There are several types of bluing. I’ll give a brief overview.
Rust bluing is the oldest type of bluing around. Using a bluing solution to rust the outer surface of the metal, the technique requires hot water, bluing solution, and time. Basically, you dip the part, let it rust for a bit, brush it, repeat a few times. See Cold blue below...
Belgian bluing is similar to rust bluing but is quicker and doesn’t rust the metal as much.
Fire bluing is considered the most stunning and beautiful finish you’ll ever see on a gun. There are two techiques for fire bluing, one that involves dipping and one that does not.
Hot blue is a couple of different techniques. One “table top” version is simply a hot acid bath dip that blues the metal. Another is again, a hot acid bath dip that is part of a multi step process, you dip, then dip to get tone.
What you are doing is cold blue. Few people do cold blue correctly and most companies that make cold bluing solutions really don’t explain what has to be done well. Most of the time they promote the product as a touch up.
When you cold blue a gun, depending on the solution you are using, you’ll put 1 part solution to X part of pure, clean filtered water. Tap water will not work. You dip the gun in and let it sit for approximately 3 minutes. pull it out and let the gun hang in the air. A thin film of surface rust will appear. The time it takes is totally dependant on the solution you use. If it’s uneven or splotchy, you’ve got contaminates on the gun or in the solution. If it’s pretty even, the wipe it off with a clean dry rag. you’ll see a faint darker color under the rust. Make sure you get all the rust off and I mean all the rust. Then repeat the process. You’ll keep doing this over and over until you get the desired depth and color. Note, if you want a nice glossy reflective finish, metal preperation is a must. you need to have a nice polished piece to get that finish.
I usually farm my bluing out here. We parkerize on site as it’s an easier and more resilant finish. Parkerizing also works quite well with hard water.
If you’re using perma blue, be aware that cold blue is tedious and slow. The finish is usually as you say so-so. You can make it look REAL nice but it’ll take you a few tries. The biggest thing to do before applying the bluing solution is to rinse the gun and parts in acetone to remove all traces of oils and dirt.
Hope this helps some.
Thanks!
I have a quart of acetone up on a shelf, but unless I can use it outside, I don’t open it in the house... me and acetone don’t mix!
So I settled on the isopropanol and it seemed to work pretty good. I could see a little bit of dark color the first time I wiped it down, but the second and third wiping came out clean.
It’ll never be factory, and I’m not aiming to sell it, just trying things out. I mean I don’t want it to rust anymore, and it’s nice if it looks good. So that’s ok.