Anybody here use Oxphp-Blu (brownells products)

The trick is to totally degrease all the metel and the 0000 steel wool you will apply the Oxpho-Blue with.

Then heat it up with a blow dryer or heat gun.

Then apply with 0000 steel wool you have washed in dish soap or solvent to get all the oil out of it.

Then keep applying more coats with the steel wool & re-heating until you are satisfied.

If you have a Post-64 94 Winchester with the mystery metal receiver, it is very doubtful the cold bluing will touch it.

In the end, what you get will never be even close to as durable as real hot bluing.

rc

Remember to wear rubber gloves when touching the bare metal that you have just decreased.

Doesn't matter really. Use whatever you got.

Rubbing alcohol, Vodka, carb cleaner, paint thinner?

Hot soapy dish water will do fine though.
Cause you are gonna heat the heck out of it with a heat gun anyway.

The water will be dry before you get to the bluing part.

rc

I have used Oxpho-blue several times recently and it is great. Completely reblued the barrels of a Mauser 98, and my .22 rifle. Just finish the metal work (before blueing) with a black scotch-brite pad, used shoe-shine fashion, to get a soft even finish over all the metal. Don't be afraid to use solvents to degrease the metal, BEFORE brightening up the finish. And heat is NOT required with Oxpho. Please read the directions, and follow them.

Not only do I heat the gun, I warm the Oxpho in a small container by setting it on the gas-fired boiler in the basement. Other folks warm it very briefly in the microwave for a few seconds.

Yeah, I read the directions.

John

I've used the stuff quite a bit, and had some interesting adventures. I failed to fully degrease a piece once, and ended up with what looked to all the world like a gorgeous color case hardening job. Not what I was looking for, but still pretty neat-o.

What I found works very well for me: degrease, degrease again, and degrease yet again. I use hot soapy water (Dawn dish soap) in the first pass, Brakleen for the second, and HOT HOT HOT soapy water for the third. Rinse in HOT water from a Brita filter, and it'll flash dry with no mineral spots. The mineral content in a lot of tap water wreaks havoc with cold bluing solutions.

Steal all your wife's cotton balls. Saturate one with Oxpho, wipe it on, and throw the cotton ball away. Repeat. Let it stew for 10 minutes or so, gently buff with 0000 steel wool, rinse under HOT Brita water, and then repeat the whole process until you get it as dark as you want it.

Finish with a cotton ball saturated in a good quality, non-synthetic gun oil. CLP is not your friend here, for some reason I still don't really understand.

Here's all the instructions you need direct from the folks who bring it to you

http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/pid=1072/Product/OXPHO-BLUE-reg-

For me the secret is to not reuse the cotton ball or whatever applicator you use, as danbowkley says. (I've used pieces of paper towel and steel wool at various times, depending on what works with that particular part.) If you re-dip it in the solution it doesn't seem to take, whereas a fresh piece will. Dunno why! L. O. G.

If you have a Post-64 94 Winchester with the mystery metal receiver, it is very doubtful the cold bluing will touch it.

Click to expand...

rc isn't kidding about the receiver as I've seen the Post-64 94s that have been hot blued and the receivers are different shades of reds, orange, and even purple, but rarely blue.

Sure, I read the Brownell's instructions. Did you see the part that says 'in most cases'?

"With Oxpho-Blue, all you need do in most cases, is dampen a piece of cotton flannel and give the area a good rubbing. "

After degreasing, I put the gun pats in the oven on the low setting for a half hour max. You want the metal hot enough that the Oxpho-Blue sizzles when you dab it on with the cotton balls.

If you have a Post-64 94 Winchester with the mystery metal receiver, it is very doubtful the cold bluing will touch it.

rc isn't kidding about the receiver as I've seen the Post-64 94s that have been hot blued and the receivers are different shades of reds, orange, and even purple, but rarely blue.

Click to expand...

I have had less than satisfactory results using Brownell's Oxynate 7 (hot blue)with Oxynate S additive. I have also used Brownell's Oxynate 84 with better but still not good results. I have since gone to using a bake-on gun finish(paint) for post '64 94 receivers.

In well over 35 years of gunsmithing the only cold blue I used for touchups was Oxpho Blue. By far the best cold blue on the market. Recently had my own Marlin 1895G showing signs of wear from some over zealous cleaning. I simply hit the metal with some M-Pro 7 cleaner and then I used a big wad of cotton to coat the entire weapon. Two coats and it was looking better than it did when it was new a few years ago. No heat applied. Just cleaned it lightly and went at it. Oxpho Blue does wonders as a cold blue solution.

Only suggestion I have is this; never dip the item you use to apply it twice. Always use a new and clean applicator. If not, you're going to have a rust colord mess in the bottle in a few weeks. I'll often let the weapon sit overnight after the final application and then buff it with a dry coarse paper towel. Gives a bright finish. The oil it up and enjoy...

Wade

It's the only cold blue I've found that is worth anything at all. Formula 44-40 gives a bluer color, but rusts with abandon. I learned to not use it any more! Oxpho blue has given me ZERO after rust. ;-)

Still, it's just a cold blue, and it is not as durable as real blueing.

IMO its the best of the cold blues. I did accidentally discover one interesting 'feature' while redoing my Dad's Winchester 37 you might find useful. I know conventional wisdom is to blue bare degreased metal, but I couldn't get this particular gun to take an even blue at all.

I don't remember after all these years why I did this, but I applied some Oxpho to it after it had been wiped with Break Free. Much to my amazement the blue worked 10X better than it did when I was doing it the 'right' way. 20+ years later that gun still looks fantastic. So if you aren't getting good results on bare metal it wouldn't cost much to give this "oil blue" method a try. I seem to remember doing it to a couple of other guns as well when the decreased surfaces didn't blue well. YMMV of course, but it worked for me.

+1 for Oxpho.

I mix the liquid and paste type Brownells Oxpho-Blu together and put on a heated (240* or so) degreased steel surface. This procedure seems to work the best of all with what cold blue attempts I have done in the past. It seems to stay on lots better than just using the liquid and not heating at all. I will have to try the break free thing next time and see if it works for me as well. I have experimented with heating the steel to different temps and dunking it into motoroil to see how that will blue. Sometimes will work a bit but not well.

Ive used it on some odds n ends parts and guns i like it better than birchwood casey cold blu