All right guys, got a question for ya, one out of curiosity just cause I like to file this kind of stuff in the back of my brain (mainly for "what would I do if I won the lottery" scheming).

What's the cost to setup for hot bluing? I know that brownells sells a kit, but I have heard that it is better just to build/put together your own. anybody done this? What did it end up costing you?

Those of you that have them, do you run off natural gas or off of propane?

Red

Tell you what Red, you get it set up and I'll bring up a stripped 1911 and we can experiment on it.

Red,

Caustic setup really should be placed in a small room all by itself will ventilation. The steam from the tank will corode everything. Its also hard on concrete floors. I had a setup at one time but I used it very rarely and it was more of a hassle than it was worth. Im not trying to talk you out of it. The tanks I bought from brownells and I had the burners and stands made locally for about $100. I ran propane with high output regulators and it worked just fine.

I guess I probably had close to $500 in the system once all was said and done.

Did this last year but fell into a deal that doesn't come along every day. Fellow who was giving up on bluing was hauling his setup to the dump and I just happened to meet him while he was on his way--we just cross-loaded the stuff from his truck to mine. I'd never even met him before and haven't seen him since but I'll never forget his generosity.

He gave me a open front steel cabinet with built in catch pan and vent hood. It's about 6-feet tall, 4-feet wide and 30-inches deep. Came with a Dayton blower and motor, his custom-built extra large bluing tank which will easily hold 10 rifles in one batch, one of the steel bluing tanks from Brownell's and enough angle iron and square steel tubing to weld together racks for the tanks. I estimate that to have a cabinet like this fabricated would cost around $1200-1500, but that's a pretty wild guess. I know the blower and motor from Grainger is just under $500.

I bought one burner and a thermometer from Jantz supply for $140 and copied it to make another shorter one for my small tank which was given to me by another smith who had an extra. I buy my salts at a local chemical supply warehouse and they cost me just under $200--about $1 per pound. It's enough for a year with some left over.

Cost me another $200 for pipe and fittings to get the gas to it and maybe another $50 for supplies like iron wire and welding rod for hangers.

Hope this helps. If you have specific questions I'd be happy to try and answer them.

quote:

Caustic setup really should be placed in a small room all by itself will ventilation. The steam from the tank will corode everything. Its also hard on concrete floors. I had a setup at one time but I used it very rarely and it was more of a hassle than it was worth. Im not trying to talk you out of it. The tanks I bought from brownells and I had the burners and stands made locally for about $100. I ran propane with high output regulators and it worked just fine.

I guess I probably had close to $500 in the system once all was said and done.

That is about what I sold mine for years ago. KEY ISSUE keep it away from everything else. I had a closed room with a cheap vent. Cheap because it would get coroded every year or so. Also remember the salt will climb out of the tank unless you have a lid on it. Major cost for me was the buffer and wheels.

I bought a used set up, 3 tanks with stands and burners for $300,oh yea a hone made buffer too. You can get into enough stuff to blue for not a huge amount of money. Mine is in my garage and it is a mess! I open the roll up door and the walk in door and have at it. Half the time I end up out there at night and keep thinking I'll get a visit from the police thinking I'm running a meth lab or something. I use a temorary tank for oil them put the oil back in the can when I'm done. It's tough if you don't use it very often. I just replaced a batch of salts that hadn't had more than 15 guns through it.

I have run into a few guys that had to get the bluing set up out of their basement to save the marriage.

I know one guy that got rid of it because his precious Bridgeport was rusting.

This is for the future, I would have either a standalone location for the bluing or a seperate room. I'm just curious. I told my wife that it would be a better way to spend our tax return than planning a trip to Italy. She disagrees.

Red

My blueing tanks are in the same garage as my lathe and mill and all my other tools and I haven't had any problems with rust. I leave my tanks enpty except for the one with the salts and that one has a lid that I put on when not in use.

KWK
You have not had any rust problems because you live in the land of low humidity. The same setup in Houston would make a mess of machine tools.

quote:

Originally posted by Dago Red:
I told my wife that it would be a better way to spend our tax return than planning a trip to Italy. She disagrees.

Red

There's a coincidence, Wifezilla just mentioned yesterday that she'd like to tour Italy this summer.

If my tax return were bigger, and my wife didn't know where I keep the guns, I'd suggest we send them to the boot and we go on safari.

We're looking at June or August, depends on her school schedule, whether she decides to teach summer school or not.

She did say that if we get a good return next year I can use it to book safari for the year after, and suggested I go with my stepfather or somebody other than her.

Red