My Pre-B refinishing and modification diary

[Underwhere]

I'm optimistic now.

I hit it with a 3m ultra fine sanding pad and the spots are out now.

The slide actually was pretty good before the pad but I figured why not. The pad took out all the blotches as well.

Both parts now sit in acetone. I'll leave it til morning and then give them another bath in fresh acetone.

Then I'll try to Rust them again using Mark Lee's instructions with the propane torch.

A little concerned about oil. I wiped them with motor oil inside and out yesterday. I tried cleaning as best I could. I hope the acetone can get rid of that.

I also think a mistake I made was that I was too careless with my gloves and paper towels. I realized that the checkered pattern on my slide may also have been from my gloves which are textured. nonetheless I need to be more careful.

[The Guardian]

Have to compliment you on sharing the good, the bad and the ugly of how projects can and sometimes do unfold.......oddly enough working through the issues that arise are what make people better, when things do go smoothly (like that ever really happens ) I don?t think one learns anywhere near as much. So thanks for no ?fake news? 

[sberres]

+1 to that!  This thread has been very interesting and informative.

[Underwhere]

So I snuck down during this blizzard I'm in and put a coat of rust on.

This time doubled up on new paper towels, wiped with acetone, no more air compressor but used a heat gun which I wiped down with acetone.

When I went to heat up the frame I noticed that some of the freckles came back. I'm not sure why. I used a small paper towel with acetone to rub the area and the spots went away. Hopefully the rusting takes care of it.

This time I made sure to grab the gloves from the rear, not touching any of the fingers as I removed them from the box.

I used acetone on the metal wire holding the parts.

I did not handle the metal at all after I wiped it down with acetone one final time.

Then hit it with a heat gun.

Then I rusted 3 times per Mark Lee's instructions.

I placed it on the clean paper towels so as to make minimal contact with it.

[Underwhere]

Here are the parts out of boiling.
I used the heat gun to clear any water in cracks in holes. Definitely not as good as compressed air but less risk of contamination.

I was about to card it but then thought to ask...how do you ensure your carding brush and steel wool are free from oil?

Right now I have steel wool soaking in a bowl of acetone. Do I just wring it dry and assume it's good?

Do I just dip the brushes in acetone and just air dry them?

I'll probably card later this afternoon and determine whether any additional coats are necessary (or scrap it and start over)

[Earl Keese]

The brushes don't have to be perfectly clean as long as you clean the parts before rusting.

[Underwhere]

The brushes don't have to be perfectly clean as long as you clean the parts before rusting.

That's what I figured. I'm going to do an acetone dip before every rusting.

[Earl Keese]

Soaking and wringing the steel wool is what I do as well.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

[Underwhere]

So I think I am getting lucky.
After the scotbrite pad and rusting, all the problems seem to have vanished. No freckles. No blotchiness anymore.

I'm going to card later and maybe do 1 more rusting and call it done.

NO BAKING SODA this time.

[The Guardian]

Nice follow-up effort.........all was not lost, just hidden a bit.  Can express enough how perceived "mistakes" actually have the ability to sometimes make one seem brilliant with respect to the final product.....like, oh yea I meant for it to turn out that way 

[Earl Keese]

Looks nice! Skipping the baking soda should allow it to season(darken) a little more over a week or so. Congrats!

[Underwhere]

Thanks everyone for your help.

I went down to card the frame and slide very excited to see the finish.

I carded the frame and found more blotches. Very much a pattern as well.

I found my source of contamination!  It's my gloves. The very thing I'm using to protect against oil likely has some sort of oil on it.

I remember washing my hands before heading to my basement. I remember consciously grabbing gloves near the cuffed portion and not near the fingers. I grabbed the carding brush and started.

You can see the matching pattern on the bluing.

I then tried washing the gloves off in acetone and I saw streaks of oil rising to the surface.

The reason why this didn't happen earlier today was that I carded and was diligent in not touching the frame whatsoever. I held it with the wire hangers and not the frame itself.

So now the frame sits in acetone. I hope it reverses the oil blotches. If not, I'll likely have to scotch Brite it again  and rust it again.

Looks like I need to buy new gloves. (or I contaminated it some other way that is unknown to me)

[Underwhere]

I know nitrile gloves disentrgrate in acetone.

I don't think Latex does so if I get a box of those I can actually wash it off in acetone before handling the frame.

[Earl Keese]

If you're done rusting, just apply oil and let the parts sit for a week. Rust blue isn't a delicate finish. I wouldn't worry about the marks or discoloration at this point. After a good oil soak, they may disappear.

[Underwhere]

If you're done rusting, just apply oil and let the parts sit for a week. Rust blue isn't a delicate finish. I wouldn't worry about the marks or discoloration at this point. After a good oil soak, they may disappear.

I hadn't considered that yet.

So this morning I went down and pulled the frame out of acetone. As I did I saw some stuff flash dry on it (I suspect oil) and so I wiped it off with a clean paper towel.

I tried to wipe off the blotches that my gloves left but they wouldn't clear.
So as an experiment I'm going to oil a small section to see if it blends in with the blotches. If so, I'll just oil up the entire gun. (not sure whether to boil first)

If this doesn't work I think I'm going to buy new latex gloves, re-degrease the frame and then scotchbrite it....then re-rust the frame.

I didn't touch the slide yet so I'm going to try and tackle that tonight and hopefully the slide is finished. The controls are done so that's at least out of the way. I hope it all matches.