Thread: Cold bluing - wheelchair projects

I've done myself a mischief and I'm now stuck in a wheelchair for the next 6 weeks. No hunting at least till next year 
So I've been looking for some projects I can do from the chair, and having a go at stock refinishing and cold bluing seems like a great idea.
I have a couple questions regarding it however.
I had a test run on an old single shot 22 and the Birchwood casey perma blue that came in the refinish kit I got is not a dark bluing at all, so I ordered some super blue in the post. Can I super blue over the perma blue, or will I have to strip it and start again?
Second question: rinsing off after coats is proving difficult in the chair, would a bucket of water wet a wet rag suffice?
Question three: One really old rifle in desperate need of some love is quite heavily pitted in some areas and I don't see anyway of getting it back to smooth shiny metal, will this affect the cold bluing or will It be fine to go ahead?

Cheers..... I'm also thinking about keeping an eye out for an old .303 dirt cheap (in Chch) to play around with as another project to practice restoring old guns if anyone sees anything really cheap!

The stock refinishing is going well though! Used the armourall with tru oil trick I read about here and have easily 10 coats on here over the last few days.
Huge improvement, and pretty happy for my first go.

I am pleased you are getting a good result with that mix you are gamer than I am putting on a mix that on the surface should not work ( no pun intended )- a synthetic product with a natural product ( tru oil is all natural ) should not work - I would worry there wont be drying - I will stick to my boiled linseed -I do use a little tru oil but only if I want a slightly darker finish- but good luck nice job

A couple of things Ive learnt with bluing are, Use the degreaser that comes with the kit. Dont know whats in it but ive tried all sorts of ways of degreasing but the kit stuff works the best. Wear nitrile or similar gloves and I have two electric jugs on the go for boiling water. Final rinse before blueing and the rinses while blueing use boiling water you dont have to worry about drying it off and it heats the metal for in my opinion a better finish.

Originally Posted by Barry the hunter

I am pleased you are getting a good result with that mix you are gamer than I am putting on a mix that on the surface should not work ( no pun intended )- a synthetic product with a natural product ( tru oil is all natural ) should not work - I would worry there wont be drying - I will stick to my boiled linseed -I do use a little tru oil but only if I want a slightly darker finish- but good luck nice job

It speeds up the drying quite rapidly. Each coat is completely dry in about 30 minutes. I will leave it a few weeks to cure because I'm not going anywhere but I'd say it'd be ready to go shooting tomorrow with how rapid it is.
I was curious about it and thought the cheap old single shot was a good test subject, and time is on my side if it was a failed experiment.

Originally Posted by blip

A couple of things Ive learnt with bluing are, Use the degreaser that comes with the kit. Dont know whats in it but ive tried all sorts of ways of degreasing but the kit stuff works the best. Wear nitrile or similar gloves and I have two electric jugs on the go for boiling water. Final rinse before blueing and the rinses while blueing use boiling water you dont have to worry about drying it off and it heats the metal for in my opinion a better finish.

Thanks blip, yes I am using the degreaser. I'm paranoid about the stinky blue and rust remover that's really sticky, so I wiped it down with isopropyl alcohol, rinsed with water then used the Birchwood casey degreaser cleaner after. I'm definitely using nitrile gloves too, but I need to convince the wife to go get me some more I'm almost out.
Good tip with the water and jugs, thanks for that.
Can't reach the sink in my wheelchair though. Any ideas?
And do you see any issues with perma blue and super blue reacting or anything? From what I understand they are the same main chemical, but the super blue has additives in it.

checkering now that is something I have always wanted to get into - used to be able to buy a kit- Dem Bart rings a bell but have not seen one for years

Originally Posted by Barry the hunter

checkering now that is something I have always wanted to get into - used to be able to buy a kit- Dem Bart rings a bell but have not seen one for years

Yes absolutely, i have been thinking about hand checkering as well. I'd like to have a go at carving my own stock, I've built guitars, which carving the neck is a similar thing. I think doing the bed and cavities could be challenging though.

Im not a pro at it but definatley better than when I started used to be streaky af. If you dont put holes in the gloves just wash your hands while still wearing them and use them again. Heres a trick as well. Dont blow in the gloves to put them on the moist air you just blew into them makes them a shit to put on, hold the ends where your hand goes in and flick it around its self a few times and squeeze them using the trapped air inside them to puff them out. Get a pack of makeup pads to apply the blue. Havnt found it reacts as such to parts but it wont blue solder or braze. Havnt put it on alloy to see what happens tho.

Was at a gunsmiths shop the other day, after threading a barrel he applied Perma Blue to the threading, then heat to the blued area via a heat gun, seemed to create a top job.

Originally Posted by tetawa

Was at a gunsmiths shop the other day, after threading a barrel he applied Perma Blue to the threading, then heat to the blued area via a heat gun, seemed to create a top job.

Thanks, I'm going to try this, and a few other things with an old chisel or something. See how it goes!

Can lend you my checkering tools if you want.

Originally Posted by garyp

Can lend you my checkering tools if you want.

Thanks for the offer, that's very generous. Although I'm not sure what I can practice on, and I'm not able to drive, or even get out to the garage currently.

And I use makeup remover pads for degreasing and applying blue

Originally Posted by blip

And I use makeup remover pads for degreasing and applying blue

Thanks, I've added it to the wife's shopping list