Looking for help with DIY bluing.

[trablico]

Hello, I purchased a T/C scout carbine recently and it has some pretty nasty scratches on the receiver. I took some 180 and progressed down to 800 grit and eventually 000 steel wool to remove the scratches. I bought some birch wood super blue and followed the directions. It came out looking like cheap case hardening. I applied some oil and the next day there was a good amount of surface rust covering the entire receiver. I cleaned it up and applied more oil. This is my first attempt at bluing anything but I think I may have done something wrong. Any advice?

 

[fubar22]

I've never had very good luck with Birchwood Casey cold bluing except for touch-ups. Ditto for BlueWonder. My current go-to is Brownells Oxpho-Blue. It's pretty hard to predict how deep and uniform the bluing will turn out on any of these cold-bluing products before you start, but thorough (and I mean obsessive) degreasing is an absolute must. After the usual surface prep (and yours sounded very thorough) I use the strongest commercial degreaser I can find (spray-on brake cleaner, followed by a wipedown with denatured alcohol with clean cotton cloth usually works for me). Use clean nitrile or cotton gloves when handling metal, as skin oil fingerprints can really mess you up. Lightly heating the cleaned metal in the kitchen oven (preferably while spouse is distracted or out) or a heat-gun seems to help with most cold bluing products. Remember that surface rust will start forming very quickly after degreasing, get right on to the bluing after degreasing. If worst comes to worst, you can always remove whatever botched bluing you wind up with (and try another cold bluing product. Duracoat makes a good bluing and rust remover.

I've tried spray-on epoxy based finishes (Duracoat) with some success on guns with poor finishes, but in my opinion the results never look as good as bluing. It's a pretty durable finish, but it will eventually chip and show wear.

 

[phalanx]

I agree with Fubar, Brownells Oxpho-Blue has given me the best results. The rest of his bluing advice is also solid. I'm too cheap to try Duracoat as I would want to try it on a junk barrel first and then too chicken on one I wanted to keep.

 

[brad502a]

Hello, I purchased a T/C scout carbine recently and it has some pretty nasty scratches on the receiver. I took some 180 and progressed down to 800 grit and eventually 000 steel wool to remove the scratches. I bought some birch wood super blue and followed the directions. It came out looking like cheap case hardening. I applied some oil and the next day there was a good amount of surface rust covering the entire receiver. I cleaned it up and applied more oil. This is my first attempt at bluing anything but I think I may have done something wrong. Any advice?

Find someone to hot blue it.

 

[Half-Cocked]

There are YouTube videos out there that show how to to a home made blue. I purchased a pistol kit years ago it is still unblued I apply mineral oil every 6 months or so. Eventually I will try the you tube method.