All right, I know I would be better off money wise if I just had a rifle blued....however....I figure I might want to learn how to do rust blueing myself since I have more than one rifle/part that could use bluing.

By the way, this is for down the road, I am only asking now because I have a rifle in the white that I was going to put a baked finish on, but will wax real good and leave alone if I am going to tackle blueing it myself later.

The Question:

What all is involved in Slow Rust Blueing? I hear it is a very durable finish, is this true? I have read enough to know the basic process is 1 polish parts, 2 apply chemical, 3 card, 4 boil. That's the extent of my knowledge people.

I am trying to get an idea of not only how much work, but the supplies and equipment needed. I have a small shop at home, 10x10, so I need to know up front if I will even be able to fit it all in there.

Thanks everyone.

Red

Check out http://www.winrest.com/blue%20instructions.html
Brent

You have mail.

While we are on this subject, does rust bluing include bluing the receiver and bottom metal assembly inside out? Does rust bluing the inside channels of the receiver affect the smoothness of the bolt operation? Thanks for the info!

Thanks Jack, I have reread all info a few times now and think that I will try it at some point. I read somewhere that deionized water was the best to use, if that is the case I might be in good standing as I can get the good stuff. :-) I have a relative that works for a hospital and they use like 2000 gallons of deionized water a month. I might be able to purchase a few gallons when it comes time.

Red

Dago Red,

I ran a couple searches and was able to find enough info to get a good idea of what to do. Basically what Ive found is that a slow rust blue can make even the pro's go grey. Hot caustic blueing is the way to go for someone who plans on turning out some serious smithing work in the years to come. But for myself, I want something fairly simple yet efficent that I can enjoy for my own rifles without compromising my childrens saftey or my own sanity. "Express blue" is just the ticket, Im getting close to having all I need to get started so cant give you any results yet but the setup is quite simple.