Old looking finish

Status
Not open for further replies.
B

BowerR64

Member
Joined
Aug 1, 2013
Messages
1,243
If i used steel wool and cleaned this up how long would it take to get it back like this?

I dont have any guns that have this old aged look like this one but there are some burs on it in spots i wanted to clean it up and file the burs but i wanted it still have this old look to it.

attachment.php
 

Attachments

  • Lenexa gun small.JPG
    Lenexa gun small.JPG
    123.5 KB · Views: 357
IMO you should consider living with the burrs! I've spent hours trying to fake that patchy / dappled tarnished look and never come close.
If they're little dinks on the outside - that's part of old. If they are ripping your hands or clothing just take the sharpness off them with a fine slip stone and wait for them to "rust in"...
 
Or burnish the burrs aaway with a piece of hard steel. Just rub the steel on the burr until it is gone. No metal is removed, just rearranged.

To replicate a finish in a few spots, if you goof, just don't clean those spots well. The black powder fouling will soon provide a mottled appearance.
 
DaveP (UK) said:
IMO you should consider living with the burrs! I've spent hours trying to fake that patchy / dappled tarnished look and never come close.
If they're little dinks on the outside - that's part of old. If they are ripping your hands or clothing just take the sharpness off them with a fine slip stone and wait for them to "rust in"...
Click to expand...

just buy a 1858 gun kit! lol you will have all the flaws you need. :/

With the look of the outside of this gun it looks like its had a pretty hard life but the rifeling is actually good. Im really shocked.

My lyman gun kit my dad got in the 70s is only 200 away from this one. Mine is like 600 something this one is like 800 something.
 
I tried that cold blue stuff i got a few months ago. Dont worry though, first time i clean it all the color will wash off. Ive used it before and it didnt last.

attachment.php
 

Attachments

  • Lenexa blued.JPG
    Lenexa blued.JPG
    164.2 KB · Views: 320
:eek:dang, im really liking the look of that bower! and its a remmie!
hows the grip on these compared to say a '60 colt style? i have big hands and the colt navy grips felt a little short, havent had a chance to handle a remmie
good looking pistol, patina looks perfect to me
Gene
 
Good work on that Remmie, Bower.
Ivan the problem with Remmies is that there is very little room between the front strap and the back of the trigger guard... knuckle buster.
 
Mutilating a factory finish

Judicious dabbing with a diluted cold blue solution on a Q-tip followed by quick wipe-offs allows you to regulate the amount of blue retained on the gun. If the area is large, vinegar on a Q-tip with a quick wipe-off can change the shade.

The dappled finish is not all that hard to produce. I antiqued a pair of Ruger Old Armies by removing the factory blue and then applying Plum Brown solution, then working it down with oily steel wool.

Before and after:
 

Attachments

  • ROA after 001.jpg
    ROA after 001.jpg
    193.8 KB · Views: 90
VERY nice. I am about to pull the trigger on a full antiquing job on one of my Walkers that has Colt's markings on the barrel and cylinder. I have already soaked the cylinder in vinegar to remove the bluing to get it back to the white. I plan to disasemble the gun and so the same to the frame, barrel, and grip. I will then try the plum Brown finish to rust it up a bit.
 
Or burnish the burrs aaway with a piece of hard steel. Just rub the steel on the burr until it is gone. No metal is removed, just rearranged.

To replicate a finish in a few spots, if you goof, just don't clean those spots well. The black powder fouling will soon provide a mottled appearance.
Click to expand...

This is good advice. Keep your deburring to as small an area as possible and you should be fine. Great looking 1858!
 
ivankerley said:
:eek:dang, im really liking the look of that bower! and its a remmie!
hows the grip on these compared to say a '60 colt style? i have big hands and the colt navy grips felt a little short, havent had a chance to handle a remmie
good looking pistol, patina looks perfect to me
Gene
Click to expand...
I have pretty big fat hands also and they are pretty small my pinkie finger hangs off the bottom on almost all these older guns.

Toolslinger sent me some wood for my lyman and i thought about making a set of grips that were longer. I might practice on some junk wood first before i make the cuts on the purpleheart.

My idea was to just extend the grips down past the bottom of the frame on both sides but on one side glue a little section of wood the same width as the frame to make up the difference. I could paint this section black or something to match the frame or leave it wood color. It might look weird on a Remington though.

has anyone else done this? maybe there are pictures already?
 
Toolslinger, that's a pretty nice way to handle the issue if you want the extra room.

I've yet to try it but I suspect that by cleaning the gun first then handling it with SLIGHTLY oiled hands THEN rub it down with vinegar or some sort of blueing remover used on a rag so that the high spots get more de-blueing than the rest it would produce a more natural worn look. If a little plum brown were spotted or rubbed on and then burnished it could add to the look if not overdone. Finally a lightly vinegar or de-blueing dampened rag could be used to thin and spot the finish. The final product would be a bit of a three tone camouflage finish of blue, brown and "white" that varies in darkness overall to give the look of long wear and a hint of rust from "a few years back".

I'd stop short of actually producing pitting in the metal though..... :D
 
Imagine sliding the revolver in and out os a holster. Where does the leather rub? Remove the finish in those areas. Look at how some of the trade in Police revolvers show wear and emulate that.
 
StrawHat said:
Imagine sliding the revolver in and out os a holster. Where does the leather rub? Remove the finish in those areas. Look at how some of the trade in Police revolvers show wear and emulate that.
Click to expand...
I had a couple revolvers my dad used only a holster to carry the guns around in. It sort of polished all the bluing off leaving the corners and stuff a shiny polished steel.

He wore them a few times infont of the mirror but mainly just used them to carry them around in. It did wear them like if you were actually wearing them.
 
My Traditions started out as a 7 1/2" blue/case.
44coltconv2.jpg

44Coltconv1.jpg

Shortened the barrel for spinning, antiqued the gun, and spent a few trips out shooting banging the grips around and wrapping them with a piece of chain and then smacking something.

Looking back, I should have put a few more dings in the metal here and there.
Did not feel like burring or opening up the screw slots though.

I tried to form rust by leaving it dry (except the bore and chambers) in the garage all of one winter. Not much formed at all.

Close enough. Actually had a few folks think it really was old. LOLs.

JT
 
I wonder how you could do that? say fill the barrel with shoe goo or something then leave it out in the back yard during the spring and fall. I wouldnt want the inside of the barrel to be damaged though.
 
BowerR64 said:
I wonder how you could do that? say fill the barrel with shoe goo or something then leave it out in the back yard during the spring and fall. I wouldnt want the inside of the barrel to be damaged though.
Click to expand...
Heat the parts you want to rust in an oven to 250 degrees, then paint on Birchwood Casey Plum Brown finish. It will rust immediately. And you will say, "What have it done?"
And then when it cools you work it down with 4/0 steel wool and oil and a pretty antique finish appears.
 
J-Bar said:
Heat the parts you want to rust in an oven to 250 degrees, then paint on Birchwood Casey Plum Brown finish. It will rust immediately. And you will say, "What have it done?"
And then when it cools you work it down with 4/0 steel wool and oil and a pretty antique finish appears.
Click to expand...
Got any you have done? post some pictures.

I want to see some more antiquing
 
That's how I did the ROA in post#8 above.

Also pair of Pietta brassers...
 

Attachments

  • Brassers.jpg
    Brassers.jpg
    171.6 KB · Views: 53
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top