Rust bluing solution

Has been a few years since I bought some - was "Antique Express Rust Blue" solution - That was from PJ's and not certain identical is still offered - is stuff that you boil the part in water - fish it out - swash on this solution - return to the boil - card it and re- swab, etc. until dark enough to your taste. Was not "Hot Blue Solution", nor is it "Cold Blue" - as label says - was "express rust blue" - so must be like the Pilkington that you mention. PJ Gun and Metal Care - info@pjsproducts.com; www.pjsproducts.com - from the substance's container label ...
 
The lady got back to me re their products. Not sure that they actually have rust bluing but here is what they had...


We no longer carry the Radocy Rust Blue as the company has ceased operations (our website will soon reflect the change). We do however have a comparable Antique EXPRESS Rust Blue that produces a very durable, black-blue Belgian finish. It contains mercuric chloride for an extremely hard, long-lasting result. We have been selling it for several years with fine results. I’ve attached a couple of pics from customers.

For an experienced bluer, we recommend that a 4 oz. bottle will do 2 rifles ($65). For two shotguns or a double barrelled gun, you need 8 oz. ($120). The rust blue is also available as follows:

16 oz. is $235
32 oz. is $450

For bluing you do NOT need a stainless tank as you do for parkerizing. If you are using an iron tank, 1015 or 1020 ASTME is needed. The metal must be HRSP&O (Hot Rolled Steel Pickled and Oiled to avoid sediment/slag). If you are fabricating one, consider adding handles for ease of use.

You need to polish the metal before it is bead blasted to be sure there are no dents/scratches/rust pits that will be obvious when blued. Paul polishes by hand using emery cloth (starting at 180 and working up to 320). He then uses glass bead media #7, if he wants a matte finish. The more you polish the metal, the higher the lustre of the blue finish you will obtain, but don't overpolish or the blue won’t have the necessary substrate needed to hold the finish. See the note below re dealing with pits.

 
From some references here, "rust bluing" and "express rust bluing" are not the same thing. True rust bluing involves a sweat box, a boiling tank, carding, etc. I believe at one time a number of different mixes of chemicals were used in the sweat box heater, to create "fumes" that promoted the formation of the red rust - that the subsequent boiling steps slowly turned to black rust - what we call bluing or browning. I have never done it, but I believe it was pretty standard by gun makers. I have done "express rust bluing" - which as mentioned above is boiling the part in plain water to get hot enough, slosh on the juice - watch it change colour - card it, then repeat until dark enough for you - soak in oil to finish it off - as I recall - is not something that I do even yearly.
 
Virtually any of the rust browning solutions can be used for rust bluing. The boiling water or steam bath converts the ferrous oxide (red rust) to ferro-ferric oxide (black rust). You do the water/steam bath and carding at the end of each rust cycle and the only difference between browning and bluing is the water/steam bath. With regard to express bluing, I have used both Mark Lee Express Blue # 1 and Mark Lee Express Brown # 2 to do bluing with good results. I suspect the products are one in the same. The instructions on the Mark Lee website are much more detailed than those that come with the product. I do prefer slow rust browning/bluing over express as I think the process is more controllable and the end result MIGHT be more durable. At some point, I will try using one of the Mark Lee products in the slow rust process and expect it to work just fine.
 
I make my own with Hydrogen Peroxide, Vinegar and salt. Have about 7 years or so now on some of the finishes I've done with it, as durable as any other - as B_noser observes, all you're doing is rusting and the rest is technique. The chemical is mainly there to promote rusting. Making a steaming jig/steaming box works REALLY well for parts you can't boil, just not as convenient.

1/2 TBSP salt
2 TBSP Vinegar
8 TBSP Hydrogen Peroxide

You can't shortcut all the elbow grease in between rustings (steamin/carding/cleaning/ etc)
 
CMichaud said:
Thanks

I have put together a steam chamber and am putting together a damp box.
Click to expand...

Here is what I built for my sweat box, there are shelves for it too, it doubles as a dry pantry when not full of gun parts.

All I do for browning is prep my parts, wipe with my own solution hang them in the box then pour a pot of boiling water into a pan/jar/beaker/whatever-is-convenient in the bottom of the box. Then seal it up (3 coats of spar varnish and weather stripping - it is pretty much air tight)
The water keeps the temperature and moisture up for a good 12 hours....!

I also use a steam generator (for wood bending - great little unit!!) and 4" ABS tubing to steam parts .... what I can say about that is be real careful, you can get too hot VERY quickly!

sweatbox.jpg
 
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