Now its rust bluing! Done, pics up!!

SandRoad said:
Might be that the person making it in BC was a former CGN member. I had picked up a bottle of it from a guy in BC, maybe 6 years ago. Great stuff. Very concentrated, a little bottle will last a lifetime if you only do a couple rifles a year.

Another good website/forum to check is www.finishing.com
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That sounds like him. His used name was Lucky guy but I don't think he's a member any more.

I read on the LM instructions about making a scalding tank out of PVC pipe... which leads to my next question, when boiling the parts after rusting, is it necessary to keep it at a rolling boil for the duration, or will submerging it in scalding/boiled water for an equal ammount of time work as effectively? I do not mind building a metal tank to put on a burner at all if it will yield better bluing... im just curious.

As a positive note, the air outside my shop has been over 80% humidity for a long time... I think the gulf islands are made for this kind of teatment.
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I can't speak to the scalding method. My technique is to bring the water to a rolling boil and keeping it there until I'm. done.

Even though the RH is 80%, at our recent temperatures of 0 to 5C, the air is holding too lttle moisture for effective rusting. Also, there is a risk of condensation on the metal that would really mess up the job.

Here's a couple of pictures of my set-up, etc

Damp Box. That's an old crock pot in the bottom to provide water vapour and heat. The upper bulb is on a rheostat and is used to control the RH. If the RH gets too high, I turn up the bulb to increase heat which in turn decreases RH.
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Drill press with a carding wheel that turns at about 500 rpm
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Boiling tray
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Rusted but not boiled
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Boiled but not carded
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The finished product after 7 cycles
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Mauser very nice work. I have some small rifles to do and I am very interested in the right solution, Is there any avaliable here in canada or just through brownels. If just through brownles i will need to order right away as it will take some time to get here.
 
That looks beautiful Mauser! Very nice work, I guess I'll put together a humidity chamber then. Is there anywhere in Canada to buy carding wheels? I've tried acklands and all the auto supply shops around to no avail. Surely they must be available up here somewhere... I knew I was forgetting something when I ordered the barrel brown.
 
mikeystew said:
That looks beautiful Mauser! Very nice work, I guess I'll put together a humidity chamber then. Is there anywhere in Canada to buy carding wheels? I've tried acklands and all the auto supply shops around to no avail. Surely they must be available up here somewhere... I knew I was forgetting something when I ordered the barrel brown.
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No source in Canada as far as I know. Half Moon Rifle sells them(post #18) as does Brownells. I haven't used the narrow one but the wide one works great. Don't forget to degrease it.:)

Mauser very nice work. I have some small rifles to do and I am very interested in the right solution, Is there any avaliable here in canada or just through brownels. If just through brownles i will need to order right away as it will take some time to get here.
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Please refer to post #18 Boss Hogg's website is http://www.Accurateaction.com/
 
I've been searching for alternative carding methods after forgetting to order a wheel and I've read about people using denim... It got me thinking I could use strips of denim in my cylinder honeing tool turned in the drill press. Will this work? I'll have to thoroughly degrease the tools and denim first... But I think it just might work. Should the denim be wet or dry?

*edit* It seems it might not be abrasive enough after comparing it's abrasiveness with steel wool on a rusty test bolt. However I don't know what to expect with the actual rusted part. I'm not sure how tough to remove this light velvety rust is compared to the rust I'm used to... I'm fairly determined to use a powered carding tool to achieve the finished look, but I might end up having to buy a wheel and wait a few more weeks for it to get here. Slow rust bluing might get a whole lot slower yet :p
 
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Anybody here try" PJ's Gun and metal care" Radocy line of rust bluing? I have an Enfield and a Webley that need some re-bluing. And don't know what kit to get.
 
armco in prince george says they can do a high gloss polished blue for around $240, i'm probably going to go this route for a custom 1903 i'm building, want something along the lines of a weatherby deluxe or winchester supergrade type finish when its done.
 
Nearly there...

So im done with the 7th cycle. after cycle 5 i found that it took a lot more time for the rust to form and cycles 6 and 7 produced very little to no noticable change in the depth of color so i called it done. and im very happy with it!

What an absolutely awsome home blueing method, i can't believe i haven't tried it before! I think if you follow the tips and instructions it's hard to go wrong and man is it a tough and beautifull finish!! It looks sooo at home on this old Martini!!!

Im now neutralizing the metal and will be doing a used motor oil baked on sealer coat shortly. i was going to use the linseed oil and lamp black oil paint mix for sealer but couldnt find any oil paints on my little island home... cest la vie...
Pics to come later tonight. And thanks to all of you for your helpfull information!! MUCH appreciated!
 
Done! Hand rubbed oil finish, fresh cut checkering, slow rust blued, new crown and loading height adjusted. What a difference, this rifle hasn't looked this good in 80 years! I'll take better pics later, but here's what I've got for now.
Before,
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After,
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Unfortunately there were a couple ugly spots under the forestock where the sling swivel was moved around at some point. It was to fragile and shallow under the barrel recess to risk fixing, so I'm looking for a new blank.
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Very nice job, Mike!

I'd love to see some pictures of the stages if you have any. Did you do any polishing, and if so, to what grit? And that was using the Laurel Mountain solution and denim to card?

Cheers,
Stirling
 
Laurel mtn indeed! I actually carded with superfine steel wool. That finish is tough man, no worries about Carding off the blue.

I didn't take pics of the process but mauser98's pics earlier in this thread are accurate.
 
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