-
ODT Gun Show & Swap Meet - May 4, 2024! - Click here for info
Young Man Afraid Of His Horses
- Thread starter Sharps40
- Start date
Time to start rust bluing those parts that I'm sure will be blackened.
A good pit of fine pitting on the outside of the cylinder. Most of it just a touch too deep to remove so, a 100g finish and a rust blue, it'll mostly be hidden then. The forward trigger guard screw has had its head thinned and contoured and will be rust blued as well as its the only one that shows on the grip frame.
In the foreground is a short cammed ERH for another project. Its a Uberti part for a 3.5" barrel SAA. When received, I noted it was plumb....which means it was not blued properly by the factory. A light rubbing with a microfiber terry cloth and all the blue came right off. Well, so much for Uberti quality control. But the steel is good and I've used them before on short barreled SAAs so, this one may well get installed on a Hammerli. (Yep. Hammerli made SAA revolvers. Durn fine ones too.)
A good pit of fine pitting on the outside of the cylinder. Most of it just a touch too deep to remove so, a 100g finish and a rust blue, it'll mostly be hidden then. The forward trigger guard screw has had its head thinned and contoured and will be rust blued as well as its the only one that shows on the grip frame.
In the foreground is a short cammed ERH for another project. Its a Uberti part for a 3.5" barrel SAA. When received, I noted it was plumb....which means it was not blued properly by the factory. A light rubbing with a microfiber terry cloth and all the blue came right off. Well, so much for Uberti quality control. But the steel is good and I've used them before on short barreled SAAs so, this one may well get installed on a Hammerli. (Yep. Hammerli made SAA revolvers. Durn fine ones too.)
A bit closer to the line I wanted to establish between ER Loop and ERH. About 90% done. And an air bubble in my solder line that I'll have to fill.
Meantime, hammer was wire brushed and then polished. Left side and top is a bit pitted and rather deep....so the wire brush to clean it all out and a light polish to satin.
Meantime, hammer was wire brushed and then polished. Left side and top is a bit pitted and rather deep....so the wire brush to clean it all out and a light polish to satin.
Cylinder, with its worn 120g finish after filing out some of the pits in the circumference, is darkening up quickly. The much finer polished Uberti ERH is slower to color up, but still coming along. Two or so more days of rusting should see both parts completed.
38/357 Cylinder is done. Front trigger guard screw is also done. Rust blue on both is a good deep grey black. The short camed ERH for possible use on another project is almost done. It'll have to be fit and then I can go back and finish the bluing after.
Time to blacken some small parts.
A wet coat of pilkingtons. 1 hour rust in the damp box at 80% humidity and warm and then a light coat followed by 2 more hours in the damp box. Boil. Card (with 0000 steel wool and no, I never degrease the steel wool nor do I do much with degreasing my hands nor do I use special super clean space comet pure water.....and I really never have problems with the finish.....over all its easy. Wipe it....wait....boil, scrub, wipe....wait....etc.....No magic....just clean hands and clean steel and good acid and good humidity and you'll get very good rust.). Recoat lightly with pilkintons and let it all in the damp box for 12 hours. Boil. Card. and ... repeat about 3 to 6 12 hour rust cycles and it'll be nicely grey black and very durable.
The parts.
The Damp Box.
Humidity and warmth provided via small crock pot of water with low, med and high settings as needed.
A wet coat of pilkingtons. 1 hour rust in the damp box at 80% humidity and warm and then a light coat followed by 2 more hours in the damp box. Boil. Card (with 0000 steel wool and no, I never degrease the steel wool nor do I do much with degreasing my hands nor do I use special super clean space comet pure water.....and I really never have problems with the finish.....over all its easy. Wipe it....wait....boil, scrub, wipe....wait....etc.....No magic....just clean hands and clean steel and good acid and good humidity and you'll get very good rust.). Recoat lightly with pilkintons and let it all in the damp box for 12 hours. Boil. Card. and ... repeat about 3 to 6 12 hour rust cycles and it'll be nicely grey black and very durable.
The parts.
The Damp Box.
Humidity and warmth provided via small crock pot of water with low, med and high settings as needed.
Rust blue is a satin finish. Not quite black. Not quite grey. But always, not shiny. Over the years I've found it a serious waste of time to polish beyond 220g for rust blue. And, as on this gun where there is just fine pitting, and mostly at the corners and edges where removing it would change the shape on one side but not the other, spoiling the lines.....a 100g finish applied with a random orbit sander is very effective at hiding the small damages accumulated over the years as the random pattern seemingly blends out the pits in the final finish. I've filed and sanded out what I can without changing shapes, lines or removing letters or dishing out screw holes, the rest will be blended as much as possible into the final satin finish.
Here, the first kiss with the jitter bug. I'll hit it once more after the small parts are blackened which allows me to pay full attention to blackening and boiling and carding this one large piece.
Here, the first kiss with the jitter bug. I'll hit it once more after the small parts are blackened which allows me to pay full attention to blackening and boiling and carding this one large piece.
The first pass, 3 hours rusting. All subsequent passes between boiling will be 12 hours. Carding with 0000 steel wool will remove 95% of this first bloom of black color, leaving only the tightest bonded oxides in place to color the steel.
Your threads (especially the single actions) are so addictive. Just can't get enough. Thank you brother! 
