Question about cold bluing.

[PinnedAndRecessed]

Here's what I've compiled about touching up a firearm with cold bluing:

1. Wear rubber gloves.
2. Degrease the area to be blued. (Birchwood Casey Cleaner/Degreaser.)
3. Use blow dryer to heat specific area. (Heat gun would even be better.)
4. Apply Brownell's Oxpho Blue with cotton swab or q tip.
5. Allow to penetrate for a minute, keeping area wet with bluing compound.
6. Either a) rinse with warm water or b) soak rag with warm water and rub metal
7. Repeat two or three times.
8. Apply non-penetrating gun oil (Hoppes gun oil is recommended by the tech from Brownells).

My question has to do with the buffing material, 3M plastic finishing pads. (Note: the pads replace 'OO' steel wool.)

Do I buff between steps '7' and '8?' And when I buff, the pads are dry, right?

thanx.

 

[JMusic]

I use 0000 and gun oil for final buff.

Jim

 

[dfariswheel]

I like the Scotchbrite synthetic pads, but for cold bluing I think 0000 steel wool does better.

00 steel wool or the equivalent in synthetic is WAY too coarse.
Automotive stores sell Scotchbrite pads that are even finer then 0000 steel wool, but the steel wool seems to work better.

You buff VERY LIGHTLY between steps 7 and 8, but you buff a little harder between steps 6 and 7, and you use a dry pad.

In order to prevent contaminating the clean surface you're bluing, you need to clean the oil off the steel wool.
I put alcohol in a cup, tear off small pieces of the steel wool, and soak the steel wool in it to remove the oil that pads are soaked in to prevent rust.
After allowing to dry, the pads are degreased and ready to be used for bluing.
Don't soak more than you'll need immediately, since the degreased wool can rust in hours.

Be warned that cold blues at at their best as touch-up for small scratches and worn areas. The will not do a really satisfactory job bluing a large area or a complete gun.
Usually, the gun will have a streaked, smoky-gray color, not a real blue look, and it isn't at all durable.

 

[PinnedAndRecessed]

thanx fariswheel.

I'm just touching up a couple firearms.

A Python and 29-2 which both have a little ring rubbed off at the end of the muzzle. It's actually a circle worn into the blue. For the life of me I can't figure out how they did that. But it must be fairly common since both guns were purchased used from different owners.

 

[45auto]

I've used the Oxpho quite a bit on entire 1911s and here's what I do.

Clean and degrease.
Apply the Oxpho(paste) with a Q-tip and rub in with 0000 steel wool for at least 30 seconds, applying more and overlapping as I go.
Wipe off with paper towel once in a while and repeat.
Oil.


I can achieve a uniform dark finish that looks pretty good. Not as good as hot blueing and it doesn't last nearly as long. Meaning grip safety area, frame, etc, will wear quickly.

IMHO, keep it simple and easy to do since it will have to be touched up often anyway. I've tried many others and they all darken pretty well and last...not long. So, I no longer use any that need to be washed with water or heated up, etc, etc.

 

[ken w.]

I wouldn't recomend using QTips or cotton swabs bought from the drug store.They put a coating on them to keep them steryle.I would get a pack from Brownell's that are pure and clean cotton.I have had cold blue streak and blotch from QTips.Acetone is a real good degreaser before bluing.I put the part or barrel in my oven and heat it to about 150 degrees,rub it down with acetone,and apply cold blue.It takes the bluing faster and comes out darker and richer looking.After I think its blued enough,I wash it with soap and real hot water.The water should run right off or bead up a bit.Thats when you know its blued enough.

 

[Khornet]

Oxpho-Blue

I've used quite a bit of it. Timing is everything, meaning how long you leave each application on the metal before removing or burnishing. I've never done a whole gun, but some fairly large parts e.g. barrels, bottom metal, etc. and gotten a nice deep blue which has worn really well.

Depending on how you do it, you can actually begin un-bluing the piece with subsequent applications, making your blue thinner and thinner. Check out Brownells' 'Gunsmith Kinks' vols. I and II for better details. Maybe I'll look it up when I get home.

The finer the finish, the harder to blue with OB, BTW. Also, they recomend NOT oiling the newly blued metal for a few days. They say that most oils will treat the bluing as rust, and try to displace it.

