Has anyone used Dicropan to blue anything? Is it as good as the folks at Brownell's say it is? I have a couple of guns I'd like to "mess with" and reblue, and I was just wanting some input on how this stuff works. I have tried the Blue Wonder....

Is it as good as the folks at Brownell's say it is?



Not related to this product, but... Have you had the feeling Brownells will try to sell you a shit sandwich and tell you "... we have search the world over, and this is the absolutly the best ever yet..."



Just had to throw that feeling in

It's good for a halfway decent bluing job, but, you have to work your a$$ off to get. Metal preperation is everything as with any bluing job. It'll take a lot of coats and a lot of scrubbing with fine steel wool to try and keep it even. Just follow directions and don't expect it to come out like a hot blue. Warm metal takes the blue a little better than cold metal. It's cheap. Just try it and if you don't like it just polish it back down and have someone hotblue it. Roger.

Whoops, I was thinking of Oxpho- Blue. Ignore the first post. Sorry, Roger.

The oxpho blue is THE BEST rust protection you can get, IMHO. It is also easy to "repair" or refresh.



It will also give you a decent appearing job with a little work on a matte finish, to give you a "black" matte. It will never look like a good rust blue, however. I like it for a working rifle. I would not use it on a shiny finish as it WILL appear mottled.



Wash the rifle with Dawn to remove all oils. Bead blast (NOT SAND BLAST)it if possible to give a slight matte finish. Alternatively finish to about 240 grit. (Maybe a wornout 240.)



Wash the rifle again using Dawn and hot water. Add 2 drops of Dawn to 1/2 cup of Oxpho blue. Wearing rubber gloves rapidly coat the entire object with oxpho blue using a chunk of 000 steel wool as a "rag", never letting any section dry out. Best done over a big commercial sink.



Go over it over and over, scrubbing with the steel wool. The finish will get blacker and deeper. Have some fresh chunks of steel wool ready to go. After covering and scrubbing the whole thing several times wash it off before you let it dry out. Wipe dry and immedioately douche with WD-40 to stop the chemical action. Inspect the job and repeat the scrubbing with Oxpho and steel wool where you want it deeper black.



If you don't like it you are out $18 and some elbow grease.



I really like it for working rifles. Also good for reloading equipment, any steel tools you handle a lot under field conditions, etc. It will NOT rust.

Smallfry,
I have done business with Brownells for many many years and never found them less than ideal to deal with...they will take back anything that does not work to your requirments and no questions asked..They do us a service that no one else does and 99% of their products work as described and they do test them...

Dicropan is about as good as a cold blue can get..

Dicropan has the dark color, but not the wear resistance of Oxpho.



So I first cold blue with Dicropan and get the dark color.

I then rub hard on the steel and the Dicropan comes off the micro ridges, but stays in the micro grooves.



I then reblue with Oxpho, which then blues the ridges, but the grooves stay black with Dicropan.



In a spot on a gun where nothing is ever going to rub on it, Dicropan by itself makes a nice dark color. But for a barrel, there will be rubbing, so I follow up with the more resilient Oxpho.

Just my opinion but why not use an express rust blue? It is hardly much more difficult than cold bluing. Sure, it takes more time since you have to repeat the process 6-12 times but it costs nearly the same. I use Mark Lee's Express formula and find the results to be far better than cold bluing.

I blued a barrel for a friend and he couldn't believe it wasn't a professional job.

Just my own experience. But, in my opinion, both the Dicropan and any express or Belgian blue are an ersatz option to the real thing. If you are going to rust blue, then do it. It takes no more actual work time than these other methods and the outcome will be so much better.

In the late '80's I experimented with all of the available rust blue solutions and application proceedures that where available at the time (at least the ones I was aware of). Believe me, there aren't any advantages to the so called fast rust blue methods.

Find a good slow rust blue solution and experiment with different temperatures, humidity, and rust times. Leave the other stuff for the uninitiated.

Scrollcutter,

Those are interesting coments. What do you consider a good formula for the slow rust process? I ask because I spoke at length with Mark Lee about his slow and express formulas. He steered me toward the express even though I had initially intended to get the slow solution. His comments were that there was no practical difference between the end product.

My other concern is that it is a fairly dry climate where I live.

I use Jim Biair's Gun Goddess rust blue solution.

Thanks, I'll have to give it a try when I have enough time.

Where do you get Jim Biair's Gun Goddess rust blue solution?

Clark,

Here is the info:

Half Moon Rifle Shop
490 Halfmoon Road
Columbia Falls, MT 59912
406-892-4409

since I started this whole thing, I'll second the question... where do you get this slow rust bluing kit? And, does anyone have a rundown on the process involved? Thanks for all the inputs...

The solution comes with destructions. A quick search on google will give you loads of info.



I emailed you some how-to info I had.

It may be noteworthy to point out that there are two different versions of dicropan. The cold blue and Dicropan IM. Ive only tried the cold stuff but have wondered about the so called "hot water" method. If someone could shed some further light on that I'd be appreciative.

I tried Mark Lee Express blue and some other "quick rust blue" methods on quite a few things and have only had one action and two floorplates turn out decent looking. Everything else looked like sh!&, but thats probably largley due to my inexperience. The point being, dont expect instant, consistant, quality results with something like that if you arent practiced at using it.

For a cold blue I prefer oxpho paste on metal heated with a propane torch. I havent been able to get dicropan to go as dark as that stuff and it holds up pretty good as cold goes.

I found a guy who does hot caustic for about $50.00 per gun, I think Ill skip the next rust blue project and just give him some business. More time for shooting that way.

Ray, you are absolutly right. I am a regular customer of Brownells and I am happy they exist... it would be hard to scrounge up gunsmithing tools if they did not.


I do get a kick out of their product discriptions though, always have.

Yeah... I guess I should have been more specific... it was the Dicropan IM I was interested in... using hot water... does that change any opinions?

I have used Dicropan IM several times. I have had very good luck with it on small parts, (bolts, etc). Deep, tough blue. On barreled actions, I had less success. I suspect due more to my technique than any fault of the product.

The first time you try rust bluing do yourself a big favor use distilled water. Once you get the process
down then you can try rainwater, tapwater, airconditioner runoff, or even local tap water.
It can make all the difference.
Good luck!