There are several different techniques, and each one has its own particular uses. The problem with this process is that it takes a REALLY long time. Since its creation bluing liquid has found other uses including personal care and science projects. If you want a dull blue finish (like military arms have when they’re blued) then you can just sandblast with aluminum oxide and proceed. Technically speaking, bluing is more or less a conversion of red iron oxide (Fe2O3) to black iron oxide (Fe3O4). The heat from boiling will cause the air trapped in the bore to blow out the plugs. Related Tags: If you think you’re done washing the parts, do it one more time. As homebuilders, we all eventually come to the same point in a build, no matter what the build is; “Ok, it works. I went to Wal-Mart and bought a large tupperware container and a gallon of distilled white vinegar, totaling about $5. Obviously, this is not agreeable with it submerged in a tank full of hot liquid! Laundry bluing is a product used to wash white fabric items that have become slightly off-white over time. So you probably can’t just throw one on your bench grinder. wikiHow is where trusted research and expert knowledge come together. Lastly, you’ll need some kind of water displacing oil. $19.99 $ 19. Before any bluing process, the metal must be prepared. Like anything, there are some limitations to this process. Bluing is a passivation process in which steel is partially protected against rust using a black oxide coating. Then if you want to go REALLY old fashioned, get some Plum Brown, used in the muzzleloader days of yore. Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 73,478 times. I find that there are some little spots that you just can’t reach with a carding wheel. Buy and Sell on GunsAmerica! You can also “repair” damaged areas in already blued parts with this method as well. But, there are some guns that the modern spray-on finishes just do not look right on. What does this process do to the bore? After completing his service in 2010, he earned AAS degrees in Machining as well as Welding & Fabrication, and a Gunsmithing Technician Certificate from Trinidad State Junior College. Finally, cover your steel in a protective oil like gun oil. Express Rust Bluing offers hobbyists a way to finish firearms that all three terms apply to. They’re very easy to apply, requiring only a thorough degreasing before application. However, for touching-up exposed areas, or bare metal exposed from milling, filing, or cutting, I use cold blue. Read on for more.... Home / Uncategorized / … There are various solvents that you can use for this. After you have completed enough bluing cycles to get the color you’re after, then coat (or preferably dunk) your parts in water displacing oil. I say typically because if you’re like me, the next day you’ll find a spot that you missed or something will look splotchy. Laundry bluing is an age-old washing practice whereby whites are rinsed with a bit of diluted, nontoxic, biodegradable blue powder. Feature Articles, An alternative to bluing, this chemical phosphate conversion coating results in an anti-reflective gray to black finish… This process requires a lot of equipment that takes up a lot of space, and the process itself can be somewhat hazardous. This article is for just such occasions. Express Rust Bluing is faster than rust bluing because rather than allowing the chemical reaction to happen “naturally” the process is expedited by boiling the parts. Christopher Mace Christopher Mace enlisted in the US Army as an Infantryman in 2001. !” You would be correct. It does not require a whole lot of equipment and isn’t very difficult to do. So instead of having to wait for the parts to rust for a couple of days, you actually force them to form rust in a few minutes. It does not require a whole lot of equipment and isn’t very difficult to do. The coloring action happens instantly and the color penetrates deep into the metal for a long-lasting finish. It worked really well the one time I’ve tried it, the hard part being that the whole barrel did not fit inside the oven. If you’re doing smaller parts, you can even use old pots or pans for tanks. Then let the parts sit for a day. After the cleaning cycle, rinse the parts off to remove any residual soap. Stewart's Bluing as the bluing agent used in the kit and many facilities purchase MSB directly for this purpose. When we refer to bluing, we typically think of the hot salt bluing that is usually done. This conversion happens as part of the chemical reaction to the rusting agent in the boiling tank. The only other tool I used was a stainless steel carding brush I bought from Brownell’s for rust bluing. Stewart's® Bluing (MSB) allows the consumer to re-blue their white fabrics, restoring that just-bought brightness. You end up with a very durable, high quality, blued finish. He has been collecting & shooting military firearms, old and new since he was 18. You also can’t substitute a carding wheel for a regular wire wheel, it’ll just take the bluing completely off-ruining your work. Additionally, how do you make laundry bluing? We use cookies to make wikiHow great. It’s the blue-black color that gives the treatment its name of bluing. 