Nice video, with interesting content! I've cold blued an old rusted shotgun with the birchwood casey kit. But wanted to see how it was done professionally. Parts look nice! Good work!! I just subscribed, and gave another 2A Patriot a thumbs up.
I worked in a commercial gunsmithing facility. We would use a 3 tank system. First tank was the de-grease (lye and water) we never used acetone. But that's how we did it. Always came out looking like S&W factory blue
Been using Dulite steel coat,, going to switch to oxynate 7 ,,, enjoyed your video… all my bluing is done for my own stuff saving shit from the scrap pile and sporterizing Mausers… I had to LOL because your comments and language sound just like me ! Not quite as bad though..!
Very interesting, I've only used the off the shelf home blueing kits,your post shows the expertise needed to do a professional job and the difficulties involved to achieve a perfect finish 👍
Thanks, that was really interesting to see the process. I'm now pretty sure I would have a professional do it for me if I decide I want something Blued.
Great video! Earned a sub. It would be great if you could do a video on prepping a part for bluing. You mention in an answer in the comments that you hand sand up tp 1000, then polish. It would be particularly great to see the polishing and then cleaning process. Thanks.
This is why I only offer slow rust bluing. I feel it's a tougher finish and safer for me. High polish and hot blue is the sexiest finish though! Nice work! Smart Smith!
Nice setup. The Colt Royal blue is actually almost a black and you pay dearly for that labor intensive polishing. Ive seen some factory blued guns that look nice with a blue hue like a cold blue job. The cheap Italian 1873 SAA clones cylinders are amazingly black, even better thatvthe old Colt Pythons Royal blue. How they do it is insane being the whole gun cost only 500USD and a Royal blue job on a existing pistol starts at that...
When you add water to your hot salt bath, use ice cubes. It wont be as volatile as adding liquid water. I use a big slotted stainless kitchen spoon to lower the cube in on the edge and stir it in a bit.
@@thebeardedgunsmith9177if the ice doesn’t work, a video for a professional product said to add water down the metal side of the tank for their process. Enjoyed what you had to show, thanks.
Thank you for sharing and taking the time to show the process and your wisdom of what kind of animal your dealing with the the blueing salts and the dangers with in and how to protect yourself..
Man, I'd love to learn this trade. Hot bluing particularly! But my first thought is those fumes, I would think, are super toxic. Toxic or not, I'd still love to learn this stuff. Good vid.
Thank you, and I don't believe that I have done a shop tour where I'm at now but my shop isn't very big so you'll likely see everything if you watch my other videos.
"so anyway they're on their commie bullshit" LOL nice. sorry if you've already heard, if you have a lower concentration of salts in the solution and lower boiling point, there's generally less smell and less general nastiness. the same process still happens at the lower temperature and concentration of salts and produces the same finish, it just takes longer. the general rule of thumb is for every 10 degrees celsius, the reaction rate doubles or halves. so at 248 F to get an equivalent coating would take 4x as long, but have less chance of the solution splashing everywhere and causing a bad day.
Very good video with nice information. Definitely will sub. Have you looked into bright nickel plating with electrolysis? Stuff looks like chrome. Refinished my mk 1 ruger with it since it was rough shape anyway and i wasn't worried about reselling. Caswell makes a solution for electrolysis and a boil on one which i havent tried yet. Could be another service you could offer.
Awesome tutorial! I already have a similar setup, that I used for parkerizing AK part's...Both processes are somewhat similar; although parkerizing is done at a much lower temperature...One question: can you re-use your bluing salts, w/ out having to filter them; or can you just throw a stainless lid on the tank once it cool's down; and then stir it up as you reheat? Also, how do you know when your bluing solution is trashed beyond rejuvenation?
I appreciate that. I've tried everything else that I could think of that would pre heat the water before I add it and never was able to come up with anything so I'll definitely give that a try. Thank you!
