Thanks Mark for this presentation. I remember a gunshop in the Santa Anna, CA area in the early 1970s that did charcoal bluing. I never cared for it because the acids in my hands would strip off the finish. I have done rust blue in the past and it is much more durable.
Done correctly, charcoal blue has the reputation of being more durable than rust blue or hot caustic blue. These test pieces are difficult to put a scratch in, even when intentionally trying to. I'm not sure what process that gunshop was using, but it doesn't sound like traditional charcoal blue. The Italians are using a method similar to "nitre" or "heat" blue and calling it charcoal blue these days. It's not durable at all. I suspect that's what was being done in the gunshop you mentioned as well.
Hi Mark! Loved the view of Heart mountain. I was just out in Cody last week, great area. I had stopped into Wyoming Armoury last year for some parts for my 1885 Winchester. I should have stopped in last week as well. Sure like your video's and all the information you present in them. Heading out there again in a month or two, and plan on going to the Gun show in Cody in July. What a dream come true for you buying the Wyoming Armoury business, congratulations!!
When I was in college I built 3 Dixie Gun Works black powder revolvers from kits. I charcoal blued them. I just broke up enough bbq grill charcoal to cover the parts and heated it up over a camp stove.. I rubbed the parts with cotton balls dipped in lime until I got the color I wanted. Came out great. I got the directions from a booklet by Kit Ravenshear.. I did this in the early 70's. I still have one and it still looks good. Enjoy your videos.
Thanks for watching our channel. Do you recall approximately how long it took to get the color you wanted? I cooked this batch for 2 hours. I did a second batch for 2 1/2 hours and it didn't come out as good. I may be leaving them in the charcoal too long.
@@thecinnabar8442 I think I pulled the parts out every 10-15 minutes to swab them. I just had them cooking in a bread pan. I don't think it took over an hour once the charcoal started glowing a bit.
Great idea Mark can't wait to see the rest of the series on this subject ! Maybe that 600 grit side that was blotchy might be good for restoration work to match existing finish or just to make it look much older and used ??
Looks like you're settling in nicely! Very interesting. I have never heard of or seen this technique. That 400 really did turn out nice, interested to see how this shakes out...
It was hard to tell but it looked like the 2 that were not as nice were facing the outside of the canaster. The 400 grit faced the center. I've never done any of this but I have studied it some. What I've read is you want at least 2 inches of the charcoal between the part and outside of the canaster. Have you found this to be a fact?
Very interesting. Wonder if the blotchy finish on the two panels are because they were facing outward towards the metal crucible or because they were facing inward away from the crucible? If the color or consistency in the color is from out gassing, it may be controlled by a bigger crucible or due to contamination already on the crucibles walls from previous operations and materials.One thing I learned from doing Physical Vapor Deposition, is that it takes very little out gassing to impact a finishes color. Thanks for sharing. Looking forward to seeing some more testing on this.
Maybe in the future you can even try browning like we do on our muzzleloaders but not sure there would be a need for it in your business there but still would make good watching for folks ?
If this were hardened steel, it would temper, but this is mild steel. Tempering is a process of drawing back or softening and making hardened steel less brittle. When the charcoal blue process was being used, mild steels were being used almost exclusively. When hardened steels were needed, case hardening was used and they were left with a color case hardened finish rather than blued. Thanks a bunch for watching and commenting.
