Thread: Hand me down Model 70

Fantastic project for a young fella. I would make one recommendation when doing the bluing to avoid disappointment. CLEANLINESS. Go way further than you think is reasonable. Once you have the parts finished to where you like, clean them all thoroughly with a good degreaser (I really like CRC brakeclean) and then do not touch them with bare hands. Use nitrile gloves, and change the gloves whenever they become contaminated before touching the parts again. Degrease all the parts a second time, then wipe them down with acetone. I specifically recommend acetone rather than any old alcohol as it is very good at removing fine oil films and other contaminants. Lacquer thinner is also a decent option if you have that on hand.

Once your parts are clean, do your best to keep them that way through the whole process, don't put them down on the bench, put them on a clean cloth, don't pick up a screwdriver or something with gloved hands and then pick up the parts.

Might seem over the top, but it pays off on the final product.

Preheating the parts with a heat gun can help depending on the steel, and I tend to leave the paste/solution on far longer than recommended, to the point it starts to grow a little "fur". I then burnish this off with a clean cloth or 0000 steel wool (degreased and washed with acetone). 5 or 6 cycles of this should have the parts looking mighty fine.

There is so much info on cold bluing out there and everyone has their own methods, many of which work extremely well. One thing that is universal is to have the parts absolutely clean.