home rebluing kits
I have a small revolver that I'd like to try to reblue myself. It's not worth anything so if I screw it up, it'll just be ugly (like it is now) I've been reading some of the stuff about the home bluing kits and they say they may not match the original bluing. What I would like to do is strip the entire gun down to bare metal and start from nothing. What can I use to remove the original finish? Is there a chemical that'll do it or am I supposed to buff/polish it off? Again, this firearm has practically no monetary value otherwise, I'd have it professionally done. I'm using it for practice.
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Brownells has a stripper that will remove the bluing, unless you've buffed a few parts that is not the way to go....
Rust bluing is the way to go if you have the time and patience, the home blues in a bottle are not what they are cracked up to be....0 -
quote:Originally posted by mrbruce
Brownells has a stripper that will remove the bluing, unless you've buffed a few parts that is not the way to go....
Rust bluing is the way to go if you have the time and patience, the home blues in a bottle are not what they are cracked up to be....
Can you give me more info please? I've never done anything like this before and I'm not sure what you're talking about. I've picked this revolver because it's not worth anything other than sentimental value and it's already ugly. What is the stripper called that brownells sells? Once stripped, then do I apply bluing or do I have to buff first? Time and patience are fine, I'm in no hurry. What is rust bluing? And the home blues in a bottle.... What is it that they fall short on? I'm just trying to learn as much as possible about it before I get started. Thanks for your help0 -
Several companies make bluing remover. It is usually called bluing remover. However, a visit to the hardware store, and a bottle of Naval Jelly rust remover will do the trick. Bluing is controlled rusting.
Step 1- be sure that what you want to blue is STEEL. aluminum, zinc alloys, etc will not blue. But some bluing chemicals WILL eat it up- fast.
Step 2- remove old bluing
Step 3- polish metal. Use fine grit wet-or-dry paper. I use jeweler's rouge on a cloth buffing wheel, but Flitz metal polish AFTER 600 grit paper- and a lot of elbow grease- will give a very good polish. BLUING DOES NOT HIDE BAD METAL PREP.
Step 4- Degrease. Alcohol, mineral sprits, brake cleaner, etc. Wear gloves when handling metal, your fingerprints can show up in the bluing.
Step 5- Blue. Most common hobbyist is cold blue. Varies from not too bad to really horrible. Best I have seen is Blue Wonder or Oxpho Blu. Apply to warm metal, follow directions. Next is rust blue. Box and humidifier, let parts rust lightly, card off rust, repeat until you reach the color you want, or get disheartened. Actually nice blue, low tech, was the original form of bluing, still used for sxs shotguns, etc. Hot blue- also called caustic blue. Cleaned parts immersed in boiling solution of water, ammonium nitrate, sodium hydroxide. Will eat holes in you if not careful. Eye/face protection a must. Do it on the kitchen range and if married, will sleep on sofa for a while.
That is a real quick and dirty, do some reading on this.0 -
go to brownells.com, parts #082 055 032, or your local hardware store should have 'muratic acid', this will work also. but be carefull, all clemicals have their hazards. brownells also has a rust blueing product (pt # 703 200 004), this is a process that was used up to ww1 on a lot of guns. It work well but takes time (read the directoins. as to the 'bottel' blueing finishes, almost all of the are a copper plating process that then darkens the plating. it wears off easyly. 0 -
The actual home bluing kits, like from Birchwood Casey, come with a bluing remover.
The actual bluing solutions are not much different, if at all different than the hot bluing solutions. The only difference that I can see in the hot bluing, is the addition of heated tanks, to heat the piece being blued, to help open the pores, for better penetration.
With that said, preparation is everything, meaning an even polish or bead blast for a matte finnish, and an extremely thurough degreasing. Absolutely no grease or oil can be in this process. I then take the hottest water I can submerse the piece in and then soak it for about 5-10 minutes to bring it up to temperature. The hotter the better, as the water will evaporate better. In your case, boiling water would work well, but make sure it is DISTILLED water, and is untreated. Immediately after removal from the water, the water should dissapate almost immediately, and then apply the bluing solution. I like to use the bluing paste, as it goes on evenly. Repeat this process as needed. That in a nutshell is how to make cold bluing work better. Unless you have the desire to set up hot baths, it will not get much better than this.
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Good advice given already.
Bluing is a form of controlled rust.
As such, ordinary naval jelly (which contains jelled phosphoric acid) available at any hardware store for a few bucks, will strip bluing.0 -
About the safest rust and blue remover I've seen for DIY'ers is Brownells Steel White. Since it contains sodium hydroxide you can dispose of it down the drain.
Brownells 44/40 cold blue is fairly durable and easy to work with.0 -
You can apply a very respectable, true rust blue with minimal equipment. I used a Pilkington Gun Co. solution from Brownells on a well worn Ruger Mark II and was impressed with the results. This product comes with easy to use, detailed instructions.
It takes a lot of time but if you follow the directions, you won't be dissapointed.
P.S. If you have a bench grider, order a carding wheel as well, save you a lot of elbow grease.0
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