# Metal prep & bluing



## Cknerr (Nov 22, 2009)

This is how I do it. Other folks probably do things differently. My aim is to keep things like lettering edges sharp and to prevent long edges straight and sharp. 
The one thing you will note is a lack of polishing/buffing  wheels. They seem to wallow out pits and lettering and certainly round off any edges. By having a solid backing you won't round off edges. The polishing/buffing wheels come into play when getting the last bit of mirror finish. So little metal is removed I don't get too concerned.

To start off with, here are my tools:






The metal in a lever is different then the rest of the rifle. It is hard! Forget using a file, only abrasives. If you thought of annealing first, good luck getting it back as hard as it is. I just suck it up and set the file to one side. 

Go through the sandpaper/stones. Using sandpaper grades as a guide, start with 100 or 120, then 220 or 280, then 320 or 400, then stop at 600. I wait until all the metal I am prepping is at this grit. Found if I go further, somehow I will scratch something! It also helps to set things aside for awhile, amazing what you find later on. What you find of course has to be dealt with.

Diamond stones, course stones, files (flat and 1/2 round), rubber grips to wrap sandpaper around, sand paper, and a round polishing wheel for a foredom. On the foredom wheels, use the sides of the wheel. That will spread out the "damage" and help prevent wallowing out, dishing out is a different matter - more about that later. 

The sandpaper in the picture is an experimental type sent to me to try out. Jury is still out on the stuff. Before this clothe backed metal type, I used the same paper used for wood. Doesn't last a long time but plenty of water or light oil will extend it. Started with a file and course stones. Stones need something to lubricate and wash away debris. Kroil is my choice.  Careful with files since a chip or other debris can get caught in the teeth and make a huge scratch.  Chalk like kids use for marking hop-scotch squares on a sidewalk will help with that. Sandpaper is almost exclusively used with water. Thanks to the Kroil, there isn't much danger of rust.

Here is the Marlin from other threads: 





knocked off a little bluing with a stone. Want to find the worse pits, scratches, and other bad things.





scratches like this are common:





and messes like this:










This is the receiver in progress:





[EDITED]:  When you run across something really deep, you can't "lower" the entire side of a receiver to match it. Another non-starter is grinding a wallow. Wellll, almost - you will have to very carefully dish the area. This is a gradual sloping over a wider area. Then just proceed as you would anywhere else. You can make the dished out with slightly flexible pads with sandpaper wrapped them. As you work your way through finer grades of abrasives, the dish will slowly disapear since there is nothing to refferacne the edges too. The receiver below has some pretty bad pits in it. Can you tell where they are? Even the reflections don't give it away. To be honest, doubt I could short of using a straight edge to see where the surface is not flat. After the metal is blued, the dishes are even harder to see. 
Eventually you end up with this:





That is as far as I have gotten with the Marlin. Next is a bit of clean up and polish of the bolt and a few other parts you can see.  I'll post more as I get them done. Stay tuned!

Chris


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## olchevy (Nov 22, 2009)

Awesome! my question is, is there a way to get rid of deeper pitting?I have my 3030 like that one, polished to the point I still have yet to see any rust months later,but I still have some pretty deep pits, that I dont see how i could get rid of them without removing a ton of metal.
and also did you get my PM?


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## Cknerr (Nov 22, 2009)

didn't get your PM, sorry

Just re-read the entry and of course left out some important parts about pits....sigh, wifey almost has dinner ready. So I'll edit it to include deep pits as soon as mu obligations are completed.  (I know who the real boss is around here!)

Take care,
Chris

[Edited] added the missing blerb on deep pits


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## seaweaver (Nov 23, 2009)

Cool.
I felt my butt tighten a bit on that flat file receiver pic!
I see you are cutting the stock right down to the metal. I'll have to remember that.
I'm not that concerned w/ deep pitting...yet. I may on my next.
Are you going to do a Rust blue?
After 48+ hrs i finally managed to grow some rust on my action and did my first boil and carding.

cw


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## Cknerr (Nov 23, 2009)

lol, I can imagine that if you're not use to it. Taking metal off that fast can be spooky. You really are not removing much and there is plenty of metal. BTW, that is not a file, it is a course stone. I buy the really cheap ones, they usually leave some heavy scratches behind because the grits used in making that are not sifted that well. The scratches tend to be less then a file. They also don't use a good binder, so the worn grit will sluff off quickly exposing new sharp stugritff. They don't last long, however you can get a lot of work done in a hurry.

So you finally got some rust to show up. Funny how we go to so much trouble to prevent it and still the stuff sneaks up where you don't want it, then when you want it....the darn stuff won't cooperate.

If you card before boiling, it makes for a little less work. Ferric oxide is softer then Hematite.

I do plan on slow rust bluing if there is time. 

Take care,
Chris


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## seaweaver (Nov 25, 2009)

Alright... you should have had 2 boil and cards by now...!!!
I 'm  on #6 and it's starting to look good.
I have had a few "hard rust" areas... but  I'm simply looking for durable on this first attempt.
Truthfully I have a can of ceramic High Temp black on standby but this is working out well.

cw


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## Cknerr (Nov 25, 2009)

You are getting way ahead of me! Congratz on your progress

I'm still stuck on the bolt parts. That marlin's innards are all hardened steel. What a pain to polish up! 

