My Pre-B refinishing and modification diary

[sberres]

  You?re essentially referring to ?fume? bluing where you put the acid solution into the warmed, enclosed environment and let the fumes do the work of application for you. It?s accomplishing the same thing to the steel. I don?t know if there?s necessarily and advantage or not but care is required around nearby things that you don?t want to rust. Good containment becomes more critical.
  It?s definitely an adventure (refinishing a neglected or abused piece) and one that I?d have never considered had I not run across this site. Finish alone certainly doesn?t make it work any better but it is very satisfying to make such an improvement.

[parastoo]

Hi,
    I was just thinking that it would be easier to get a more uniform coat of the solution rather than with a swab that may or may not have too much or too little of the solution, which seems to be the problem that many people have.

[Earl Keese]

Hi,
    I was just thinking that it would be easier to get a more uniform coat of the solution rather than with a swab that may or may not have too much or too little of the solution, which seems to be the problem that many people have.

Your idea has been done, but there's a fair amount of work in getting set up to do it. Far too much for the hobbyist that only rust blues a few guns per year. Slow rust bluing the traditional way is considerably less complicated than other methods. In my opinion, that includes express bluing.
 With rust blue, once you get a routine in place, it's very easy to do. Getting a uniform coat is easier with each cycle.
 

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[sberres]

+1 with what Earl says. This isn?t really a coating process that requires uniformity as it is a reaction that requires exposure to the reagent solution. The multiple applications required will easily take care of areas that tend to oxidize more quickly than others. Trying to ?work it in? can actually be counter-productive than applying as lightly and uniformly as possible. Anything lightly missed at one application will be caught with the next and areas previously covered will incur some protection from unevenness during future applications and further help even if out as work progresses.

[Underwhere]

I'm back at or (a few months later).

I put on my gloves and washed the frame with Dawn and a brillo pad. I tried to scuff away all the imperfections. Most of them went away.

I also washed the gun stand that I was going to leave it on.

Then I hit the gun with a butane torch to dry it off, let it cool until it was slightly warm to the touch.

Then I tried my best to use a cleaning patch wrung out with the rusting solution and applied a very light coat, trying not to overlap (but it happened).

I'm not going to use heat this time.

It's 57% humidity in my basement. I haven't made a sweat box yet.

We'll see what happens.

[Underwhere]

Eh.

After posting I figure I'd fashion a makeshift sweat box.

I grabbed some stainless kitchen hood vent shroud, taped some foam insulation to the top and did my best to seal it up with duct tape.

I taped up vent holes on the side.

Then I taped a plastic drawer to the ground and set my gun on top.

Then I taped a guide to where the box should sit on the ground.

I put a candle wax heater in it with water.

Now my concern is setting the house on fire while I'm asleep.

I'll check back in an hour to see if the humidity is up.

[Underwhere]

51 minutes later and we are at 78% humidity and the walls of the box have a slight coating of moisture on them.

Going to bed. If I don't respond tomorrow it means my house burned down.

[Underwhere]

Well I'm alive.

The humidity reached 82% through the night.

There seems to be a light coat of rust.
I think I need to leave it longer.

[Earl Keese]

I'd give it a few more hours.

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[Underwhere]

I'd give it a few more hours.

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I'm going to leave it in all day and night, checking in tonight at probably 10PM.

You guys will get an update. I'm sure you're sitting by waiting

[Earl Keese]

I'd give it a few more hours.

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I'm going to leave it in all day and night, checking in tonight at probably 10PM.

You guys will get an update. I'm sure you're sitting by waiting

It can take a while, just watch the already rusted areas for pitting. My sweat box has yielded mixed results. When I lose patience I hang parts in the spare bathroom and and put a few inches of hot water in the tub. Shut the door and tell the wife to keep it closed. Usually get good rust in 4-6 hrs with that method.

[Underwhere]

I think I need to work on my rusting solution application.

Should I boil?

[Earl Keese]

Always boil, never reapply. It'll even out eventually.

[Underwhere]

Boiled for 20 min, carded and tossed it back into the sweat box.

Any tips on how long to leave it there and also how to prevent pits?

Pics of it ready to go back in for rusting

[Earl Keese]

The pits happen if you leave it too long before boiling. Are you cleaning with acetone before reapplying acid?