My 1994 Semi-compact restoration/chop diary - Finished

[Underwhere]

I believe it would depend on what media you run in the tumbler.

I think I'm using corn media. Will that work?

[Tok36]

   My main concern would be media that was too coarse that might remove material from sharp edges or important surfaces. I have only used corn media for brass and it dose put a nice polish on the brass. While i have not tried it, it sounds like it is worth a shot. I might start with a less essential part like the Mag Release or Main Spring Plug and see what it dose to the sharp edges.

I am interested to hear what you find out.

[Underwhere]

   My main concern would be media that was too coarse that might remove material from sharp edges or important surfaces. I have only used corn media for brass and it dose put a nice polish on the brass. While i have not tried it, it sounds like it is worth a shot. I might start with a less essential part like the Mag Release or Main Spring Plug and see what it dose to the sharp edges.

I am interested to hear what you find out.

You're probably right a test is in order.
I wonder what spare parts I can dig up to try this.

[Earl Keese]

I regularly tumble supressor parts in a corn cob/walnut media mix without any ill effects. Those parts are titanium and heat treated stainless though. If you're rust bluing  though,  I'd be concerned about finishing with too fine of a surface profile?(800 grit ?).

[Underwhere]

I regularly tumble supressor parts in a corn cob/walnut media mix without any ill effects. Those parts are titanium and heat treated stainless though. If you're rust bluing  though,  I'd be concerned about finishing with too fine of a surface profile?(800 grit ?).

Can you have too fine of a finish when rust bluing?

I always thought a polished, then blued finish was how people got that "master blue" look.

[Earl Keese]

I regularly tumble supressor parts in a corn cob/walnut media mix without any ill effects. Those parts are titanium and heat treated stainless though. If you're rust bluing  though,  I'd be concerned about finishing with too fine of a surface profile?(800 grit ?).

Can you have too fine of a finish when rust bluing?

I always thought a polished, then blued finish was how people got that "master blue" look.

Anything coarser than 320gr makes it very difficult to get the rust to take. I've tried 400gr, and it worked, but there was no difference in appearance and it took longer for rust to develop. I've also tried lightly blasting the rounds and sanding the flats, after rust bluing it all looked the same. If you want polished & blued, that would require hot salt bluing.

[Underwhere]

I regularly tumble supressor parts in a corn cob/walnut media mix without any ill effects. Those parts are titanium and heat treated stainless though. If you're rust bluing  though,  I'd be concerned about finishing with too fine of a surface profile?(800 grit ?).

Can you have too fine of a finish when rust bluing?

I always thought a polished, then blued finish was how people got that "master blue" look.

Anything coarser than 320gr makes it very difficult to get the rust to take. I've tried 400gr, and it worked, but there was no difference in appearance and it took longer for rust to develop. I've also tried lightly blasting the rounds and sanding the flats, after rust bluing it all looked the same. If you want polished & blued, that would require hot salt bluing.

Got it thanks.
I went with 400 but maybe I'll scuff with 320 before Bluing.

[Underwhere]

I took 20 min tonight to round the back edge of the slide that makes contact with the hammer.

I never understood why it was so sharp. I'm not sure whether it makes a difference but I always do it. It makes me feel better.

I also polished the firing pin block channel.

Next time I'll do the firing pin channel and I think the slide is ready for 320 grit, degrease, then Bluing.

[Underwhere]

It's been a while. Too many projects around the house and this whole COVID thing is affecting my ability to get to this.
Yesterday night I was set on getting everything that needed bluing into raw form and ready for sanding.

I dropped my 10X barrel and my ring hammer into Evaporust. I left it in for a few hours and saw no change.
I poured some fresh solution and tried again this morning. No luck.

I think I remember Cajun saying they may have switched to DLC'ing their parts. Anyone have experience with this? I have been reading some hydrogen peroxide solution may remove the coating.

Edit: Called CGW: The 10X bushing is hot blued. I should treat that as normal. It went back into the Evaporust. I'll probably need to leave it in there for a few more hours.
I need to do the Ring Hammer differently. It's sitting in Hydrogen Peroxide. I'll see if that does anything. Worst case - I'll polish the sides and back manually, then scuff and blue those surfaces.

[Underwhere]

The evaporust finally worked on the barrel bushing. Left for 24 hours.

The hammer. Well some areas are showing the loss of coating. Only problem is that I'm not sure what did it.

Evaporust?
Kleen Aircraft grade stripper?
Hydrogen Peroxide?

So the hammer is going back into hydrogen peroxide and I'll snap some pics later to see if anything has happened. I may add sodium carbonate to it.

[Underwhere]

So after another day in peroxide the finish is still there.

So I'm switching back to the aircraft stripper and will check in about 12 hours to see if there's any difference.

This is really nasty stuff. I hate using it.

[Underwhere]

After more than a day in the stripper it is clear that no progress is being made.

So the peroxide did not work.
The stripper did not work.

Since there are 2 spots on the metal which are bare I can only assume it was not perfectly prepared or that the Evaporust was showing signs of progress.

Nonetheless I decided to hit it with a slow speed wire wheel. In seconds I was able to get the finish off. I think. I believe DLC is a surface finish and doesn't impregnate into the metal.

I put the hammer back into Evaporust after removing the finish to see if it'll develop a dark slimy coating. I think that would be a good sign that the metal is bare and ready for rusting.

[Underwhere]

I may hit the sides with 320 grit.

I'll avoid the hooks.

[Gunnerdad80]

I may hit the sides with 320 grit.

I'll avoid the hooks.

STOP........! Hammer Time!   Sorry, I'm a product of the 90's and couldn't help myself.

[Tok36]

Interesting stuff, thank you for the pics. I am glad that you found an effective way to remove the coating. I look forward to seeing how the blueing turns out.