My Pre-B refinishing and modification diary

[sberres]

I don't hang my parts for boiling anymore, it uses too much water and takes too long to boil. I just lay them in the pan with enough water to completely cover them. No issues so far.

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Same thing. Though I do use a loose coil of stainless weld wire lying in the bottom of the kettle to get full circulation of water around flat parts.

[Underwhere]

I've been emailing back and forth with Mark Lee. He's been very responsive.

He told me to keep going.
He said there may be a few things going on. Some parts of the metal may not be taking on rust. He suggested using a scotchbrite pad under running water and then continuing on.

I may continue to see what happens...why stop now

[Underwhere]

My controls are out of the motor oil and wiped off.

I'm going to leave them next to the slide and safety which were done last year to see how the newly blued controls darken (if they do).

[Underwhere]

Bluing Cycle #14
This is cycle #14 for the frame.

I did one more cycle to see what would happen. Nothing great.

[Underwhere]

I took Mark Lee's suggestion and ran the frame with a scotchbrite pad under running water.

It was pretty interesting. The frame got darker as I was rubbing it with the pad. That's how I judged where I had scrubbed.

Then I hit it with my heat gun.

I went over the entire frame. Here is how it looks now. Pretty even.

[Underwhere]

Bluing Cycle #15
This is cycle #15 for the frame.

Looks much better after scotchbrite and a rusting cycle.

I guess lesson learned. If you see spots you should take care of it asap... Otherwise you may waste a lot of cycles hoping for the best.

[Earl Keese]

That looks much better! Seems like Mr. Lee should have included that detail in the original instructions. Haven't you had similar issues with some of your other projects using his product?

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[Underwhere]

That looks much better! Seems like Mr. Lee should have included that detail in the original instructions. Haven't you had similar issues with some of your other projects using his product?

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I have. I wonder if I'm not careful enough and am contaminating things.

Things like:
Holding my heat gun - is the gun degreased
Holding my pliers - is it degreased
Did I change my gloves enough?

[Earl Keese]

I'm relieved for you. I know how frustrating it can be not getting the results you want after so much work.

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[Underwhere]

This is the project that just keeps giving.

I did another cycle and got the blotchyness back!

I was super careful about contaminating. Now I'm second guessing everything.

I emailed Mark Lee for advice.

[Underwhere]

my suggestion is this, do a rust blueing w/o boiling the frame.  it will give a more rustic, brown-ish finish, where the irregularites will really add to the asthetics of the final product.  sometimes the project dictates the direction of the of the outcome.....rather than the initial plan.  when done with about 5 applications just seal it with some gun oil and the colors will really come out after several hours.  wipe it down and enjoy the one of a kind look it will have.....just a suggestion. here is one I did a few years back using this process, looked better in person but just to give you an idea.....whatever you choose to do, best of luck 

I like that and will probably try that in the future.

I have a slide already blued to match the frame and wanted a pair of blued 75's with matching finishes. (I finished one before this one)

[Earl Keese]

Have you reached out to SP01SHADOW to get his opinion on the issues your having with this one?

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[Underwhere]

Have you reached out to SP01SHADOW to get his opinion on the issues your having with this one?

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That's a good idea.

[Sulpgnir]

Thank you for sharing your well-documented project with us.  It's a true labor of love!

Keep up with the good work!

[parastoo]

Hi,
    I haven't been following this for the last few months so I've forgotten a lot of the thread. I was hot about doing this to a surplus 75 that I bought late last year and then the obsession cooled. But when I was thinking about it I had the idea that instead of Q-tipping on the solution what about wetting a cloth or some gauze patches with the solution, putting the parts in a small plastic box with a cover and the patches then putting a heating pad or other heat source under the box. The idea being to vaporize the solution and sort of Vapor Deposition the acid onto the parts. Just a thought.