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Posted: 8/1/2013 8:28:44 AM EDT
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I've been thinking about trying rust blueing, but I', wondering if it's really as easy as it looks. Nobody seems to mention how much effort was involved only the number of times they when through the process. Would you say it's difficult, easy to screw up, or just not that hard at all? Thanks |
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It's not really easy to screw it up, unless you get oil contamination from handling the parts.
It's a messy, time consuming job, and doing an AK is going to be tough due to all the rivets, welding, and pieced together nature. It'll be difficult if not impossible to get the steel wool around features like rivets, barrel parts, and trunnions, so you may have a blotchy looking job. You'll need a big tank if you're going to do a rifle and that's going to make a real mess if you do it in a kitchen with dripping bluing chemical, hot water, and steel wool particles everywhere. The difficulty is that it does take so much time and attention to detail, and you're handling HOT metal and chemicals. It's do-able, I just don't think I'd want to try it on an AK. |
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Quoted:
It's not really easy to screw it up, unless you get oil contamination from handling the parts. It's a messy, time consuming job, and doing an AK is going to be tough due to all the rivets, welding, and pieced together nature. It'll be difficult if not impossible to get the steel wool around features like rivets, barrel parts, and trunnions, so you may have a blotchy looking job. You'll need a big tank if you're going to do a rifle and that's going to make a real mess if you do it in a kitchen with dripping bluing chemical, hot water, and steel wool particles everywhere. The difficulty is that it does take so much time and attention to detail, and you're handling HOT metal and chemicals. It's do-able, I just don't think I'd want to try it on an AK. Thanks, I did do some searching but didn't find a real description of how much of a hassle it is... but then I decided to search youtube and found this, and I think it's a pretty good description: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZszHOhsmag Thanks |
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I'm going to try it one a few receivers this weekend. One AK-Builder flat and two Nodaks. I went with the Brownell's solution, and after reading the instructions twice, it looks like prep is going to be everything.
I still need to drop by Home Depot for a few other things, namely a degreaser (don't know which to use yet), gloves, and a ton of distilled water. I'll post an update as I get things moving. The thread at AKFiles is good, but there's a really nice on on Calguns that documents each step. Google Yugo+rust blue to find it. |
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One point often missed is to degrease the steel wool.
Steel wool is full of a oil to prevent it from rusting until sold. This oil will contaminate the job. Use a solvent to soak a pad to remove the oil, then allow it to evaporate completely before use. Do only what you'll be using immediately because the steel wool will rust within hours if it's humid. |
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Quoted:
I'm going to try it one a few receivers this weekend. One AK-Builder flat and two Nodaks. I went with the Brownell's solution, and after reading the instructions twice, it looks like prep is going to be everything. I still need to drop by Home Depot for a few other things, namely a degreaser (don't know which to use yet), gloves, and a ton of distilled water. I'll post an update as I get things moving. The thread at AKFiles is good, but there's a really nice on on Calguns that documents each step. Google Yugo+rust blue to find it. You can use 409 and then acetone to remove the 409 residue |
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As promised, here are my results from this weekend. Keep in mind that my only experiences with this sort of finish has been some cold blue jobs. I did learn a lot.
For my first attempt, I used an AK-Builder flat. After heat treating, I sanded the entire receiver with 220. I made a jig so that the sanding marks were parallel with the top rails. I was aiming for a grainy Yugo/Polytech finish. After sanding, I degreased with Berrymans outside to blow off all of the grit and whatnot. After that, I rolled it around in an acetone bath. 
I applied the solution with a degreased cleaning patch in long, continuous passes to the outside and with Q-Tips on the inside. I did the inside first, followed by the bottom and sides. It immediately started to oxidize, and looked like this after a couple of hours. It was 100 degrees and humid outside. I live in a coastal area. 
I had plans on using a tall crawfish pot for the boiling, but upon bringing the distilled water to heat, I noticed that it was full of pin holes that started to sweat. So, I resorted to using a cast iron dutch oven. I used cookie cutters as platforms so the receiver wasn't in contact with the bottom. I'm not sure how important that is, but I did it anyways. This is what I got after boiling for 20 minutes. I carded the insides first with a Brownell's stainless brush (toothbrush sized), then hit the built up areas with 0000 steel wool that had been degreased prior. What you're left with is a dingy looking blackened receiver. I then worked the metal with a cotton rag, polishing off most of the black oxidation. I would then degrease/rinse with acetone prior to the next application of solution. I did notice that it took longer to rust with each subsequent cycle. 
