Do the Casey Birchwood Cold Bluing kits stink? Or am I just dumb?

[K79540]

Mill Creek Gun Works in Woodstock Ga.

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Thank you!

 

[BLIP]

I conducted a little experiment between 3 products and the Casey's the best initially but did not last as long as the Brownells. The third product was liquid Nu Blu purchased on eBay and that stuff was absolutely terrible

 

[summer44]

It works well if you follow the instructions to the letter.
The main thing is polishing and degreasing.
I heat the part with a heat gun a might before sponge brushing the bluing on the part.

Heating before each coat makes a world of difference

 

[Rabbit2047]

And yes.... Literally Cold Blue stinks. And there is only one product I have found to remove that pungent odor.

I am somewhat grateful for the stank though, cause it has kept me from buying some antique guns that were refinished and advertised as original. If you ever hang out at my gun show tables and see someone trying to sell me a gun, one of the first things I do is sniff it to determine if it had been "Aged"

 

[Blc628]

Rust blueing is inexpensive, and the end result is great...but boy is it time consuming. Just finished doing this Walker.

 

[Old_School]

So I'm trying to refinish a surplus CZ75 Compact. After spending forever and a day removing the 'polycoat' finish and another eternity removing the melanite finish underneath the polymer coating, I finally have something that (I think) is untreated steel. It needs a little more work to get a polished finish, but I'm not terribly worried about that.

My problem is that I've done some spot tests with a CB Cold Bluing kit and the finish is only barely darker than the steel. I've done multiple 'coats' and it doesn't really get much darker after the 2nd.

My question is this - has anyone had really dramatic results with one of these kits? Or are the results always going to be subtle? At least knowing that I can decide whether to keep troubleshooting or to move onto another process. (The test spot was the bottom of the trigger guard).
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Depending on the steel's metallurgy, I've had rifles I had to pickle first with a dilute HCl solution. Eventually, Brownell's Oxphoblue did the job.

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[BLIP]

Rust blueing is inexpensive, and the end result is great...but boy is it time consuming. Just finished doing this Walker.

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Can I ask what solution you used

 

[Blc628]

Can I ask what solution you used

Brownells Classic Rust Blue

https://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-...ng-chemicals/classic-rust-blue-prod22820.aspx

 

[Old_School]

Brownells Classic Rust Blue

https://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-...ng-chemicals/classic-rust-blue-prod22820.aspx

Looks great! I'll have to try that.

Back in the early 70s, I used Herters Belgian Blue on a 94 Swedish Mauser. It was really a rust blue process and it did a fantastic job, although it required a number of iterations of boiling, applying, boiling, carding. When I sold it 35 years later, it still looked as good as the day I blued it.

I see Brownells (Arts Gun Shop) now carries it. I assume it's still the same solution.

https://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-...y-bluing-chemicals/belgian-blue-prod7604.aspx

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[Blc628]

Looks great! I'll have to try that.

Back in the early 70s, I used Herters Belgian Blue on a 94 Swedish Mauser. It was really a rust blue process and it did a fantastic job, although it required a number of iterations of boiling, applying, boiling, carding. When I sold it 35 years later, it still looked as good as the day I blued it.

I see Brownells (Arts Gun Shop) now carries it. I assume it's still the same solution.

https://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-...y-bluing-chemicals/belgian-blue-prod7604.aspx

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sounds pretty similar to what i did. A pint would last several lifetimes. I might have used a tablespoon of solution.