Gun Blueing?

[pete]

Ok, I'll admit it's not for or about any gun parts. But I need to order some steel for building parts for a model beam engine. So I'm hoping one of you here who do hot caustic gun blueing can suggest a good steel alloy that will be fairly easy to machine, gives a really good surface finish, and is capable of being gun blued easily. And if you do this type of gun blueing and are located anywhere in SW B.C. Canada, then I'd certainly appreciate your company name and location. Or even if you know of a good gunsmith who does this type of blueing around my area. I'm more than willing to travel anywhere from Kelowna to Vancouver.

I've got some 12l14 steel that would work, but I'm not sure if it can even be blued, or just how much the gun blueing will help with it's rusting issues.

Pete

[hammermill]

http://heatbath.com/metal-finishing-pro ... us-metals/


this will give you some ideas on back oxide finished. as with all blueing things must be clean during the process for good results it is often inferred that a quality finish starts at the polishing wheel.

[Harold_V]

It's not beyond reason to do your own black oxide finishing. I did so recently, with a little guidance from Glenn. It should be done outside, unless you have a good fume control system. You need a heat source, and a steel tank. I used the burner from our grill, which can double as a burner for a turkey cooker. More than enough heat to achieve the required 285° F temperature. Chemicals you'd need are sodium hydroxide (common lye) and potassium chlorate. Both can be difficult to buy, although they are obtainable. Ammonium nitrate can be used in lieu of potassium hydroxide, but in the US, it is virtually impossible to buy unless one is permitted.

I can't comment on 12L14, as I have not tried the process on that particular alloy, but the screws and other hardware that I refinished turned out VERY well. My purpose was to restore, so the parts were sand blasted before finishing. That yielded a very nice satin patina, one I hoped to achieve.

If you desire to give it a go, I can provide a little help, and I'm sure Glenn would be willing as well.

Harold

[hammermill]

potassium chlorate shop skylighter fireworks chemicals, lye check ebay or the local plumbing shop
the hydrogen, brow gas guys use lots of it

[Harold_V]

For potassium nitrate, check garden supply and/or farm stores. Hi-Yield Stump Remover is 99+% potassium nitrate, and reasonably priced. I was fortunate to find a couple cans for $3.99, although the price tends to run closer to $6.00. Each can is 1½ pounds.

Harold

[pete]

Hi Hammermill & Harold,
I very much appreciate the information, and I've also got quite a few gunsmithing books including a few of the Brownells Gunsmith Kinks in my collection that have a few different methods of doing it. And normally I'd probably want to do this myself. The heart meds I'm currently on make me more than a little butter fingered to say the least. So handling boiling caustic chemicals just might not be the best idea for me right now. I would much rather have a proper gunsmith run the parts through there tanks once I've got them built and polished. But it's been about 20 years since I had any professional gunsmithing work done, so I've pretty much lost contact with who would be a good company to deal with around this area. It could be done by about any U.S. gunsmith just by mailing the parts back and forth, but customs would most likely make it a PITA.

And I'm also just lining up the information now since it will be some months before I actually need the work done. But if I really had the choice, I'd rather have the parts done the old school way where they come out an actual deep blue instead of the current black everyone refers to as "blueing" now. But that might be almost impossible to get today. I would be willing to jump through all those customs and paying taxes to the Canadian Government hoops if I could get that done.

Pete

[Harold_V]

The process I speak of yields a deep black, so if you're hoping for blue, yeah, you most likely would be better served by finding a gunsmith. The chemistry involved, while quite similar, is not the same as that which I've done, and I have no clue what changes must be made to achieve the blue finish.

In regards to hot alkaline solutions, even cold, this solution is dangerous, as a drop splashed in to one's eye would lead to blindness. I share your concern.

Harold

[hammermill]

Call a local gun shop or two and see if they will refer you to who is doing their work . As to chemicals the tanks can be steel and sized to the parts needs. That whygunsmith s use the long tanks.

My empathy on being messed up by. Medications. Maybe be share the process with someone younger.

[pete]

Harold & Hammermill,
Thanks again. Yeah I've tried to do some online research about that that really old school blueing that does give you an actual deep blue color. If my limited information is correct, I believe the very old Colt single action 45's were once done this way. No doubt there were many others, but that's at least one manufacturer that's been mentioned that used the process. But there's also a lot of argument about what was used and exactly how it was done. So again it might be pretty tough to find anyone who knows how to do it.

And yes I'll make those phone calls.

Pete

[hammermill]

As time is on your side,consider doing a rust blurring process. It's slow and will need hand brushing. But you can go at it till you get the depth you want. The only hot liquid is boiling water.


http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=vuP4m6L95K4. Here is a quick video with some good idea.s

[redneckalbertan]

If I were you, I would give a local shooting range or gun shop a call and ask them if anyone locally does firearms blueing and what they have heard of their quality of work. If you deal locally you have the opportunity to see them in person and possibly see examples of their work and talk with previous customers.

[pete]

Hi Red,
I hope I can be that informal? Well there's certainly no company and no one local in this little town that can do the work, so I'm forced into going to a 200 mile radius at least. That's kind of why I was hoping somebody might already know of one company they've already dealt with, or maybe someone who is a proper certified professional gunsmith might reply. I've got zero interest in that cheap wipe on gun blueing. The highest labour cost's for actual hot gun blueing, or I guess blackening any parts is due to the actual metal preparation or polishing. I can do that part if I'm real careful. So if I'm willing to wait a bit until a professional has enough parts built up to make it worth it to warm up there blueing tanks, then running maybe a dozen of my quite small parts shouldn't be very expensive at all. It's the finding of that trusted professional that's the tough part. With what's involved in a good friend in the UK CNCing some of the basic parts to replicate a set of castings, and what I'm going to end up doing, I'm considering these parts as being more than just a little bit valuable. So I'd very much like to find a real good and trustworthy expert that can do the work. Having to mail or ship them anywhere brings up at least the small risk of loosing them.

Pete