Brad, when you say that you skip the lacquer step, are you referring to lacquering the bores? If so, how do you get the log wood blackening out of the bores?

Justin, see Brad's response on page 3. Very smart idea, I do not want to deal with the lacquer on the inside of the bores.

Oscars articles are in The double gun journal spring 2003, summer 1997 and Fall 1997.

I can only speak to what I do in rust bluing for plugging the bores. I use 36" lengths of 5/16" threaded rod through the bore with a rubber stopper on each end (with a hole drilled through them) and a washer/nut on each end holding the stoppers in tight. I buy the stoppers from my local Lowes. The hole in the rubber stoppers is drilled also 5/16" so the fit is tight around the rod. But there is enough still there for air to vent. I can always see bubbles coming out when in the water. The amount of water that is allowed in is minimal. I use the Mark Lees Express Blue which is very fast acting. I can do a set of barrels from white metal to finished in 5 hours. So I have no worry about water in the bores causing any issues. When I pull the plugs there is just water droplets in the bores which clean out nicely. However, if you are doing a slow rust process taking many days, I would not recommend allowing any water to sit in the bores.

I personally believe that once anyone uses Mark Lees, they will never go back to anything else. Especially if you are doing a lot of barrels. The results are just fantastic and the working time is so quick.

I can only speak in regards to anything from the point of my own experiences and I would not expect anyone to take it as law.

For etching, you will want to plug with separate stoppers (rubber or wood) that will not allow anything in.

Derek,
that was posted by Brian, not Brad. Brian was referring to boiling the rusted barrels in clean water. I too use the same stopper method he describes. But even with the stoppers, some water does enter the bores, which is no big deal where clean water is concerned. Boiling in dissolved log wood crystals is an entirely different proposition. I would be very concerned with any log wood dye getting into the bores. I used to prep my steel water traps by boiling in log wood crystals. It leaves a coarse and very tough black coating on the steel that would likely require filing to remove. A beaver trap set in a fast moving flowage over a dam can stay submerged in the flowing water for months and still retain its black coloring. I would be very hesitant to expose the bores of a fine double to log wood crystal dye without first knowing the effect of that and how to remove it.

Derek You might want to do some more research before you start. The process you are going to use for neutralizing the acid bath stops the etching process but dose nothing to stop the rusting process. It will continue to rust until you arrest the rust process and as far as I know (and I may be wrong) It will continue to rust till it is coated in oil. Brad uses an assemble line and steam to do barrels and he may be doing it from start to finish in a day. This greatly increases the speed at witch he can rust a set of barrels. That"s why I asked the question of him.

I would WAG that after a boil and card they would sit fine overnight. Nice and dry with the current state of finish locked in. Seems post etch would not be as good a place to pause? Just a guess since I have no experience doing it.

The only thing we do to prep Bores is to clean and polish. We use rubber plugs fitted with 3/16s plastic tubing. The tubing allows the bores to vent preventing pressure from blowing the plugs. Some finishers Lacquer the outside of the barrels as a final finish, Very bad idea. Burnished barrels will hold for 24 hours without rusting.

Brad

Is it okay to use a Black Steel Tank for slow blue rusting? I would imagine the tank would would develop rusting and dirty up the distilled water. Also the barrels would release debris into the water. Do you have change the water every boil?

No. As long as the barrels have been de-oiled it does not hurt the process if the water gets a little rusty. I typically change water once during the entire process.

Update
 

So I am onto my 11th cycle now and the barrels are coming along fairly well. I was hoping for a little bit better contrast by now, the photo enhances the contrast better than the eye. There are a couple of dark areas, but I will address those before the next cycle, otherwise for my first time, I am fairly happy with it.

the left barrel at the breech has been the biggest pain. For some reason it does not want to advance in contrast as the rest of the gun. There is also a blemish that keeps coming up with every cycle. I will address this with a bon ami paste before the next cycle. The paste really does an excellent job of lightening up dark areas but it also can take away the finish real quick as I have learned.

Going to do about 9 more cycles I think, diluting the solution as I go.