I rust blued my first gun this weekend, an old pawn shop find ruger standard that needed some attention.Barrel came out great, but frame had a couple spots where they seemed not to take bluing well. I used brownells classic rust blue
For prep, I sprayed with brake cleaner well, hot soapy water afterwards, 3 acetone baths and nylon brush with acetone to get any all the nook, etc. Carding wheel and 0000 steel wool were also degreased. I used gloves. Only distilled water when boiling. Removed parts form humid chamber when they turned somewhat orange after 30-45 min, boiled for 10-15 minutes til they turned black.
I'm thinking I messed up when doing the 2nd coat. 1st coat came out great, good coverage, but I decided to do a 2nd coat for good measure. After carding after the first round of bluing...should I have let the 1st coat sit longer? I went ahead and coated it again...squeezed out as much as I could and felt like they were even passes...but I noticed the cotton balls pulling a little blue off with them. Anyway, did the 2nd round, looked nice and even black after boiling...but after carding the bluing pulled up from these places. I stop using the carding wheel and used steel wool only, thinking the carding wheel may have been a little too unnecessary.
Is it normal for the cotton to pull off a little bluing when applying the 2nd, 3rd coats, etc? Did the extra coat reactivate something? Do i need to boil longer or let them get a little more orange?
I coated in mineral oil when done and let it sit overnight have seeing brownells and other folks suggest this. When wiping mineral oil off the next day. Towels definitely pull a little black off on them while buffing.
What can I try different? Thanks.
Last edited by killerv; 02/11/19.