@@thebeardedgunsmith9177 That’s ok , hope it works out ok. Maybe start out with a cubes at a time and work up from there You do good work - the finish looks great Regards
I cold blued a barrel shroud and I cleaned it really well took my time and made multiple coats and rubbed it down really well let it soak in oil but then the next day it’s got a whole bunch of surface rust on the inside of the barrel shroud and it’s hard to get even the smallest of brass brushes in there to clean it I don’t know what to do I feel like I’ve ruined it… I completely restored an old 50’s Remington 22LR and it turned out wonderfully with cold blue I don’t understand Need suggestions on what to do. How can I fix this or do I need to start over
Just got another sub fella. Interesting channel. So, hello from Wales. Can only work on air rifles, getting a firearms ticket here is like finding rocking horse shit, impossible. Stay good brother.🙈🙊🙉🙏🙏🙏
Great video and explanation. I got a question. Can you reuse the salt bath solution or do you have to neutralise it and throw it away every single time? Thanks in advance and greetings from Mexico City.
You can reuse almost indefinitely if you're able to keep out adulterants like oil, grease and grime. You also have to add some new salt due to loss everytime you do a new batch of bluing so it helps keep it rejuvenated that way too.
What kind of metal wire do you use to hang the parts? Is it stainless steel wire? Also, what kind of metal are the tanks made of? I am looking at building my own setup. Is yours purchased as a system or did you build it yourself? Thanks.
Nice video Question how about the inside of the barrel do you plug the ends or just blue the inside then run wire brush though it to remove bluing? How does this effect the rifling? I am trying to learn about this. I may be doing my python I acquired it with rust pitting. any advise .... Would you be interested in doing the entire gun? I could send you pictures. New subscriber.
No, if you plug the bore, the heat would end up blowing the plugs out and create one hell of a mess. The bluing doesn't affect the rifling because bluing doesn't add material to the steel, it just oxidizes the micro structure of the steel.
Hey, how are you. I had to comment on this video because it grabbed my attention, how you went straight to the points you wanted to make and didn't rush through shit like other people. I really enjoyed the content and actually learned something. you shouldn't attempt something like this at all unless you do your homework about the chemicals, and having the right work space and equipment is very important. I have the same S&W 22LR Pistol you were doing in the tank, and that was beautiful after rinsing. I have 2 very small slides I was going to attempt bluing, the receivers are aluminum. One is a Wilkinson Arms 22lr very small, and the other is a older Sphinx 380 m The slide is Stainless Steel. Do you have any thoughts on doing a small project or should I just have a professional do it. Or would you take the job ? I just subscribed, Thanks for any thoughts. Bob.M
Thank you for watching! Also, I know.you stated that the frame.is aluminum but wanted to mention that aluminum can't be caustic blued, and neither can stainless. There is a bluing salt that's supposed to be able to blue stainless sold by Brownells but it's extremely hit or miss. I'd save cerakote for something like that. A person could DIY bluing but it's really a pretty nasty and dangerous process, nonetheless something that you'd have to have a designated area besides your kitchen to do it. I'd offer my services but am incredibly backed up lately.
@@thebeardedgunsmith9177 Thanks for getting back to me. Being back up is a good thing. cerakote is what I'm going to try. Thanks very much. great idea. Good Luck to you, I'll keep watching. Take care !
I recently finished a revolver using slow rust process. It turn out great but it took Waaaaaay to long i would have to charge 800.00 for my time. In your opinion will salt blueing cut down on labor?
Absolutely. The longest step in doing hot bluing is the polishing and prep. The actual bluing takes maybe 2 hours at most. I no longer slow rust blue because of the time involved unless it's a shotgun with soft solder.
Do you take in outside work? I have a Ruger .44 mag Blackhawk. 5.5 barrel. It was my dads and he left it to me before he died. I am a leather guy and made a holster rig for it. I have made holsters, and all things leather for 36 years. Two days after completion I put the pistol in the holster and left it in for 9 hours. When I took it out the barrel was speckled. Bluing gone to metal in little dots. I am having a time trying to find someone who will/can reblue the barrel. Can you help?
