doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Rust bluing closet

I want to rust blue a couple of gun. I have never tried this before. I was wondering about using a large hang up garmet bag one that is reinforced to hold several suits. It has also be suggested to me to use the water heater closet. Any advice from those of you that have done some rust bluing would be most appreciated.

Garment bag might work--with a pie pan of water in the bottom to raise the humidity. I use my wife's greenhouse, and for small parts, a tall trash can, with a little office coffee cup warmer and cup of water in it($1 yardsale items)

I use a long plastic bin with a cover used to store cloths or blankets under a bed. I have a hole cut in one side. I set the bin on the floor and outside the bin I have a small hot plate with a small dish of water and next to that I have a very small fan that blows a little steam into the plastic bin through the holes. In the bin I set the barrels on a couple of small pieces of wood and the other parts I just set on a small piece of plywood. Works great, takes up little room and easy to work with.

Good stuff guys, thanks.

I was thinking of taking a section of 4" sewer pipe and install a hook on the top cap to hang a set of barrels. Then I was going to boil a kettle under it for a couple of minutes to fill the pipe with steam and slap a cap on the bottom to keep the humidity in. I would repeat as necessary. Think it would work?

Pooch,
I wouldn't make any special arrangements, unless hanging or leaning it against the wall,turns out to be unsatisfactory. I live in Alabama and the warm weather and humidity works fine.I would guess Texas would be similar.Too much water vapor can result in streaking.The thing about rust bluing is if you make a mistake,you can redo it.Just don't let it go overnight without boiling(you can card it later once the rust is "killed"), otherwise it can pit.
Mike

I don't understand the boiling. I don't have a long tray to put the barrel in to boil. Could you explain this process more to me. Thanks

On this same note, do you fellows get a stainless steel tank made or what do some of you use? I have read that some people just pour boiling water into a plastic pipe. But doing this method, would the water stay hot long enough and at a consistant enough temperature to get a satisfactory job?

Pooch,
Boiling, after allowing it to rust an appropriate amount of time(depending on amount of rusting)stops the rusting and at the same time turns it black.

gunsaholic,
You can use either stainless or carbon steel for the tank.It should be boiled long enough to heat the metal to the point that it will dry quickly when removed and tilted so all water runs out.Pouring boiling water on it will work, after a fashion, but is not nearly as satisfactory as boiling in a tank.
Mike

Pooch, you are simply trying to make an enclosure where the humidity is high enough to accelerate rusting without getting too humid and allowing condensation to form, which will cause streaking. Alternately, you can just wait until the humidity outside is high enough to rust your barrels, because you can run into problems with an improperly constructed damp box. You can get too warm and humid at one end while the other end cools and permits condensation on the metal.

Boiling after rusting and before carding converts the ferric oxide (red rust) into ferro ferric oxide (black rust). A good rolling boil will give a faster and more complete conversion than simply pouring boiling water over the barrels. A long pipe burner gets this job done much better than a couple burners on the stove. Additional expense, yes, but still much cheaper than a divorce. A stainless boiling tank is nice simply because it will not get all rusty while in storage between uses. A little rust in a regular carbon steel boiling tank won't hurt anything though. But coating it with oil to prevent rust may give you oil contamination problems next time you use it. Any traces of oil in your tanks or left on your barrels wil float on the surface of the water and cause problems.

If you've never tried rust bluing before, I'd advise practicing on some junk barrels until you learn the process. My first attempt years ago was on an H&R 922 revolver. I read all I could find on the process and I used the 1873 Ordnance formula from Angiers which bit a little too hard and gave me a matte finish. No tank or pipe burner needed because it all fit in a large stainless soup kettle. The gun still looks good today, but not glossy-shiny.