DYI Blueing

[dsmerrills]

I think it is possible...you just need to increase the temperature and keep it a while longer in the tank...

Hi Gert,

I don't think it is possible to blue stainless steel, I wanted to blue my trigger on my 375H&H which was stainless steel and the smith said it's not possible and I would either have to cerakote or gunkote it to the desired colour!

But in all fairness maybe I'm completely wrong or the smith was wrong!

[killzone]

Hi Guys
Where in JHB could I get a DIY blueing kit, just for touch ups on the handles etc.?
Regards

Hi. Most gun shops sell the Perma Blue paste or liquid for around R70. Clean the area you want to touch up with brake cleaner. And where gloves if you can.

[Hussy]

Hi Guys
I tried applying the Perma Blue Paste. After cleaning the area thoroughly, it applies really nicely and drys quickly. I wipe the access away and polish out with fine steel wool. It looks really good, but after a day or two of normal carrying, the area I bued starts to wear off.. What am I doing incorrectly?

Regards

[treeman]

I found it was not a Blue once process. Did the Husky about 15 times - thinners wash blue - scour -with scourer and washed thinners Blued again took a few nights of as I got a chance doing it again. It does seem to build up a bit and then a real rubbing in of the oil and stand. Was chuffed with self.

[jamesbobby]

D.I.Y all the way

[Dick]

Over the counter preparations like Perma Blue are called touch up for a reason. They are intended to touch up spots of holster wear or small scratches. Some will achieve a passable result on a whole gun, but mostly they are patchy/mottled on big surfaces, and none of them are remotely as durable as the "proper" bluing processes. The traditional (very old) slow rust method has the benefit of not needing equipment more than a sweat box (maybe, depending on climate). But it is painfully slow, as much as ten or more applications at the rate of one per day. It is generally believed to produce better quality than other methods, but I have not noticed it. Hot water bluing is the same thing done more quickly and needs a hot water tank. Nothing is as easy and effective as the modern hot bluing process, which is actually hot oxide blacking that did not originate in the arms industry. For handguns, two small tanks are needed, one degreasing, the other bluing. 45 minutes max. The salts are not available just anywhere, but are obtainable in a few places in SA. It is so easy, the results so good, and the equipment for handguns so cheap that it makes no sense to contemplate anything else. Rifles are not more difficult, but the equipment is much more bulky and expensive.

[Dick]

Anybody done bluing on stainless steel? I've got a small part that I would like to match the rest of the assembly.

It has been done, but not, as far as I know, by the conventional hot bluing process that would be a practical DIY proposition.