This is what I got after carding on the fourth cycle. It was reluctant to rust after the third application, so I called it good. 
I mixed a bit of Testor's black enamel with some boiled linseed oil and rubbed it in generously. I wiped off the excess and let it dry for an hour. It smelled like Chinese food. 
After an hour, I wiped off any runs and put it in the oven for an hour at 275. The entire house smelled like bad Chinese food. I pulled it out and wiped it down. This is what I got. 
After that, I submerged it in CLP for an hour, then wiped it off. I took a picture of it this morning. It's more of a graphite color in sun light, and a blueish black in low light. I'm happy with the results, and since I'm going to knock some of the finish off, it's dark enough for my intended purpose (a bfpu mixmaster build). 
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Some progress on a Nodak. Compared to the AK-Builder flat, this sucker is tough to rust. Whereas I was able to do 3 rust cycles a day on the flat, I'm having to go 48 hours between cycles for this one. Maybe the heat treat or the lack of sanding. I sanded the flat, but didn't want to have to deal with the center support rivet heads on the Nodak.
Carded for the 4th time. Shit's getting tiresome.  It's a pain in the ass around the center support.
I tried to get a pic of the freshly carded receiver with some acetone on it to see what it's going to look like with oil. 
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Rubbing away the black oxide. When the red rust is converted to black in the boil, it looks like velvet. The steel wool takes the excess off to reveal the blackened metal below.
ETA- Finished a Nodak this weekend. Here it is after baking in the BLO coat. I did have an issue with the oil splotching and orange peeling, so I had to go over everything with oil and 0000 steel wool. It's almost dead nuts on to the factory Bulgarian finish on my kit. 
ETA1- After a good soak and wipe down with CLP. I don't know if it was the long duration of the rust cycles, but the surface texture is much different than my first go around. It's not to the point of being pitted, but it'd definitely etched. It matches the Bulgarian metal very well. With a flash to show the texture: 
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That's some fine workmanship, guys.
This looks like the right thread to ask this. I put a sticker on my new AK, and it popped off, taking some paint with it, leaving this: 
Does that color coincide with hot bluing? The manufacture said he hot blues the receivers, and paints them when completed. The paint appears to be standard Soviet easy-scrape paint ( ), so I'm curious as to whether I need to cover the affected area.
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Would it be possible to rust blue without pulling barrel? I have two builds which I painted, but the paint always rubs off. So I am considering stripping them and rust bluing them, but I don't want to pull the barrels and re-headspace,etc. I think it would be ok but I figured I'd ask first.
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here is a pic of my Saiga 223 I rust blued, I used the Laurel Mountain Rust brown on the receiver and barrel.
Tried the Birchwood rust brown on dust cover and flash hider. http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii10/Sounavar/20130716_152154.jpg I use a dyi instant rust on my knife blades a mix of vinagar, hydrogen peroxide and salt. (1 cup hydrogen peroxide, 2 tsp vinagar 1 tsp salt) and I mean instant. and it comes out really nice, If I wasn't trying for a beat up used and worn look they would look even better polished up. I am going to use that mix on my receiver for my first ak build over the next month. http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii10/Sounavar/20130629_005940.jpg http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii10/Sounavar/20130813_202129.jpg for me rust blue/brown is the finish of choice, you can't beat the cost and its been the gunsmiths choice for hundreds of years. |
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Quoted:
Would it be possible to rust blue without pulling barrel? I have two builds which I painted, but the paint always rubs off. So I am considering stripping them and rust bluing them, but I don't want to pull the barrels and re-headspace,etc. I think it would be ok but I figured I'd ask first. It'll probably work, but the bitch is going to be getting everything completely degreased. You don't want oil seeping from between the trunnion/receiver, rivet holes, etc. Also, you're going to have to deal with boiling a much larger part. And remember, you're only going to get the rust blue effect where you applied the solution. That's not to say that you won't get rust, since you'll be going about a week with water baths and air drying without any oil protection. |
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