Who makes the best cold bluing solution and are there any tricks to get a darker blue from them?

no such animal...

the best cold blue is a rust blue being cryoaccurized...

they all stink
the dark ones have heavy metals
the smell never goes away (okay, after sandblasting)

if you need one for a short while, the birchwoodcasey works good enough.

jeffe

The best cold bluing is Brownell's Oxpho-Blue. (at least in my experience). Clean the metal and don't touch after cleaning. Follow directions on the bottle. I found that using it on small parts you can use a small artist type brush to stir the bluing which causes it to work faster and leave a darker color in the process. Pour a little blue in a small container, dip the brush, and work the brush in small circles stirring the bluing on the metal. Brush should have medium to stiff bristles.
This may be good for only small parts as I haven't done an entire gun. Anyhow, Brownell's has the best cold bluing I've ever tried.

I've had excellent results with Brownell's Oxpho-Blue. Appears to be more durable than typical hot blue.

I apply by rubbing with 0000 steel wool on clean and grease free metal. Rinse and reapply until I get desired effect.

Wally

Cold blue works better if you warm up the metal a bit.

Another vote for Oxpho Blue. I have used this for "darkening up" old worn blue and for small parts, but if you are talking about doing an entire gun, I would spend the money to have it done by a pro. Last rifle I had done was under $150 for a nice satin blue and it looks WAAAAYYYY better than you will ever get with cold blue. just my 2cents.

DGK

[ 08-23-2003, 17:53: Message edited by: 375hnh ]

I have done lots of cold bluing, and it seems I must experiment on every piece of metal to see if it will work and what process works.

It never looks anywhere near as good as real bluing, but sometimes it looks pretty good.

I like to get the Dicropan in micro valleys [it is darker, but not wear resistant]
Then I like to get Oxpho on the micro ridges [it is not as dark, but more wear resistant].

Some tricks I use:
1) Keep degreasing between blues
2) Have a number of cold blues and try them all on the piece of steel.
3) Apply the cold blue with Scotch Brite pads rubbing hard enough to get it to take, but not hard enough to rub it off.
4) Put the steel in the lathe and spin it while doing 3)

If I make a pin out of a nail, the blue on the end is what shows, and will get rubbed off in pounding it in place. Heat the nail with a torch and quench in water, that will turn it black.

I used Birchwood Casey "Super Blue" on a M38 Turk Mauser project and was very happy with the results, and for around $10 it is hard to go wrong. I found this very helpful-www.surplus rifle.com "General Maintenance" heading. There are some downloadable instructions and a video on that site. Good Luck and let us know how it turns out.

Does it help to heat the metal between coats?
A tank of hot water seems fairly easy to create!

LouisB

Formula-44 as sold through brownells is a quick acting solution which produces a dark matte black finish, which is great for touching up small marks on those matte black rifles...

quote:

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Originally posted by Clark:
If I make a pin out of a nail,

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Clark,

Brownell's sells small bundles of assorted diameter drill rod that make making those special pins a whole lot easier than trying to find just the right nail...


Malm

[ 08-24-2003, 19:29: Message edited by: G.Malmborg ]