Hot blued after being polished?
- Thread starter RobertMcC
- Start date
Polishing before hot bluing will get you a nicer looking blue (ie. you are supposed to polish before hot bluing), and off the top of my head I believe the same is true with nickel.
If you were going to phosphate the gun (parkerizing) you would want it sandblasted first.
If you were going to phosphate the gun (parkerizing) you would want it sandblasted first.
Your mistake is that you think "polished" is an actual finish. It's not. It's just a smoother surface on raw metal. So it will blue or plate just fine.
I've heard that if the surface is truly "see yourself" mirror like that blueing can have issues that result in the look being a little splotchy. But that may be with cold blue. For hot blue you'd have to talk with the guy that has the tank and salts to see how this has worked before.
I've heard that if the surface is truly "see yourself" mirror like that blueing can have issues that result in the look being a little splotchy. But that may be with cold blue. For hot blue you'd have to talk with the guy that has the tank and salts to see how this has worked before.
The only real issues I've noticed with mirror polished firearms is that the blue wears faster than it does on matte or just luster polished.
I have never noticed any issues with splotchy coverage, as long as everything is absolutely free of oils. I saw a lovely hot blue job, done by a very good smith, that really knew his stuff. He had hired some help to run a couple of batches through his bluing tanks. The fellow was very ambitious and worked fast.
Lo and behold, several of the bbls had "Splotchy Finishes". Not only that, they had a purplish hue. Upon inspection, the new fellow had oil on his hands. He thought that if he kept his hands oily, he wouldn't rust the finish on the rifles.
He was one of those people plagued with "super sweat". You've all met them, you have to wipe down your firearms after they handle them.
I have never noticed any issues with splotchy coverage, as long as everything is absolutely free of oils. I saw a lovely hot blue job, done by a very good smith, that really knew his stuff. He had hired some help to run a couple of batches through his bluing tanks. The fellow was very ambitious and worked fast.
Lo and behold, several of the bbls had "Splotchy Finishes". Not only that, they had a purplish hue. Upon inspection, the new fellow had oil on his hands. He thought that if he kept his hands oily, he wouldn't rust the finish on the rifles.
He was one of those people plagued with "super sweat". You've all met them, you have to wipe down your firearms after they handle them.