Hi I’m doing a Harrington Richardson receiver, and the finish turned out plum red. Did you find leaving your Winchester 94 in the tank for longer worked out ok, and if so how long did you soak it for. Hope you don’t me asking Regards
I've had the same problem with those in the past. They also have a high nickel content which gives the plum coloration. Unfortunately keeping them in longer doesn't blacken them (or blue).
I've added water that's close to boiling and it still reacts violently for some reason. Ive had a viewer or 2 tell me that adding ice cubes works well so I may try that.
No 80% eh? Do you think it might work to make the 80% a 'private' video so visitors can see the work? You'll have to research that, I do not know how that works. But I am interested as I need to finish my 80 as well. 2nd, what are the advantages to bluing the parts this way over other 'hot' bluing? Heres why I ask; I am about to start building uinga black powder pistol and, with any luck, I might get a long barrel .50 BP rifle. I've watched another 'hot' bluing, but we are talking heat bluing, which,, by it's nature,, affects the metal because of the high temps. I'm not sure if that would matter much since there might or not be any rifling in the barrel. Any thoughts on that would be of great help since I need to take care of that before putting either of the BP kits together. Is your process the same as a manuf would do? Good video!
RU-vid pulled my 80% video anyhow so I figured I wouldn't push it any further although I was obviously finishing it for myself in my off time, although I don't think that mattered to them. As for the bluing processes: Heat bluing is done in such a way that you're pulling the temper colors out of the metal but it obviously effects the temper of the metal which is a no no with anything that's pressure bearing or hardened against wear and typically begins with temps above 425⁰. Cold bluing is for small parts like screw heads and generally just touch up because it offers no corrosion resistance. There is also slow rust bluing which offers the greatest corrosion resistance and is the most durable but it takes alot of time. You have to plug the bore, clean and degrease everything that you want blued and force it to rust with a rust promoter and then boil the rusted parts until the red rust is converted to black oxide and then card off the loose "velvet.' The process is repeated until it won't rust any further and you have a uniform finish and then you oil everything with a traditional lin seed oil. Hot bluing is also very durable, corrosion resistant and cost effective. It doesn't add anything to the metal but converts the surface layer to make it porous where it will hold oil, which is what cold bluing doesn't do. It also does not effect the bore or any bearing surfaces where fitment would be an issue. The hot bluing process is also what's done by manufacturers for large scale production.
@@thebeardedgunsmith9177 Thank you kindly for the extensive response to my questions! I'm very grateful for the time you put into that response, it will help considerably when I start the process for my fi*ea*ms. If you decide to investigate the 'private video' aspect of the 80% finishing process, and it turns out to be a viable option, please keep those of us who could use that training in mind. I think it entirely possible that those folks who conduct business in that White color house on the hill will make it imperative to own just such a means of personal protection.
I'm restoring a Mossberg from the 40s and when I removed the bluing from the gun I found the base of the rear sight was some sort of copper coated steel. It's magnetic, but copper. I sanded and polished it like the other parts and never hit raw steel. Any idea what I can put on this part to get it to match the bluing that will be applied to the other parts? Thanks for the video!
It's hard to say without seeing it but it sounds like brazing but that wouldn't explain how it was originally blued before you stripped the bluing, unless it was plated over and then blued. If it is brazing, you should be able to get to bare steel but again, its hard to say without seeing it firsthand.
@@thebeardedgunsmith9177 I could email you a picture if you're interested. The gunsmith I have doing the bluing thought that maybe it was made of a hard spring steel which would turn red during bluing. Still doesn't explain what it was coated with. I might try some Birchwood Brass Black
If you could, send me some pics at ghostsniper513@gmail.com Alot of older receivers were made with a high nickel content that would turn a plum color when blued.
I have a propane burner bar that I made. It runs along the whole length of the tank. It usually takes about 45 minutes to get to a full boil at 292 degrees.
I'm new to your channel but I was wondering you mention some videos that Facebook tagged are you able to send videos in private messenger if a person is interested
