Rust Bluing Steel

[Sharps40]

Rust in the Garage

Monday evening. Second boil, second carding and tonight is third rust till I boil again on Tuesday evening.

Marlin soup cooking in the big tank in the Garage and the little parts cooking in the iron pot on the stove. Notice, the nice red rust that bloomed up on the parts with a 24 hour sit. I'll bet I have a lot more black than grey this cycle....lets see.

The small parts in the foreground have been boiled and carded with 0000 steel wool...see how much more black than grey they are? Success, a good even coat of black iron oxide is building on the surface...just gotta keep away from oils and waxes and sweat drips on the parts. Note the action, fresh out of the boiling tank...plenty of loose oxides but a good even layer, I'm sure it'll be much darker now than it was after the first boil and, I'm banking on fairly smooth and even finish.

I've carded the top of the action but not the barrel...thats what I'm looking for, even, satin, blacker than grey and no fingerprints. So far so good. The barrel appears to be blackening up a bit faster than the action....different alloy, different rates of color.

The parts laid out after an initial carding. Now most of the fluff is gone, a vigorous rub out to even up this layer and make sure I didn't miss a spot.

After the last rubbing with the 0000....looking just fine....in the dry cool winters it takes about 4 rust cycles to get to this point. I love summers in the south, its good for rust blueing.

A light coat of Pilkingtons, hang the parts and I'll check back on them in an hour or two...another light coat before bed and in the morning and we'll see how they look Tuesday evening after a third boil.

 

[Sharps40]

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[Sharps40]

In for the finish.

No inserts. This will be stickie. Less work for the mods to edit. Thanks.

 

[Sharps40]

Rust in the Garage

I've coated the gun 11 times to encourage a bloom of rust to develope, and boy howdy, did the heat and humidity help the process. I boiled twice today once before work and once after.

Here you can see the dark black of the loose oxides. A bit of promise for what is underneath. There is now a hint of silver in the loose oxides and I have learned to take this as a sign the blueing is finished. Further coating removes as much as it builds with little or no gain in color. If it has streaks or spots now, its too late, strip and start over.

The magtube shows much promise. Much more black and very smooth and consistent. I suppose the action and barrel will be much the same.

Ah success, the barreled action after a vigorous carding all over with 0000 steel wool, satin velvety and no spots.

The small parts after carding and a thorough wipe down with a bit of terry saturated with Rig +P and Hoppes 9 Oil....

The lever after similar treatment....

 

[Sharps40]

Rust in the Garage

And here, the end results of all the work, resting comfortably in a coating of that good Rig +P/Hoppes 9 oil. I'll let them all hang for a day while blueing screws and cleaning parts. After that, wax that good Marlin Walnut again and assemble for the final pix. A couple three days to go.

 

[Sharps40]

Rust in the Garage

I couldn't wait. Up at 6 am to look it over....it kinda assembled itself.

Use a shim when banging in the rear sight to protect the blueing on the barrel.

And, don't let it fall off the deck after carefully starting assembly with properly fitting screwdrivers. A break or scratch is a catastrophy at this point. Only scrapes and rust from honest hunting are allowed.

With all the basic guts cleaned, lightly oiled and installed/function checked.

 

[Sharps40]

Rust in the Garage

The view from the shoulder...

A handy sling swivel up front...I didn't drill the stock for the aft swivel....can't bring myself to do it.

And a few shots of the forend, all around.

 

[Sharps40]

Rust in the Garage

A tour of the breech and action.

 

[Sharps40]

Rust in the Garage

This Marauderesk project is completed. Thanks for watching. Gettin ready for the next project now.

 

[Sharps40]

Rust in a Cardboard Box


But anyway, waitin for stock finish to harden up a bit more, pulled the tang. As you recall, brought the wood down flush to it. Now, kissing the sides of the tang to match the left side and right side flats which are angled back. This will also eliminate any metal edges above wood in the future as the stock changes sizes from summer to winter. If the wood ever needs sanded again, its a simple matter to round over the top of the tang a bit to continue to have that wood grew around the metal look where all the edges of wood and metal meet neatly together with out sharp edges to snag fingers.

Its just warm enough with my trusty cheep damp box I can blue somma the small parts.