 

[rifle]

Little trick fer cold blue....Degrease parts well with muratic acid(do it outside-watch out fer the fumes) and wash with dish soap and water and rinse well.....use degreased steel wool to apply the bluing after rubbing the whole piece with the degreased steel wool(imparts micro scratches that hold bluing) Slobber the cold blue on the first coat real wet and let it stand for a coupla minutes. The steel wool applicator will even any blotchies the second go around. Last application use a folded one inch square of clean flannel that has the cold blue padded off it so it's "damp" but not wet. Play with it with the flannel and darken it at the same time. Secret recipe to use.....take a small amount of cold blue Birchwood Casey Super Blue and mix in 1/4th Birchwood Casey Cleaner Degreaser.(three parts bluing to one part cleaner degreaser ) Use that mix to do the bluing. That way the bluing is diluted and doesn't blotch or streak. Makes it fun because you can play around with it and just about anything you do makes it look better. Secret no. 2.......some steels turn a blue-black almost like a dark charcoal bluing if the Birchwood Casey Cleaner Degreaser is mixed with the cold blue 44/40. It makes a dark blue-black that looks beautiful. Works real well on the cap&ball 1858 Remingtons. Comes out like a custom job that will amaze yer buddies. Three parts 44/40 bluing to one part Birchwood Casey cleaner degreaser. The Birchwood Casey Super Blue mixed with the Birchwood Casey Cleaner Degreaser makes a black color. I get good uniform blue jobs using the above methods and it's so easy it is actually really fun to do. No worries.... it always comes out good. For some reason the finish lasts a little longer too which isn't saying much because it still wears off pretty fast but...what the heck. It's so easy and fun what does it matter? If you want an opaque black finish use Birchwood Casey Plum Brown and boil the parts in distilled water to turn them black. I've heard the black oxid kit from "Caswell Plating" works good and LASTS.

 

[mustang_gt_350]

cotton swab?

Could an old cotton t-shirt be replaced for the cotton swabs, and Q-tips?

 

[langenc]

Cotton tshirt material is excellent. Dont use too large a piece as you need to saturate it.

As to muratic (HCl) acid as a degreaser-I studied a bit of chemistry and never heard of such a thing. Use a non-chlorinated brake cleaner to really degrease.

Oxphoro says if "lightly rusted or oily" just apply dont need to worry.

 

[medmo]

Try MEK, (Methyl-ethyl-ketone), in a bath for a degreaser. It is a solvent that strips oils/greases and evaporates quickly. Wear proper gloves and PPE as it is a really good solvent that is absorbed through the skin, (not good for kidneys, nervous system, read the MSDS). I wouldn't recommend the acid. Muriatic acid is used for a surface prep with black oxide on stainless steel. It activates the surface for the oxide..... enough of that tangent. Basically the muriatic, (diluted HCI), reacts with the surface and solvents don't. The acids etch the surface of the steel. When applying black oxide on stainless bbls using muriatic acid the bore has to be plugged tightly as the acid etch can ruin a hand lapped bore finish.

 

[rifle]

Muratic acid does etch the surface. That's the point. Lets the cold blue grab on. Kind of like using a glass bead to rough the surface before a cold blue. That glass beading makes those tiny pits the lets the cold blue get down into and not be on the surface. Therefore it wears a lot better since most can't be rubbed off. That glass beading makes shotgun barrels look kind of like the classic rust blue. Anywhooo....muratic acid will remove oils and grease pretty well and etch the surface but then it needs to be washed well in dish soap or trisodium phosphate. If dish soap is used (good grease remover) the kind without the hand moisten stuff in it has to be used.
That Belgian Blue from Brownells is good stuff. Easy and the finish wears real well and long. All you do is degrease the part,swab on the Belgian Blue and let it stand a few minutes and then boil the part in distilled water. Repeat until dark black, I guess the boiling makes it not a cold blue but it's as easy as cold blue and does a good job that lasts. When the parts are boiled in the distilled water they should be held off the bottom of the pan with wire coat hangers or something.

 

[medmo]

If you are going to try using a muriatic pre-etch I would recommend keeping it out of the chamber and bore. Most hardware stores sell rubber stoppers of various sizes that work well to plug both ends of the bbl. They work well.

BTW - Rough prepping a surface for "blueing" treatment is not necessary for adhesion. When applying something that needs to bond with the surface like teflon, epoxy paint, duracoat, etc. then surface roughness benefits adhesion. The whole array of stuff that is defined as "Blueing" is a chemical reaction with the steel surface that "grows" a colored surface thru an acidic/copper cold blue or an oxide layer with hot black oxide blueing. The durability of cold blue to things like holster wear seems to be better by sand/bead blasting, (rougher surface), because the surface is worn to bare metal slower because there are peaks and valleys. A smooth polish area will show bare metal through holster wear on a large spot. A roughened surface will show wear on the peaks of the surface first and then eventually the valleys with continuous wear.