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

You can use a piece of black pipe 4" diameter with an end cap, suspended vertically. You need to drill the end cap and solder or braze in some pure copper rods. That end goes down, suspend over flame, works well and any oil floats off when it boils over (which is does on occasion).

Thank you, Mark.

Geno:

If there is one thing that I have learned, it is that nothing succeeds like success. If you have a system that works for you, go with it. I have read that the big houses like Winchester had huge steam cabinets that they "boiled" their barrels in. Angier's book has a diagram of a smaller scale steam cabinet. Obviously steam works at least as well as boiling. I reckon I ought to give it a try.

Regards,

Glenn

A co-worker of mine once wanted a large knife blade blued, but didn't want to take the handle off. He asked me if I could do it & I told him I thought I could. After rusting I simply held it in the steam from a tea kettle spout & got a great job. I always used the boiling tank, though for all my bbls, never tried the steam, didn't know if could get so large a part hot enough. Geno's method sounds like a great idea, don't know why it never occured to me to fill them with the boiling water for heating. Incidently though "MY" spring water won't produce a decent blue, I had to get water sold for use in a steam iron.

Miller, it's not my idea. Buturlin wrote about it in his book in 1926. Moreover he suggested to fill up bores with hot (boiled) water only without watering them all over, probably he figured out possible problems with color and different waters.

Geno;
I just thought it sounded like something you would have come up with, so assumed it was your own "Invention".
Incidently not far from where I live is an area which years ago was used as a "Health Resort". Is in the area known as the "Highland Rim Plateau" of the Cumberland Mountains here in Middle TN. This resort was named Cumberland Springs. In a very small area were 7 springs & from each came a different type of water. When my family first moved here in the late '40s we went by & saw them all. Can't remember the water types for all of them now, but do recall one of them was a sulpher spring.
While many springs do produce water quite suitable for bluing, some few others don't.

Geno: Is it difficult to avoid spotting or does the boiling water that is already on the INside of the barrels tend to even out the effect of the boiling water on the outside? I was taught to boil for 5-8 minutes but I've always noticed the rust turns to black almost instantly.

Gill, I use boiling water from tea kettle INside and OUTside of the barrels, cause I know my spring water is very good and clean. But I think, that effect of the boiling water on the outside, when boiling water is on inside is present at, cause there are allways moisture is in the air and especially in the rust.

Geno,

Would it be possible for you to post a photo of your rust bluing set up? I am still learning and I am interested in trying this with an old barrel.

Thanks.

Duke

I took a 6" dia., 4' long piece of thick walled PVC pipe. I capped both ends with pipe caps, then cut it in half length wise. Viola! two half pipes! just add your barrels and a tea pot of boiling water. Done. Cost? About $6.00.

This DR seems to me been digged out from the ground. When I got it, it looked worse, than sh*t. I spent two weeks trying to remove all craters and hard pitting from barrel surface, but light pitting are still on, but I don't care, I make it for myself. Fortunatly bores probably been filled with some sort of greese or fat and looks nice.