Results From Bluing Class in Trinidad Colorado

[Fr Mulcahy]

Beautiful work! Love that open gun.
We had a Smith here in Ponca that did bluing for years. Had customers from all over the world.
He finally quit when it became more expensive to properly dispose of the chemicals than he was making for profit.
OSA had a former member that was a master of rust bluing before passing away. Honeybee did an amazing job on a 1928 Model 12 Winchester 12 ga I restored from a junk gun to like new condition. His rust blue was the final part of the restoration.

Thanks for the kind words and for the information.

We are going to set up our home shop for rust bluing. But not caustic bluing due to the chemicals.

I have seen good results from rust bluing at Murray State. It was fun to see all of the gun parts from the class hanging in the room.

 

[Fr Mulcahy]

Beautiful work! Love that open gun.
We had a Smith here in Ponca that did bluing for years. Had customers from all over the world.
He finally quit when it became more expensive to properly dispose of the chemicals than he was making for profit.
OSA had a former member that was a master of rust bluing before passing away. Honeybee did an amazing job on a 1928 Model 12 Winchester 12 ga I restored from a junk gun to like new condition. His rust blue was the final part of the restoration.

By the way, that open gun was the first 1911 that my wife ever made, back in 2019. I'll post some shots of the lightening cuts that she made on the slide.

 

[dennishoddy]

Thanks for the kind words and for the information.

We are going to set up our home shop for rust bluing. But not caustic bluing due to the chemicals.

I have seen good results from rust bluing at Murray State. It was fun to see all of the gun parts from the class hanging in the room.

My dad and I did a hot blue on my first gun that was old when bought. H&R M-48 Topper. It had taken on a brown patina.
We followed all the instructions and it looked great, but a few years later, reverted to the brown patina once more. It remains there 40 some years later.

 

[OK Corgi Rancher]

The sources are reliable; me, not so much. What I heard was a general warning from them regarding Kimber and MIM parts, without going into details on what the specific Kimber parts are MIM.

Like I said in the first paragraph of my previous message, for this pistol, I would contact Kimber first and see what they recommend.

Does anyone here have experience with bluing MIM parts? If so, I would like to hear how they turned out.

That makes more sense. There's nothing wrong with MIM parts when it's done right. Nearly all 1911 makers use, or have used, MIM parts at one time or another.

Some Kimber MIM parts did have issues taking the KimPro finish and they'd likely not do well with bluing.

 

[clintbailey]

@Fr Mulcahy did she happen to know a guy in Trinidad with last name of Hadaway? Think he was an instructor at that gunsmith school at one time.

 

[Fr Mulcahy]

@Fr Mulcahy did she happen to know a guy in Trinidad with last name of Hadaway? Think he was an instructor at that gunsmith school at one time.

No, she did not hear mention of him.

It's a good school. She's planning on going back next summer.

 

[clintbailey]

No, she did not hear mention of him.

It's a good school. She's planning on going back next summer.

Ok. I met Lee (Hadaway) at Raton last week, he has a shop in Trinidad where he does some fine work turning lever guns into takedown versions. "The Arms Room" is the name, check it out if you get a chance.

 

[mr ed]

Thanks for the kind words and for the information.

We are going to set up our home shop for rust bluing. But not caustic bluing due to the chemicals.

I have seen good results from rust bluing at Murray State. It was fun to see all of the gun parts from the class hanging in the room.

The most important things are a good respirator and an high volume exhaust system with sealed motor if you can get it.
Also fumes will eat shingles and rust anything metal.
I survived bluing for decades because of the great exhaust system I built.
All my fellow Tulsa gunsmiths died of complications brought on by breathing fumes. Honeybee, Earl House, Joe Maccool, Steve Balliet and others.

 

[jstaylor62]

Murray State has bluing capabilities, but their chemicals are usually contaminated so you get purple instead of black.

What is your time reference for Murray State bluing issue?

 

[Fr Mulcahy]

What is your time reference for Murray State bluing issue?

Summer of 2022.

And comments from their students.

Hopefully, it's better now.