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

This is becoming a project!!!

I never needed any more humidity than the environment either. I thought the moisture boxes were just for speeding up the process. If you aren't in a hurry I don't think you need one.
I have a "shade tree" set up to boil the barrels that should cost very little.
I use a propane turkey fryer burner (everybody bought one, now you can get them junk for nothing) and a piece of rainspout.
I bought two end caps for the spouting and used high heat silicon to seal them.
You will need something to keep the heat against the spouting. I use a small piece of sheet metal on each side of the burner.
I rigged this together just to see if I could get decent blueing before building a "nicer" set-up, I just haven't yet seen a need to change.
I use the same burner and a stainless dog food dish for nitre blueing also. Simplistic but effective.

CHAZ

Use Mark Lee's and you will not need to worry about having a sweat box or long rusting times. It works fast.

If you are going to invest in a tank. Buy the Brownells Stainless tank. Or have one made from Stainless if you can get it made cheaper. Using regular steel will lead to trouble down the road.

I haven't rust blued a barrel, but I have rust browned some. I cut a 4" black PVC pipe in half lengthwise on a table saw. screwed a couple wood feet on one side so it would sit level and put a couple thin wires across that section to lay the barrel on. In the bottom I placed toweling and made it a little wetter than moist. Set that on a shelf where the AZ sunshine could heat the pipe and place the other half of the pipe on top. I used a browning solution known to muzzleloader builders from Homer Dangler. I coated it in the morning, carded it off with a piece of scotchbrite or old blue jeans 5 or 6 hours later. Rinsed with distilled water and recoated the next day. After about 4 days of this the rifle had a nice even brown. If I had boiled that - it would have turned black just as any other rusting process. Thoroughly degrease before applying the rusting solution and more solution is NOT better as it will run and streak. I applied with a cotton dauber lightly so it doesn't run and form drops. The repeat coatings will even out nicely.

Only a suggestion, I use de-oiled(wash with acetone)0000 steel wool to apply the solution in even strokes,instead of cotton.I learned this from a good gunsmith friend in Germany.His reasoning was the steel wool would cut through any small droplet of oil settling on the gun, from the air.In truth, I never tested his theory,I just accepted it and always use his methods.
Mike

Pooch, if you can't boil it, you can't rust blue it. And rust blueing is always a project. Worth it, though...

The need for a rust cabinet depends on local humidity. Most of the time I don't need one where I live. The one occasion I needed one, I used a large cardboard box, an aluminum pie pan and a 100 watt light.

Regardless of the need for a rust cabinet, a way to boil the barrels without contaminating them is needed. The best method I know of is a stainless steel tank.

Maybe kind of an unusual rust box, but with the kids gone and the downstairs empty, thus an unused bathroom, I hook the barrels on a coat hanger and hang the barrels on the curtain rod. I then run a bit of warm water in the tub. I need to refresh the water every now and then, but it works.

Obviously my method isn't for a large production operation, and of course my wife complains about it if she goes downstairs to do laundry or happens to go downstairs for some other reason and spots the hanging barrels.

Cameron,
Everybody knows shower rods are for bras and panties, not barrels.
Mike

I hear you Mike! I try to stealthily do my rust blueing around her laundry schedule.