Quote:
Originally Posted by Bruce Day
I am aware that both Brad and Dale Edmonds have redone many Damascus barrels that were first attempted by others.
One set I saw was never going to turn out well because acid etching had created such a difference between the steel and iron elements. A substantial amount of material needed to be removed.
Good luck.
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I tried doing Damascus and gave up completely. I do use Mark Lee's Express Blue on fluid steel blued barrels and like Brian, I can do a set, once prepared, in five hours or less, one coat boiled right after another and finished in an afternoon. I am very happy with the results, but learned to boil them several times before starting the process to remove oil. It comes from nowhere and ruins a job (streaked) right as you are finished if you don't.
But I did learn a few tricks; one is that if you do see oil floating on the top of the water, one floods the tank washing the oil over the side. Pulling them out through the oil will streak/ruin your bluing job. After streaking a few sets I also learned not to start over from scratch, but just to take the oil streaks out and let them "catch up" in subsequent coats.
But I am an admitted amateur.