44/40's familiar bluing action is almost magic; simply dampen a patch with 44/40, wipe it on and wipe it off immediately with a dry one. The first, and arguably most important, step to getting a nice blued finish is the prep work. Gun Finishing, Process requires only a half gallon of tap water that can be boiled in 4 minutes. You need a steel container big enough to hold the parts you want to blue-though you can work around that to a degree. You’ll need a carding wheel or brush, both being preferable. It has worked on all the popular guns (S&W’s, Rugers, and virtually every type of stainless we could find), and even does a mighty good job on Cast Irons. He served in the 82nd & 101st Airborne Divisions, with four deployments to Afghanistan & Iraq. There are cold bluing solutions available as well. You need to do at least 3 cycles. When bluing was first invented, this was how firearms were blued. Cold bluing uses acids to put an oxidized finish on steel at room temperatures, or close to it. It is sometimes mentioned in old recipes for floor wash used by spiritualists to purify the home in the interest of keeping out evil spirits. First, you’ll need to grind and sand your steel down to remove any finish and make it smooth. DIY, It calls for heating the part up to about 270 degrees, applying the product, then rinsing and washing in soap and water. 84, we have a superior formulation for stainless bluing that has met and passed all of our demands and requirements. Get it as soon as Tue, Feb 16. Learn more... Bluing steel is the process of oxidizing the surface of the metal to protect it from rust. I’ve only used the touch up product. This takes the process down to something you can do in an afternoon (as long as the parts are already prepped). You’ll need to apply and polish a few coats until you reach your desired color. The colors usually range from a straw yellow, to dark purples or robins egg blues. I use Dawn dish soap and water because it’s cheap and readily available. In comparison, rust, the red oxide of iron(Fe2O3), undergoes an extremely large volume change upon hydration; as a result, the oxide easily fla… Please consider making a contribution to wikiHow today. If you have a top load HE washer, mix the bluing as directed on the packaging with at least one quart water and add to the wash cycle. In case you’re interested in commercial-grade products, here goes the best hot gun bluing kit: G96 1069 Liquid Gun Bluing. I should mention a few things about carding to be aware of. Some of the more astute of you reading this probably read the previous paragraph and went, “Wait, I’m supposed to allow it to rust? Heat bluing is a process often used for finishing small parts, such as pins, screws, triggers and hammers. But again, there are some guns that Parkerizing wouldn’t be an appropriate finish for either. We've been helping billions of people around the world continue to learn, adapt, grow, and thrive for over a decade. Bluing is a method many gun users use to treat the metal of their gun so that it has a protective shell around it. It is named after the blue-black appearance of the resulting protective finish. Boil the parts for 2-3 minutes. This article has been viewed 73,478 times. Fire bluing or Nitre bluing is a traditional finish that gunsmiths and major firearms manufactures, used during the later part of the nineteenth century, and is an visually pleasing side effect of the heat treating process. This is a common way to add some protection to areas where the bluing has worn off Once you’ve done cleaning, you can get rid of the solution as it’s best to use a fresh cleaner for each bluing session. When satisfied, you can apply oil, wax, lacquer or boiled linseed oil to seal the metal pores. Rust Bluing Polish the parts to be blued. So really the process is pretty inexpensive. You must be able to completely disassemble (not just field strip) the firearm you want to blue. Next post: The What & the Why – Rack It – Methods of Closing the Slide, Previous post: Shooter Rughi: The Right Guy, The Right Place & the Glock 19. Keep It Simple Stupid: Everything You Need (And…, Everytown on Gun Industry Being 'Essential': Guns…, O’Rourke Expects You to Turn Over You AR — Or It…, Know Your Rights: If You Disclose You Are Carrying…, Fresno Home Targeted by Burglars, Homeowner Shoots…. Previously, I wrote an article on Parkerizing. Now, with Oxynate No. A bluing agent is used for restoring the whiteness of clothes and making them extra bright. Common sense needs to apply here. About the author: The cleaning cycle is to remove every bit of oil on the part, as even just the skin oils from your bare hands will ruin the finish. If you just want to blue handguns, you can even use an old pot (so long as it’s not aluminum). A