Gunsmithing Basics (Cold Bluing)

[@blacksmokejoe5827]

Never double dip in the container if you run into contaminants its now in all of the blue ... Use an applicator pump bottel or a amount in a cup & discard. Sharing is knowledge. Thank you keep up good work!

[@JacobBerry-lo3bm]

Great advice! It’s appreciated!

[@JacobBerry-lo3bm]

Thank you sir! Appreciate your knowledge and sharing your experiences! Your shot gun looked great there! Hope you’re well and enjoying your guns! God bless!

[@davidortiz173]

Just found your channel, Alaskan ballistic sent me your way whenever an old gunsmith talks I listen!

[@45AlfaCharliePapa]

Welcome aboard! I agree, always like listening to old gunsmiths and knew he would be a great addition to the channel. Here is to more videos with him when I go down and see him again. Thanks for watching.

[@marksimone5609]

Disregard my other comment! Stumbled across this gold mine. Once again thanks for for sharing your knowledge with us all.

[@45AlfaCharliePapa]

Thanks for watching. Glad you found it. Hoped this helped.

[@paulmazan4909]

@UbuntoO The worse the rust is the coarser you have to go to remove it. If it is surface rust meaning the metal underneath is not pitted 4/0 steel wool and a good oil will remove it (I generally use Brownells Rust Preventative #2 but others will work). In your case, you said it was extremely rusty. If it is really bad and the surface is pitted you can use wet/dry sandpaper down to 60 grit and slowly work your wat through finer and finer grits until the pits are gone. In extreme cases I will normally draw file the piece (See the 45 Alpha Charlie Papa video on Tools and their uses part 4 in the series). I won't lie to you it is hard work and a slow process. If you are skilled with them you can use power tools. The problem with quick and dirty is that you can screw up in a big hurry and create more problems than you are solving.

[@Badbri2A]

Great videos.thanks.im doing an online gunsmithing school,trying to learn as much as I can..

[@45AlfaCharliePapa]

Right on! Thanks for watching.

[@skipallen3309]

Close up of the part (and results) would be nice!

[@Saintlawrence100]

Thank you…I learned a lot from this… 💯🌟

[@45AlfaCharliePapa]

Glad it was helpful!

[@THEBOSS-vn2ky]

I had a 10/22 Barrel laying around. I just tried to powdercoat it. looks great awesome happy. Something different.🤔🤣🤠✌. Yes it does Shoot Straight.

[@paraplegichistoricalsports5700]

What type of sand paper or wool should I use to get an old Ivory Johnson single barrel ready to cold blue? And thank you for sharing your knowledge because until I watched this video, I wouldn't dare to try to re-blue my heirloom!

[@paulmazan4909]

like to use cloth-backed abrasive because I can tear long thin strips off the sheet to get into small areas like around triggerguards and they resist breaking better than paper backed abrasives. As far as grits are concerned, what you start and end with depends on what you have to work with and what you want the finished piece to look like. If the gun is really banged up with a lot of heave scratches in the metal you might have to file them to level the edges of metal that have been displaced. To work all the bangs and dings out you might have to start with 60-80 grit and sand until you have eliminated everything but the scratch lines from the abrasive. Then you go to the next finer grit and sand until you have removed all the scratch lines from the previous grit. You continue to work down to the finish you want. You might end up with 120 grit if a "Hunter" finish is the goal. If a mirror-like, high gloss finish is the goal you have to keep polishing through 220 300 and 400 grits until the metal looks like a mirror. I promise you every scratch, ding and imperfection will pop out and yell "LOOK AT ME!" once it is blued. Doing the job by hand is a lot of hard work and it takes hours and hours but, it can be done if you have the patience. I would encourage you to learn on something other than a family heirloom. After you get comfortable with the process and have made mistakes practicing on things you don't treasure is the time to tackle that special project.

[@donavonrobbins1908]

I have an Ithaca Double which I believe to be soft soldered. I don't want to hit tank them and risk losing the rib or block. Have you done any experimenting with mildly heating super blue for a more durable finish? Thanks.

[@tonynapoli5549]

Thank you

[@santabanta6064]

Can 40crmo seamless alloy steel pipe be use for 9mm barrel?

[@dansteven1419]

just to confirm, you have had great results with BC SuperBlue w/o heating the parts first? I have been seeing that others "insist" you need to heat the part with BC SuperBlue, the instructions don't call for it. I had good results w/o heat, but was wondering if there was a higher standard to achieve with that product. Thanks,

[@donavonrobbins1908]

I've been seeing that some tend to preheat the metal is they claim the the blue will soak in better to the heat expanded metal.Not a lot of heat though.Some warming also eliminates any possible condensation. I don't know how Super blue would react to a real hot barrel in the open air. I've thought about trying it, but it might be boil off or cook off and cause streaks?

[@memeier9894]

I cold blued a pistol, can you tell me why the blue wiped right off after two or three days? Needless to say I took it back down to bare metal and then sent it off to be hot blued.

[@paulmazan4909]

The cold blue never interacted with the surface of the metal. Oil or dirt on the surface will cause this as will some steel alloys. There are steels, especially stainless steels, that simply won't take a cold blue. In bluing cleanliness is essential. Spray the part liberally with carb or brake cleaner while wearing rubber gloves. Wipe it down with a clean paper towel or rag. Never touch it with bare hands and try rebluing it. If that fails try a different brand of cold blue. If all else fails you did the right thing, send it off to a bluing shop to be hot blued.