Naval jelly?

Hey guys, I'm going to be finishing my Fusil soon, and can't decide between browning it or putting naval jelly on it. What does the naval jelly look like in the end?

Thanks,

Ben :thumbsup:

Click on my sig pic and you will see a gun with all metal parts finished with navel jelly.

Thanks. That's a beautiful gun!

Two more,
http://www.nimrodsplace.com/nefowler23.html
http://www.nimrodsplace.com/nesquirrelrifle19.html

Those are two real beauties Swampy. :thumbsup:

Yeah, I'm rather fond of them and hope to be adding to them here shortly. As far as navel jelly goes, I much prefer the finish over browning myself. Although I wouldn't mind the antiqueing kind of brown finish like Mike and several others do. Just not into the even chocolate brown finish. The navel jelly is good for a gun thats being shown as newly made.

Beautiful guns swampy. I like :thumbsup:

Swampy,

Thanks for the pictures showing the naval jelly finish. Beautiful guns. Can you walk us thru your method for applying the Naval Jelly to get that finish?

Swampy can answer for sure, but I think Roy Stroh built those guns.

Here is a completely different texture and slightly different color that uses naval jelly. I rust the barrel for 2 to 3 days in a sweat box so I get some deep pitting in it. I usually put 3 or 4 coats of LMF brown solution on during the time in the box.

Then I sand is all down to pretty close to where I'm through all the rust. Then apply naval jelly to eat the rest of it off. It usually takes several applications and washings with water and scotch brite pads. Then I rub the barrel with steel wool to really clean it up. At this point, the barrel has that light grey color that the naval jelly leaves. I continue by rubbing in some cold blue and then steel wooling back till I get the color I like. I often will do that step
2 or 3 times to get the look I'm after. It is deffinitely not some people's cup of tea but I like the look. Here's an example:

blockhouseben said:

Hey guys, I'm going to be finishing my Fusil soon, and can't decide between browning it or putting naval jelly on it. What does the naval jelly look like in the end?

Thanks,

Ben :thumbsup:

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You're seeing some beautiful guns here Ben, and I agree that naval jelly really looks nice.

You didn't ask for it, but I'll pass along one insight about using the stuff:

If you decide to use it to remove bluing in preparation for browning with LMF solution, it's not as simple as that. For whatever reason, the "grayed" metal won't take the browning. You may have removed the bluing, but you also have to shed the gray before the LMF will work right.

I'm working on an iron mounted flinter right now, and I had originally planned to brown it. After looking at Swampie's guns, it's going to be gray rather than brown.

Capt. Fred,

Thanks for your post. Great looking finish in that picture, but I'm looking for more of that "new finish" grey, not an antiqued or otherwised pitted look, the method for which you described in great detail. I have a GM barrel that is in the white after draw filing and several grits of emory up to 600. From there I'm wondering how to get that consistent grey finish via naval jelly as pictured in the guns posted by Swampy. I'm assuming you cover the barrel with the stuff, wait a while then clear it off. I'm hoping to get specifics such as how long to leave on, how to remove and how many applications.

As Capt said those guns were built by Roy. I believe he covers the metal parts with the jelly and lets it sit for 15 minutes, cleans the the metal off and inspects it. If the metal is not completely grey he repeats the procedure if I remember right but best to ask him.

What does the naval jelly look like in the end?

Thanks,

Click to expand...

Here is how my Deer Hunter looked after doing the naval jelly treatment to it;





I did this per the Karwelis method. He described his method to me and it goes like this. I sanded and filed the old finish off (cold blue) and then applied the naval jelly. The way Karwelis told me to do it was to thoroughly cover the metal and let it hang for an hour or so all the while misting it with water to keep it from drying out. I did this twice then polished it with fine steel wool. I like it on the Deer Hunter but am not sure it will go on any other guns.

I expected it to go bad with stains and rust after being used a few times but it did not! Even with a few trips out in the rain.

You said you are building a "fusil", which covers a lot of ground. Have you thought about a fine polish out of the metal and then leaving it white?

I expected it to go bad with stains and rust after being used a few times but it did not! Even with a few trips out in the rain.

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That is true but you still have to make sure the gun is wiped down and not allowed to sit there with nothing on it. :v

I've done a couple of knives just with the naval jelly and I did it just a Swampy described. Put it on and leave it for a while, rinse and repeat. It was quite a while ago so I'm not certain, but I think I left it on for 1/2 hour or so and it took a few coats to get a nice even grey.

Swampy said:

As Capt said those guns were built by Roy. I believe he covers the metal parts with the jelly and lets it sit for 15 minutes, cleans the the metal off and inspects it. If the metal is not completely grey he repeats the procedure if I remember right but best to ask him.

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Thats pretty much it.. It may appear to be a bit uneven at first, but a few applications usually takes care of that. :thumbsup:

Gentlemen,

Thanks for the info on using naval jelly to get the grey finish. Time to head on down to the basement shop and try it out.

OMG what cal.? what a HOLE!!!!!!!!!

:haha: Which one? I think you mean the pic of the muzzle of my .58? That pic really was to show the front sight which was done like they did up here in New England.

Nice work!!