typical laundry set up consisted of three (3) tubs: the wash tub, the rinse tub and the bluing tub. How much depends on how shiny you want the surface to be. That brings us to rust bluing. If it sticks, you’re safe. Then, clean the bare metal with an alcohol wipe. Obviously, this process (though these rules apply to bluing in general) only works on metal parts. These baths are a commonly used remedy for itching from bug bites and bee … There are many methods you can use to blue the steel. Larger parts such as barrels can be boiled in special tanks available from Brownells or you can make a steam pipe apparatus** from PVC pipe and fittings obtained from a local home improvement store. I’m not a chemist by any means, so I’m sure there’s a lot more to it than that. If you want something shinier, you’ll need to do some polishing. Follow the instructions regarding the handling of the bluing formula. The steel has changed color slightly in this process, and the process is repeated until the steel is the desired color. Bluing is FeO3 or rust with an extra oxygen molecule. https://www.brownells.com/aspx/learn/learndetail.aspx?lid=11044, Please consider supporting our work with a contribution to wikiHow. The blue dye in the product gives fabric the appearance of regaining a pure white color. Obviously, boiling the parts means you’ll be dealing with hot things. Now, what do I do for finishing?” These days there are quite a few options out there for firearm finishes. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, bluing was used by everyone who wanted to have (and keep) their laundry white. All Local Sales are FREE! For more tips, including how to blue your steel using heat, read on! You cautioned against plugging the bore. 99. Once you’ve cleaned the blade, you’ll need to apply your bluing solution with a cotton ball, then wipe the metal dry with a soft cloth, and polish the metal with fine-grit sandpaper. In fact, trying to blue aluminum WILL result in disaster. First, I detail stripped the gun and bagged the small parts together with other parts of their operating group. And then for the REALLY tight spots, have some extra fine grade steel wool (make sure you degrease it) on hand. Also, I recommend having a carding brush as well. Obviously the part will hang out of the tank. Gunsmithing. While there are some stainless steels that are magnetic, the worst they will do is not blue. Make your blue solution first Bluing products improve the brightness of white fabrics by adding a blue pigment that counteracts the natural yellowing that occurs during regular laundering. Great article, Chris!! One bottle of the solution will last you through a … The rust is “polished off”. Your support helps wikiHow to create more in-depth illustrated articles and videos and to share our trusted brand of instructional content with millions of people all over the world. With some practice you’ll find out little tricks that work. You’ll need some latex or rubber gloves so you can handle the parts without contaminating them with skin oils. Also, this may come as a surprise but you should NOT plug your barrel when doing any kind of hot bluing. For more tips, including how to blue your steel using heat, read on! What you do for prep work really depends on what kind of finish you’re after. Always wear eye protection when performing the tasks described. Again, I use WD-40 for this because it’s cheap and available. Detect Plumbing Leaks Mrs. Stewart's Bluing is useful when checking for leaks in drain systems, automotive cooling systems and toilet tanks. A lot of the bluing done on high end firearms is Express Rust Bluing. The most commonly used are cold bluing and hot bluing, but rust bluing was the standard for many years. The name of the process actually comes from the blue-black appearance of the black iron oxide. This is where Express Rust Bluing gets a bit repetitive. With that said, on to bluing! A brush helps reach those. Also, Express Rust Bluing only works on steel. Last Updated: November 16, 2020 For the hobbyist, there are a lot of advantages to this process. A lot of these are suitable for us DIY types. Express Rust Bluing is actually preferable on some types of firearms due to their construction because you have control where the bluing formula goes (and hence make sure it all comes back out again). Dip a cotton ball into the … Or maybe you just like the look of a nice blued finish on your firearms. That’s where this process is really nice. With this kind of bluing, you apply the bluing agent by hand. This is both to get any remaining moisture out and to protect the now-completely-oil-free part. Next comes degreasing. Because all you have to do is go through cleaning, and a bluing cycle or two, and you’ll clean those areas right up. If you only have one tank, you’ll obviously have to do this to proceed anyway. Bluing liquid, also called laundry bluing (or just bluing) is a substance used in the rinse cycle to make white clothes appear whiter. Do you want