My 1994 Semi-compact restoration/chop diary - Finished

[Dan Wesson]

Fascinating process.  I hope the blueing turns out as well as your prep work!

[Underwhere]

Spent a bit this morning sanding the hammer down with 320.
Stayed away from the hooks.

I think I'm close to Bluing.

I just need to sit down and review my process and make sure I haven't forgotten to prepare anything.

[Underwhere]

I'm trying to blue every exposed piece of steel possible.

The process:

• Degrease everything
• Sand some items with 320 grit
• Polish some contact surfaces
• Degrease
• Acetone bath and wait for bluing
• Blue it!

The list of things I need to blue : (This is the first time I've done the very detailed pieces like the retaining pins)

Frame -
Slide -
Extractor -
Mag Release -
Barrel bushing -
Hammer - sanding done
Slide stop lever -
Safety -
Slide stop retaining spring pin -
Hammer retaining pin -
Back of sear cage -
Top of hammer strut -
Extractor retaining pin -
Hammer retaining plug -

[Underwhere]

I'm not dead.

Just bringing this thread back.
At the start of this COVID stuff I ended up finishing my basement which is where my gunsmithing area was...so all of my stuff was tossed into the garage and significant renovations took place over several months.

The Semi sat in a bath of acetone and it actually began to rust on it's own. I had hoped that it would stay in decent shape until I was done with the renovations but it looks like I need to clean it up a bit with perhaps a wet sanding. Same with the small parts.

I'm almost back into my new workshop and will start to work on the gun again. Pics to follow and hopefully I'll finish this thing up in the near future.

[Tok36]

Glad that you are not dead Underwhere. Thank you for the update.

[eastman]

acetone is fairly hygroscopic, so it will absorb water from the air. Kerosene or mineral oil are better for long term protective soaking.

Kind of a "two steps forward, one step back" effect on the project.

[Underwhere]

acetone is fairly hygroscopic, so it will absorb water from the air. Kerosene or mineral oil are better for long term protective soaking.

Kind of a "two steps forward, one step back" effect on the project.

Ugh. Oh well. As long as it didn't do any real damage I am OK just putting more effort into it.

[Underwhere]

Took some 320 grit to it this morning.
The outside looks decent now but I'm wondering if I drop this in some evaporust and hit it with a wire wheel on a dremel afterwards.

The insides are rusty but I'm thinking that's OK. Rust is rust.

Thoughts?

[Underwhere]

Evaporust for a few hours then washing and scrubbing with a small stainless brush.

A little more sanding with 320.

Is starting to surface rust which is a good thing I think.

I'm not sure I need to bring this to a bright polish before rusting. I think I may be able to clean it and rust away.

[Gunnerdad80]

Looking good Underwhere. But I’m gonna need you to speed it up a bit if you’re gonna get it to me by Christmas. 

[Underwhere]

Looking good Underwhere. But I’m gonna need you to speed it up a bit if you’re gonna get it to me by Christmas. 

I'm motivated and my workbench is almost complete.

It's a good thing I made a list of things I need to do a few posts up. I need to polish some surfaces before bluing.

[Earl Keese]

I've tried going finer than 320 before rust bluing. IME, it doesn't change the final appearance at all and takes longer to rust.

[Underwhere]

I've tried going finer than 320 before rust bluing. IME, it doesn't change the final appearance at all and takes longer to rust.

This is more for the parts that affect the action.
Walls of frame that the trigger bar makes contact with and the flat that the bottom of the trigger bar slides on.

[Underwhere]

I've tried going finer than 320 before rust bluing. IME, it doesn't change the final appearance at all and takes longer to rust.

Would you re-sand into all of it is brought and shiny or do you think it's fine to blue as it is?

[Earl Keese]

I try to make sure all external surfaces look the same. After sanding with paper, I catch the hard to reach external areas with a red scotchbrite pad and then go over the whole piece to ensure all sand scratches are aligned in the same direction. Not sure if it's necessary,  because after the second or third carding I can't see much of the scratch profile at all.