Dillon W.
40 Cal
Hey y’all. Is it possible to fire blue a barrel? If so, will it hurt the barrel to do so?
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Fire Bluing
- Thread starter Dillon W.
- Start date
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I'm not sure if this is what you mean but I once used cold blueing on a barrel, then I gently heated it up and down with a propane torch. Hit it with some steel wool.
It actually came out more brown than blue but it looked ok.
It actually came out more brown than blue but it looked ok.
Dillon W.
40 Cal
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Don't know how something as large as a barrel will turn out but good luck with your attempt.
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Hi,
Yes, it can scale the bore, which may have to be lapped out. Generally, when a barrel is fire blued the bore is packed with something like charcoal to eliminate exposure to air, which causes the scale. The other problem for fire bluing a barrel is controlling the heat and doing it evenly. Usually the barrel is packed in hot coals within some sort of trough or box. Scaling the bore probably does not present much of a problem for thick walled rifle barrels as the bore may not reach sufficient heat to oxidize. However, it is very hard to prevent scaling on thin walled fowler barrels. That said, the Spanish who made the finest and thinnest walled fowler barrels in the world during the 17th and 18th centuries usually fire blued their barrels, which highlighted the gold inlayed maker and city marks. However, they lapped the bores afterward. There are two kinds of heat bluing of which I am aware and have done. The first is simple temper bluing in which the iron or steel part is highly polished and then simply heated to 580-600 degrees F to impart an electric indigo blue color. That bluing is very colorful but not very robust and it fades over time as well as wears off. The second kind of heat bluing is charcoal bluing in which the polished and degreased part or barrel is packed in charcoal and heated to about 900 degrees F for up to 3 hours. It is then cooled until it can be handled and rubbed with rottenstone and linseed oil. Then it is degreased again, packed in charcoal and heated again, after which it is polished again with linseed oil and rottenstone. This produces a deep and translucent blue color that is much more robust than temper bluing.
dave
Yes, it can scale the bore, which may have to be lapped out. Generally, when a barrel is fire blued the bore is packed with something like charcoal to eliminate exposure to air, which causes the scale. The other problem for fire bluing a barrel is controlling the heat and doing it evenly. Usually the barrel is packed in hot coals within some sort of trough or box. Scaling the bore probably does not present much of a problem for thick walled rifle barrels as the bore may not reach sufficient heat to oxidize. However, it is very hard to prevent scaling on thin walled fowler barrels. That said, the Spanish who made the finest and thinnest walled fowler barrels in the world during the 17th and 18th centuries usually fire blued their barrels, which highlighted the gold inlayed maker and city marks. However, they lapped the bores afterward. There are two kinds of heat bluing of which I am aware and have done. The first is simple temper bluing in which the iron or steel part is highly polished and then simply heated to 580-600 degrees F to impart an electric indigo blue color. That bluing is very colorful but not very robust and it fades over time as well as wears off. The second kind of heat bluing is charcoal bluing in which the polished and degreased part or barrel is packed in charcoal and heated to about 900 degrees F for up to 3 hours. It is then cooled until it can be handled and rubbed with rottenstone and linseed oil. Then it is degreased again, packed in charcoal and heated again, after which it is polished again with linseed oil and rottenstone. This produces a deep and translucent blue color that is much more robust than temper bluing.
dave
There was a video, or many pictures of someone showing how.
Charcoal Blueing a Barrel
http://www.markelliottva.com/wordpress/2016/09/charcoal-bluing-barrel/
Charcoal Blueing a Barrel
http://www.markelliottva.com/wordpress/2016/09/charcoal-bluing-barrel/
stephenprops1
45 Cal.
Years ago a friend of mine tried buling a pistol barrel with fire. It did not look good.
I can't imagine that heating up a barrel like that would do it any good.
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Hi,
The temper bluing shown in the first video is done much better with a heat treating oven if the part is large, which can assure the part is evenly colored and kept at the proper temperature for a little time. Heat bluing with a torch works fine for small parts like screw heads as shown below.
The video on charcoal bluing mentioned that the final blue was "fairly even" but came out of the coals very splotchy. That is because they did not heat the barrel long enough or give it enough cycles to even out the color. Below are parts charcoal blued as they would be on a late flint English rifle.
The blue is even with an almost mirror quality.
dave
The temper bluing shown in the first video is done much better with a heat treating oven if the part is large, which can assure the part is evenly colored and kept at the proper temperature for a little time. Heat bluing with a torch works fine for small parts like screw heads as shown below.
The video on charcoal bluing mentioned that the final blue was "fairly even" but came out of the coals very splotchy. That is because they did not heat the barrel long enough or give it enough cycles to even out the color. Below are parts charcoal blued as they would be on a late flint English rifle.
The blue is even with an almost mirror quality.
dave