to know the right way to use a bluing agent? But there is a trade off here: the more dull the finish, the more durable… the shinier, the less durable. I have found that I could blue parts longer than would fit in my “tanks” with Express Rust Bluing as well-barrels for example. But as long as you can re-orient the part to where it covers all of what was hanging out before, then this process will allow you to blue it. You can buy bluing solutions premixed. Bluing is somewhat less common in areas where products that keep white clothing very white exist, but it is still used by some people to refresh white clothing. How to Use Bluing in a Front Load Washer . All items … Why doesn’t the bore get rusty, through all the cleaning and bluing cycles? If you wish to use a carding wheel, they are typically not rated for more than 2000 RPM. But with the arrival of COVID-19, the stakes are higher than ever. We literally are talking days or even weeks to complete. Rinse, dry, repeat. As its name implies, Express Rust Bluing speeds up this whole process significantly. “Cold” bluing: Uses a selenium dioxide-based compound that turns the steel black or dark grey. Depending upon what you’re specifically trying to blue, you may be able to just thoroughly clean the part with acetone. So it doesn’t go anywhere you don’t directly put it. The best-known bluing product is Mrs. Stewart’s Bluing Liquid, made of a fine blue iron powder suspended in water mixed with small amounts of pH balancer and a biocide to prevent the buildup of algae and bacteria. Buzz, Express Rust Bluing is a good way for a hobbyist to blue their firearms at home. By using our site, you agree to our. Chris has taken several armorers courses on different firearms, and has built several different types of firearms. But even so, these are not really intended for bluing a whole firearm. Bluing, laundry blue, dolly blue or washing blue is a household product used to improve the appearance of textiles, especially white fabrics. That’s one bluing cycle. Then apply the bluing formula. restoration of a firearm would involve hot bluing, something that I, as a home hobbyist gunsmith, am not set up to perform. You’ll need the bluing formula itself. You don’t need a whole lot of equipment, or space. It also doesn’t subject the parts to as much heat as hot salt bluing does. % of people told us that this article helped them. If anything, it’ll make them stand out more. Then boil the parts for 10 minutes, take them out and let them cool off. They’ll be nice and rusty at this point. Also, keep in mind that bluing (or any finish for that matter) will not hide flaws in the metal surface. References. Turkey fryer heat source can be used for cooking as well as bluing. Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered. The eye perceives the nearly undetectable amount of blue and sees the fabric as whiter. One bottle of the solution will last you through a bunch of bluing sessions. You’ll need a sander, alcohol wipes, wax and grease remover, bluing solution, cotton balls, sandpaper, a soft cloth, and gun oil. This bluing uses a heated alkaline solution. Laundry bluing helps trick the eye to make white clothes look brighter and whiter. True gun bluing is an electrochemical conversion coating resulting from an oxidizing chemical reaction with iron on the surface selectively forming magnetite (Fe 3 O 4), the black oxide of iron. I recommend practicing on a few cheap guns before taking on grandad’s old 1873. Hot Bluing. There are 14 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. Basically, a chemical rusting agent is applied to the steel, time passes, and rust forms. Note: As long as professional gun bluing, a number of other gun bluing liquid and gun bluing paste will be required. The What & the Why – Rack It – Methods of Closing the Slide, Shooter Rughi: The Right Guy, The Right Place & the Glock 19. After that, you can typically re-assemble your firearm. Then polish the parts with the carding wheel and/or brush. At this time, my “tanks” are metal serving trays from a restaurant supply store. Bluing is a passivation process in which steel is partially protected against rust, and is named after the blue-black appearance of the resulting protective finish. This natural product has been used for centuries and it still works today. If you brush on a thin coat it will blacken a ferrous metal almost instantly, including zinc-plated hardware. Keep them in the tank for about 10 minutes. Obviously, you also need water and a heat source capable of boiling the water in whatever size container you want to use. Every dollar contributed enables us to keep providing high-quality how-to help to people like you. 1. Express Rust Bluing is a good way for a hobbyist to blue their firearms at home. So do your prep work accordingly. My favorite way to blacken steel, iron or even zinc-plated hardware is to brush on a thin coat of liquid “gun blue” – typically a combination of selenious acid, nitric acid and cupric sulfate.