Erwan gave the definition but simply put, it means getting rid of the unwanted, loose rust that forms when a part is being browned.What is carding?
I was at the Alabama kentucky Longrifle Show last weekend, A guy from Fl (Mike Raybern) had the most beautiful Kibler Colonial kits both finished and in the white. The finished rifles were rust blued and the best overall finish I have see so far. He was kind enough to explain the process to me, I had heard it before but it was nice to hear it from a guy who had done it a bunch of times.
I have done 4 cold blue finished guns, two left blue, two rubbed back to gray. The two left blue have been OK so far but they are mostly closet queens, I believe I could just about wipe the gray off the others with a rough cloth, it isn't durable at all.
My current build will be rust blued when I get to that stage.
Mike, if you read this PM me, I know a guy really interested in buying a finished Kibler Colonial or on in the white.
There is a formula in Greeners book THE GUN. I made a pint of it years ago and hve done several guns. I no longer have the formula. You will have to figure out what some of the chemicals are called nowadays.Tell us where to find that formula or post it please Mike
A lot of cold blues only lay down a thin copper plate and then color that. These are not durable at all. Some of the newer cold blues like Oxpho blue and Van's actually color the metal and are fairly durable but do not color by a controlled rusting. Both do require attention to surface prep and many users polish to too fine a degree for best application. The best are the controlled rusting blues and they really don't require that much equipment just a long trough and a method of heating water in it to a boil.Theres lots of good information here. I had a few questions though? What makes cold bluing non-durable? Or isn’t it? I have a hard time thinking if grows or promotes black rust like hot bluing does, whats the difference? Is it depth of penetration? Just hard to get on evenly? Or is there more than one type of black rust?
Highly recommend this book (if you can find a copy), Author's name is Angier. I used this may years ago when teaching Chemistry, great labs came from it.Another good book on blueing & browning is called FIREARM BLUEING & BROWNING by R.H. Angrier. It has a lot of info on equipment and techniques...
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