Got rust blue ordered any advice from those that have used it. Looks like I will have to make a cabinet for steaming from reading the web site.

Degrease thoroughly.

Bobster's Rust Blue ? Great stuff, great guy.

don't believe the BS that you can get the rust going in a few hours in a steam box. Ol' Larry Potterfield will have you thinking you can get it done in an afternoon, I still had to let the rust develop over night.

Right about the time you get sick an tired of carding rust, and the color has evened out you're about half way there.

Depends upon the finish you want. If you want a high luster rust blue short passes are must. I rarely rust for more than an hour on my first pass, follow up passes even shorter. If you want a more matte or satin finish then a deeper bite and longer rust times are required.

Instead of building a cabinet, I bought a long plactic container that I believe is for Christmas wrapping paper. In the winter when the humidity is low, I have to use it. I place a few cups of hot water in with the metal. Works well and doesn't cost much.
Phil

Couple of things.
Degrease, degrease, degrease
Apply solution at room temp.
Use cotton balls.
Don't use too much solution.
Don't overlap.
Use a box/cabinet with high humidity to rust.
Make sure that the temperature of the parts being rusted is high enough to assure that no condensation forms on the parts in your rust cabinet. If you get condensation you will get streaks.
Initially, better to under-rust that go too far and get rough finish (pitting).
Make a steam tube. Instruction on "Rust Blue" web site. I used a cheap cook pot, toilet flange, pipe (get the right kind as specified) and a hot plate.
Before you put in the parts make sure that it is steaming "fiercely". You want the part to get hot and steamed quickly.
Probably stuff I forgot but I tried to think of as many pointers as I could think of.

I have rust blued a good deal in the past and still have the box, and may do some small parts these days..but to be a real expert at rust blueing you must do it all the time IMO..Those guys that do it and nothing else do the high dollar first class jobs..Im convienced of that.

Interesting comments when compared to the next one by SKB who does first rust for just 1 hour!

My former gunsmith & friend, the late Din Collings said that you should apply the solution on a hot barrel either after boiling and drip dry or heat with hair dryer until it is too hot to hold. He said that the rust forms immediately on application! He did not use a sweat box at all! He did 6 to 8 passes in a day. Probably more if only doing rust bluing of a few rifles through the day.

I suspect that the different recommendations are a result of using different types of solutions.

The traditional British acid solution (Ferric chloride dissolved in Nitric acid or iron nails or iron filings or degreased steel wool dissolved in Nitric acid mixed with HCL). This rusts immediately with light application on hot barrel.

quote:

Originally posted by kcstott:
don't believe the BS that you can get the rust going in a few hours in a steam box. Ol' Larry Potterfield will have you thinking you can get it done in an afternoon, I still had to let the rust develop over night.

Right about the time you get sick an tired of carding rust, and the color has evened out you're about half way there.

Bottom line is that there ae simply no steadfast rules to follow. I used a cabibet when living at 8000 ft. in Wyo, but here in WA, have no need for it whatsoever

Ditto with solutions: Highly praised solutions just ended up in the garbage, others worked (for me) perfectly