Any recommendations for a bluing service that will take smaller parts - bottom metal, grip caps, etc - and turn them around pronto?

Yeah, AH,
try the top of your stove. If the part is not temper sensitive, polish it up and just put it over the gas ring until it turns blue, then oil it.

Yeah, the problem is that the places I use have minimum orders and for them to do a few parts it still costs a hundred bucks so you might as well have the whole thing blued. That is after you do the polishing. Bluing costs have skyrocketed lately. I do heat blue parts and it is a good way to go. A tip; polish the part. Heat until you see it start to turn yellow and pull away, then back in the flame carefully until it turns blue. If you go for the blue color right away it will overheat and turn gray; then you have to polish it again and start over.

quote:

Originally posted by dpcd:
A tip; polish the part. Heat until you see it start to turn yellow and pull away, then back in the flame carefully until it turns blue. If you go for the blue color right away it will overheat and turn gray; then you have to polish it again and start over.

Dang good tip!

quote:

Originally posted by Austin Hunter:
Any recommendations for a bluing service that will take smaller parts - bottom metal, grip caps, etc - and turn them around pronto?

Try your hand at rust bluing.

www.rustblue.com

quote:

Originally posted by Bobster:

quote:

Originally posted by Austin Hunter:
Any recommendations for a bluing service that will take smaller parts - bottom metal, grip caps, etc - and turn them around pronto?

Try your hand at rust bluing.

www.rustblue.com

Interesting - I might give that a try. However, as time crunched as I am, I love the idea of putting in the mail and getting back in 2 weeks!

If I had a shop building I'd set a bluing setup in there.

Another thing I've found reasonably good lately is the modern paste bluing.

The one I've got is G96 and I find it streets ahead of the the old liquid touch-up blue. If one application doesn't go far enough, I rub it a little more with steel wool and add some more paste.

Does Blue Wonder work as advertised?

AH, have you tried the Brownells Oxfo or Oxyfo (what ever it's called)?
It works really good and is super easy to do yourself.

rust bluing is actually easy especially with small parts. But it is slow.

I did a few parts with Belgian blue. It takes longer for the water to boil than to blue the parts. the only thing i noticed over time(years) is that the part faded a bit. I think the next time I'll dunk the part in acidic afterwards.

quote:

Originally posted by Rae59:
AH, have you tried the Brownells Oxfo or Oxyfo (what ever it's called)?
It works really good and is super easy to do yourself.

I have used it, but not with much luck. It did work well on a grip cap and some inletted swivels I did for my father-in-law, but could never get it dark enough. It looked kind of like a worn rust blue job, which was ok by me for what I was doing.

For the next set of parts, I need to really get it dark.

You could buy some salts and blue them yourself; it is fairly easy; it is lye and sodium nitrate (or nitrite) , heated at 290 degrees for a few minutes. It will burn your skin in a millisecond.

For small parts, I had a small tank made that fits on my gas BBQ grill. Makes rust bluing relatively simple if you don't have a large shop. You could probably even use a coffee can.

Yeah; for rust bluing all you have to do is boil water; can do that on the kitchen stove.

quote:

Originally posted by Austin Hunter:

quote:

Originally posted by Rae59:
AH, have you tried the Brownells Oxfo or Oxyfo (what ever it's called)?
It works really good and is super easy to do yourself.

I have used it, but not with much luck. It did work well on a grip cap and some inletted swivels I did for my father-in-law, but could never get it dark enough. It looked kind of like a worn rust blue job, which was ok by me for what I was doing.

For the next set of parts, I need to really get it dark.

AH, I am a little surprised to hear that.
I've had good success with it albeit with multiple coatings of the stuff. Did you buff any of the first applications with bronze wool then re-apply? I found it helped. I know it is difficult with certain shapes and contours though.

quote:

Originally posted by Rae59:

quote:

Originally posted by Austin Hunter:

quote:

Originally posted by Rae59:
AH, have you tried the Brownells Oxfo or Oxyfo (what ever it's called)?
It works really good and is super easy to do yourself.

I have used it, but not with much luck. It did work well on a grip cap and some inletted swivels I did for my father-in-law, but could never get it dark enough. It looked kind of like a worn rust blue job, which was ok by me for what I was doing.

For the next set of parts, I need to really get it dark.

AH, I am a little surprised to hear that.
I've had good success with it albeit with multiple coatings of the stuff. Did you buff any of the first applications with bronze wool then re-apply? I found it helped. I know it is difficult with certain shapes and contours though.

Did not use bronze wool. Assume that helps? Do you use anything between coats? what is your process? I'll give it a try again!

Austin,
Nothing complicated. Just applied with a cotton swab, blew on it like a candle, put some more on and let dry, which doesn't take very long. Did that several times. Then took some bronze wool and put some light oil on it and buffed a sheen. If it wasn't to my liking I then swabbed it with alcohol a tad and swabbed it some more. It seemed to take real good. At least for me.
I remember reading a more in-depth instructions on, I think, Brownells website for more of a blue-ing bath.
But I didn't do that.
Hope it works for you.
Skilled craftsmen are getting harder to find these days.