...and there is a 270 I am restocking that needs an exorcism. Suppose to have been in the client's hands 2 weeks ago. Bark inclusions in bad places, sap wood meant pushing the metal way over to one corner, broke the trigger guard (my bad, never have done that before), ordered replacements that where mislabeled so didn't fit - twice. Epoxy wouldn't cure when put into the stock  but it does in the mixing cup, worm holes in the pistol grip, and there is more....sheesh, would be hilarious if I was hearing it from someone else!

Do you have any pictures of yours? You putting it outside or did you make a humidity cabinet?

Good going!
Chris


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## seaweaver (Nov 26, 2009)

I have had boats like that.What kind of epoxy are you using? I use west system a lot for my boat repair. it's 5:1 and supper hard.










You can see where some heavy stuff grabbed hold(and where I was to timid to remove deep pitting as in your pic). I had been using a home brew accelerator but I have stopped and simply let nature do it's thing. I have been using 000 steel wool and then washing afterward w/ OH to remove any oil from the wool. 

cw


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## Cknerr (Nov 26, 2009)

and to think it is only done with water.....  That is coming along great. Won't be too many more times and it will have troubles rusting. Sure makes for a tough finish! Sweat man.

Use West Systems on my boat - a 115 yr. old all steel tug. The problem with that thing is nothing is small. West Systems is very expensive, so I use some cheaper aviation epoxy and make sure the outside layer of whatever I am working on is West System. Then Paint to protect the epoxy.  Since the hull and cabin are all steel, most work is done in steel. However, I have learned I should weld for quantity and grind back to quality. There are a few places where it just doens't pay to use steel. Like under windows where the sea spray gets in and quickly tears things up. Epoxy doesn't rust....so after getting those areas repaired might not have to worry about them for awhile. Lord knows, there is enough to do elsewhere on the old girl! I'll send you a PM on the boat project and a link.

The stuff in the rifle is a 1 hour marine epoxy you can get at the local hardware store. I use it to make a temporary "shelf" to hold metal parts where I think they are suppose to be. This allows me to tighten screws down to proper torque and not worry about what the wood will do. Found out over the years a thin layer of epoxy and something like accru-glass makes for a much more stable set up then bare wood. It also is easier to make pillars that fit correctly since the metal isn't going to move. Sometimes the wood is softer in some areas then another. If my inletting is really tight, the soft stuff will give a little and cause things to skew. Not visible to the eye, but it can wreck havoc on how things work. Customers tend to sound a bit upset when that happens I noticed. So to keep peace in the world, it all gets a thin bedding of epoxy. Also slows humidity transferring in and out of the wood which WILL cause the same trouble.

Guess I better get to work....got some catching up to do!

Take care,
Chris


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## seaweaver (Nov 29, 2009)

A Tug? Now that is salty!

I could not stand it. This is 7 cycles so really want to see yours. I could not get the last to rust on it's own so I went back to my home made acid wash to get it rusting again.
The oil seem to soak in which is nice. I did not do the Tube...and in hindsight...
The gate did not turn out as nice but will soon have a layer of brass over it! I'm pleased w/ the hammer and overall finish.
This is to be a truck/boat hog gun so I sprayed 15 coats of clear poly over the wood to provide a thick...buffer zone.
I flat sanded #14 coat...and kind miss the orange peel finish. Funny,  the grain runs  180 to each other..from behind the forearm turns red and the butt turns blond.
I may tape off the grip zones and "Paint in" some fine sand..."non skid"
It still need some screws and a proper fitting but pad but I like it!
cw


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## Cknerr (Nov 29, 2009)

ooohhhh boy, that is looking good!
never thought of using sand for a grip. That would work on a working gun. Kinda nice looking rifle to leave in a PU or boat.  lol, (oops, maybe shouldn't have said that).

If I can get that Winny that stills needs an exorcism far enough along to day. I will  be making my humidity cabinet. Forgot and left the thermostat in the old one. Have no idea where to find one today that could handle 110vac for the heater/light bulb. Shoot, guess if it was easy, everyone would be doing it! 

That is coming along beautifully, now to shoot it. That ought to raise some eyebrows at the range!

Chris


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## seaweaver (Nov 29, 2009)

120vac?
that must have been a dinosaur...although I would think the old mercury switch types should handle a small fan and light.


Now...for the something new part...
Look at this:
http://www.pjsproducts.com/radocy.htm

The fella who told me about this says he made 12 cycles in a DAY and was DONE.

cw


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## Cknerr (Nov 30, 2009)

good guess, it was a mercury switch. With all the enviromental stuff going on, doubt I could find another one. Now I will have to use a step down transformer for a new thermostat and get a relay to turn the 110 off and on. The footprint for making all that has to be bigger then what I was able to find before. Less plastic, no relay, only a small amount of mercury gets in the way.

The stuff in the link works like cold bluing. Here is some I did. Needed it done in time for a show. Only had something like a day and a half. This took about 5 or 6 coatings - most of one day. The pictures below are the cold blued barrel and a slow rust blued like you are doing. Can you tell the differance? Kinda neat how the glare doesn't come off the highly polished metal, but comes off of everything else.
This is the end result:





a closer look:





and this should give it away:





The bluing on the Sako could be taken off if rubbed hard with just about anything. Looks gorgeous, but just about as useless as mammary glands on a bore hog! BTW, if you do need to use it for some reason, when all done put a little water containing baking soda onto the bluing. It will nuetralize the rusting and turns the color/tone a litle deeper.  Then add lots of oil to resist rusting. 


Time to go beat on the humidity cabinet. Almost built - I'll post pics when done.

Take care,
Chris


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