 
I used to simply polish the barrel with OOO steel wool and clean it with steaming hot water enough to warm up the whole surface. Then I would wipe it down with flooded cotton patches, taking care to never redip into the clean solution. Once the area was completely coated, I'd wipe it down with a wet rag and soak it in WD-40.
 
Canuck223 said:
I used to simply polish the barrel with OOO steel wool and clean it with steaming hot water enough to warm up the whole surface. Then I would wipe it down with flooded cotton patches, taking care to never redip into the clean solution. Once the area was completely coated, I'd wipe it down with a wet rag and soak it in WD-40.
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That's the way I do it too. You have to use a good degreaser on it too. After all the prep work.
 
what model of gun are you trying to refinish? if the steel sometimes has a high alloy content it will not give you the nice rich blue you were hoping for but instead something more of a grey tone, or irregular colours all together.

options might include perhaps a different blue product, hot blueing or a spray on bake on like KG-GUNKOTE.
 
a model 370 winchester 12 guage single shot.

and thats exactly what its doin, jsut giving me a grey look more than blue or black. ive done other guns before and had no problems.

But dont get me wrong, its still looks better than rust lol .
 
gunpro said:
what model of gun are you trying to refinish? if the steel sometimes has a high alloy content it will not give you the nice rich blue you were hoping for but instead something more of a grey tone, or irregular colours all together.

options might include perhaps a different blue product, hot blueing or a spray on bake on like KG-GUNKOTE.
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a model 370 winchester 12 guage single shot.

and thats exactly what its doin, jsut giving me a grey look more than blue or black. ive done other guns before and had no problems.

But dont get me wrong, its still looks better than rust lol .
 
Heat the metal with a paint stripper gun before applying the cold blue.

Denatured alcohol you get at the pharmacy.

Brake cleaner will leave a residue that detremental for blueing.
 
Stewienb said:
a model 370 winchester 12 guage single shot.

and thats exactly what its doin, jsut giving me a grey look more than blue or black. ive done other guns before and had no problems.

But dont get me wrong, its still looks better than rust lol .
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Lots of single shot shotgun actions don't take a good blue no matter what kind...
 
guntech said:
Lots of single shot shotgun actions don't take a good blue no matter what kind...
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Any rreason why that may be????:confused:

I know that most singles were made to be cheap but would the metal be made cheaper if it was made of a nonferrous metal mix of somesort?

I collect lotsa singles, mostly cooey's and before i start doing other blue jobs ild like as much info as i can get.

Awsome info.............thanks!!:wave:
 
I tried blue wonder some time back. They had a free sample available.
I found it very tricky to use, metal had to be scrupulously clean of oils. However, once you got the process down, it gave fantastic results.
I only did small parts.
I found it needed the metal to be very hot, too hot to touch, to give best results.
 
My opinion of Birchwood Casey is that it's crap. I have a gallon of their ultra blue somewhere in the garage which I will never use. I actually bought 2 gallons at the time, and I was pulling my hair out using the first gallon.

I use Brownell's Oxpho Blue, which is about as good as you will get with a cold blue. And there is no need to be preheating the metal either, it colors the guns I refinish a coal black in about 2 seconds.

No cold bluing is going to be as durable as a hot blue. Cold bluing is also very susceptible to not giving a good finish on metal which has gone through heat treatment, or has had localized heating from the machining process.
 
i have a firm beleif that you should hot blue or parkerize all barreled actions and mag tubes and any other large part that has to be consistent,on the west coast i know a few people that will do all the prep and hot blue for about $200 and can parkerize for about $150 so it all boils down to how much time before the cold blue wears off or how many times before your happy with the results any questions pm me back
 
When I cold blue I bead blast the surface first then use the degreaser that comes in the birchwood casey kit and it has worked very well on my No.4 Mk.1 LE, but then tried it on another one where I polished the metal really smooth and the perma blue didn't take as well. The best I could get was a dark grey colour instead of black or near black as I had before.
If you have a high polish surface try the Super Blue from Birchwood casey as it's supposed to be able to penetrate smoother finishes. I also find that it's not enough just to lay a layer of the blueing chemical on the metal and wait. Instead I rub the swab around the area continuously while I wait the recommended time for the application to keep the chemical thickness consistent all over the metal.
I haven't done a shotgun yet I'll admit, so maybe there is a difference between them and this stuff just won't work for you.
 
proonur said:
When I cold blue I bead blast the surface first then use the degreaser that comes in the birchwood casey kit and it has worked very well on my No.4 Mk.1 LE, but then tried it on another one where I polished the metal really smooth and the perma blue didn't take as well. The best I could get was a dark grey colour instead of black or near black as I had before.
If you have a high polish surface try the Super Blue from Birchwood casey as it's supposed to be able to penetrate smoother finishes. I also find that it's not enough just to lay a layer of the blueing chemical on the metal and wait. Instead I rub the swab around the area continuously while I wait the recommended time for the application to keep the chemical thickness consistent all over the metal.
I haven't done a shotgun yet I'll admit, so maybe there is a difference between them and this stuff just won't work for you.
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And thats what im getting, a dark grey. my parts are all extremly smooth so maybe this is some of the reason its not working out.

Tried superblue, it dont work any better.:(

But another thing to is that the cooeys were case hardened, thus giving it the 'wavey' blue look that ones in great condition have. I never thought of that making a negative effect on the blueing.

I have a sand blaster, so what kind of bead would i pick up?

parkerizing or hot blue would be a great idea, and some day im goin to try it, but to spend $200 on a $50 shotgun is like putting $2000 of rims and tires on a $500 car - :)redface: sorry guys i forgot to say that its not a collectable or of any value, just a gun i will enjoy shooting partridge with).


Thanks for all the feed back!!!:):cool:
 
You can buy glass bead to use in the sand blaster, but make sure you don't breathe any of that dust in as it's really bad for your lungs.
I wouldn't bother trying any more cold blueing, since the super blue didn't work and that's what it's designed for. You may just have to settle for a greyish colour in the end or hand over the money for parkerizing.
Sorry man, wish I had more for you.
 
I have had mostly decent results with the Birchwood Casey cold blue. Scrupulous de-greasing and even application of the solution seems to be the key to success.

Ensure you have removed all traces of the old finish.

Wipe the part down with naptha (Coleman stove fuel). Wash with hot water and soap, then liberally with the Birchwood Casey degreaser. Wear rubber gloves and be careful how you handle things so the parts don't get recontaminated.

Preheat the work piece (2-3 minutes minutes in the oven on lowest heat setting on small pieces, over a heat duct for larger pieces).

Apply the blue solution with a CLEAN saturated cotton cloth and go over it several times, carefully wetting the solution onto all surfaces, nooks and crannies. The cloth has to be well-soaked so you get an even application. Do not let droplets of solution sit on the work piece as this may cause dark spots. Use a clean dry cloth to wipe up excess solution, and immediately spray with G96 gun oil/cleaner and wipe it down well. Finished.
 
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