Thread: birchwood cold bluing turning to rust one week later

I have been trying to touch up a rust spot on a shotgun of mine with cold bluing, I was wanting to get oxpho blue as it's supposed to be the best on rust but no one seems to stock it and the retailers sold me some superblue instead.
Anyway I used brake cleaner to remove the oil and went over the rust with a wire brush first then cleaned again and applied the bluing solution.
Something I noticed was that it didn't really make the steel very dark at all like I saw in the videos.
I was told you need to rinse with water straight after to complete the chemical reaction, so did all that.
But the finish was rather poor looking. Instructions said to repeat the process until you get the desired results, but each coat seems to undo what I had already applied.
I lost count how many times I went over but in the end I got it good enough I thought, but it still was noticeably lighter.
What's more annoying is it damages the good bluing around the affected area.
Applying gun oil makes it blend in better but even with all the oil on it and the thing rusted really bad after a week and pulling it out of the safe!

Any ideas whats gone wrong?

One piece of advice, DON'T use steel based products to clean up, leaves tiny pieces of wire to rust. Use stainless wire pot cleaner.

I've used those bluing products to do touch ups and a whole rifle, I've never had results like that?
I rinse with hot water when finished, apply oil and all is good.

Originally Posted by Old_School

I have been trying to touch up a rust spot on a shotgun of mine with cold bluing, I was wanting to get oxpho blue as it's supposed to be the best on rust but no one seems to stock it and the retailers sold me some superblue instead.
Anyway I used brake cleaner to remove the oil and went over the rust with a wire brush first then cleaned again and applied the bluing solution.
Something I noticed was that it didn't really make the steel very dark at all like I saw in the videos.
I was told you need to rinse with water straight after to complete the chemical reaction, so did all that.
But the finish was rather poor looking. Instructions said to repeat the process until you get the desired results, but each coat seems to undo what I had already applied.
I lost count how many times I went over but in the end I got it good enough I thought, but it still was noticeably lighter.
What's more annoying is it damages the good bluing around the affected area.
Applying gun oil makes it blend in better but even with all the oil on it and the thing rusted really bad after a week and pulling it out of the safe!

Any ideas whats gone wrong?
Attachment 221364

You need to buff it with fine steel wool when done and put numerous coats. You need to wipe and rub the applied area with water (I use mums makeup remover cotton pads for this to remove the salts ) I apply the solution with cotton buds.

Might be the type of solution you’re using. I use birch wood Casey. Look to me like it’s still working (and rusting) or wasn’t dry when oiled?

Rinse with lots of water - I usually start with a jug of water with a tablespoon of baking soda to neutralise the acid, followed by warm tap water to dissolve and wash away any remaining salts.

Bunnings sells synthetic steel wool in grades up to OOOO which is a super fine finish, that leave any particles that can rust. Highly recommend this instead if actual steel wool.

Im with tetawa - dont ever use a steel based product, like steel wool, to polish/buff out the affected area. Or sandpaper etc either! I've used Birchwood Casey a lot over the years and never had anything like that happen. Once I've applied the bluing solution, I give it a few minutes and then rinse it with really hot water, out of the electric jug. Give it some time to cool down, then repeat. Do it enough times, using really hot water each time, and it should get darker and darker. But it will never get rich enough to actually match the original blue. Once you are satisfied with the depth of the colour, keep the oil up to it, maybe even daily, for a few weeks. And then regularly after that cos it just seems to drink the stuff.
Blued a complete single barrel shotgun many years ago with repeated coats of Birchwood Casey. Came up real nice. I think that shotguns still going, but definitely has lost some of its colour now.

00 grade scotch-brite scourer pad. about 2x as thick as human hair and polymer based.
I got mine from an artists supply shop years back. leaves no ferrous residue so no rust.

As mentioned....rinse with hot water or else it'll rust. Must be neutralised.

Have never used water, just spray with Inox, doesn't rust.

Not only is rinsing with hot water needed to neutralize the residue after allowing to dry and carding with wire wool or 3M pad, but warming the part with boiling water before blueing helps get a deeper finish. The secret is absolute cleanliness of the metal before application of the solution. I use acetone to degrease and allow the boiling water rinse to evaporate before applying the blue with a cotton bud. A perfect match is difficult to achieve and large areas were never intended for the blue, just touch-ups on small areas, screw heads etc.

@gonetropo & @gundoc - Something like this?
https://www.bunnings.co.nz/norton-wo...white_p0274321

I have had one bad experience after many successful touch-ups. I decided to wash the part in detergent and water ( instead of just water) to neutralize the acid after half an hour. Disaster ! horrible rusted reaction that was very hard to remove

without seeing the product i cant say yes or no. i bought mine from an artists shop where it was used to treat canvas before oil painting.

Originally Posted by Bol Tackshin

@gonetropo & @gundoc - Something like this?
https://www.bunnings.co.nz/norton-wo...white_p0274321

Yes, that should be OK.

Only thing I'd suggest is go for the finest you can find - replacing 0000 is ideal (I think that's purple grade?).

I know everyone is saying don't use steel wool, but I don't find any issue with using it provided you clean it properly and oil it after neutralizing the chemicals in the mix.

I suspect that if your product isn't colouring the surface of the steel there is a contamination issue or a coating of some sort interfering with the chemical reaction. All I can suggest is find a piece of mild steel, clean it back to known bare steel (i.e. you know there's nothing contaminating the steel) and try a few patch spots. Use one with the treat, neutralise, clean, treat method - a second with the technique of multiple coats then treat, another as a one treatment clean and no oil and another as your 'control' cleaning it back and doing nothing just to see how the product works in different treatment styles to get an idea of the best way to go forward with it on your barrel.

Edit - just thought of another possibility, unlikely but if your steel has higher percentages of some of the alloying materials it might be very difficult to get a proper colour match. I know with one Rem 700 barrel I had slimmed and threaded to fit an overbarrel suppressor I already had, Dean Maisey chucked on a couple of coats of cold blue which really did nada to match the sandblasted oxide finish that Remington used. I had to do multiple coats, not cleaning between (product on product technique) to get it to take the colour but finally got there after about a week. Painful...