Finishing the Rust Blue Job
 

Good Morning-

Thanks to all who helped me through the rust blue process on my VH barrels!

Based on my reference DHE, I now need to remove the rust blue finish from the muzzle, lump, breach face and all non visible faces of the dolls head.

The muzzle and some of the breach face was easy to clean up using 400 grit sandpaper. The rest of this is pretty fussy work for sand paper.

I'm thinking of Naval Jelly, but I'm worried about masking. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

Brian

No. Too much chance for things to go wrong. Just use care with the wmory paper on backing. Popsicle sticks work great.

I use naval jelly to clean the lug. I mask the areas around it with duck tape and then use the naval jelly. After the blue is removed, I finish up by very lightly polishing the area with 0000 stell wool. The results look nice but not new. This is what the lug should look like.

Agreed

I use the beauty parlor 400/600 grit finger nail files. About $1.50 each at local beauty supply places. An excellent gunsmith referred me to Sally's (Sally Beauty). I got strange looks when I went in there to buy hand fulls of the files. But they are perfect for removing the bluing. And every so often I clean the ends of my doubles with the 400/600 grit ones. He also taught me to use them to take down high spots when adding finish to wood, and you get a run that you did not see. Once they gum up they cut little, just enough to take the bluing off. Because they are flat they are perfect.

In grits from 600 on down to 100, two grits on each file.

https://www.sallybeauty.com/nails/ma...me%7CWhats_new

https://www.sallybeauty.com/nails/ma...me%7CWhats_new

Now.....I really think someone is looking over my shoulders :whistle:

Move your hand so we can see what you are doing a little clearer.

...and this is why I love this forum.

Brian

I can't dissagee. You have to use a lot of care with navel jelly and there is always a chance that some will get on the barrels and ruin the job. I've always done it this way but I think on the next group of barrels, I try popsicle sticks. It's probably faster and little chance for error.

Well, unless you get away from yourself with the emory paper.

The way I figure it, you have to finish up with paper anyway, so why not just eliminate a step and just stick with paper from the start. Just my thoughts.

Bright-Boys work best and are available at most industrial supply houses such as MSC or possibly Brownells . They leave a bright shiny surface and remove no measurable amount of metal. Last price I paid was $15 EACH.

Not sure a bright shiny surface is what I want. One reason that I used naval jelly is that it leaves a dull finish which I would brighten a touch with 0000 steel wool. No loss of metal and the lugs look like they should.

Tom if a Bright-Boy makes a surface to shiny for you, take your own advice and dull it down with 0000 steel wool or scotchbrite will even work better. As for naval jelly, you are much braver than myself. I don't want that stuff near a set of barrels I just paid several hundred dollars to have reblued!

No need to dull down, I prefer it not to be bright in the first place. I do all my own restoration work so for me, a mistake with navel jelly means only doing the job over, not losing money. Not sure why you would have to do anything to your barrels after getting them back from a restorer. If you do, the job was incomplete. In all of my years of doing barrels, I have never had a mistake with navel jelly. Not that it couldn't happen but it hasn't yet. And I don't expect that it will going forward. But I agree that Brian's method is safer and will probably try it with my next batch of barrels. But maybe not, I've been using navel jelly and 0000 to get the look I want, without removing metal, for many years.

Just one more thing. Any blemish caused by navel jelly can be fixed without taking the barrels down and doing the job all over again. I can re-rust blue the blemish and make it blend in with the rest of the finish. Not a big deal. I would do it the same way I would with original finish barrels that have bare spots. I don't remove original finish, just rust blue and blend with the original finish.

Tom, 2 points, one I polish my own barrels and do my own detail work including the bores. the bluer does the rust bluing, period. Secondly the fact that you do your own rust bluing which offers you options but doesn't offer a forum reader who just spent $500 for his reblued barrels those same options.

I responded to a question and told my method, pure and simple. It's as simple as that. Some may chose to use my method and some may chose to use the safer method that Brian uses. I would recommend that those without a lot of experience use Brian's method. It certainly is safer and the results are probably excellent. I'm sure they are or Brian wouldn't do it that way. The basics are the same but most restorers have their own techniques and methods. I certainly do.

If someone is paying $500 for a rust blue job, then the job should be complete and not something that has to be played with after the barrels are returned. If I was paying for a job and the lugs weren't properly treated, I would send it back for the job to be completed. I can't imagine a competent restorer not doing clean up after the job.

That is right Tom.

If your contractor for barrel bluing is worth his salt, they should come back to you with the proper areas polished off already, leaving you with nothing to do but put the barrels on your gun.

On page 29 of the current Parker Pages resides a pair of grade 7 barrels that haven't had any of the rust blue removed from the barrel lug. Wonder if all 3 sets are that way? That picture lens a new perspective to the current discussion.