I was asked if I would generate an essay - complete with pictures - on the process I recently learned from j0e_bl0ggs of "blacking" gun metal. (See here http://thehunterslife.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15816 for the original thread.) I wrestled around with a few options and finally decided that I might as well kill as many birds with this "one stone" as I could, so I decided to start a project (another one ) that I have been postponing for a while. I will use the "refurbishment" of an old rolling block I had planned to cannibalize for its action as the vehicle for this exercise.

I don't know the manufacturer, but I know it's neither Remington or Husqvarna. It has a non-damascus barrel chambered in 16 ga. It's 'been around the block', and isn't "pretty". I got it from Buffalo Arms http://www.buffaloarms.com/Detail.aspx?PROD=163213&TERM=rolling%20block where they say they are Remingtons made by Husqvarna. I doubt it. They have neither Remington or Husqvarna markings on them, and I have other rolling blocks that have Remington or Husqvarna on them. This piece is MUCH cruder than either the Remington or Husqvarna. If they were made by Husqvarna, they were made by 'apprentices'.

The idea is to start from scratch with a "project" and show the entire process from beginning to end with pictures and explanations. Here are the "before" pictures. I am going to be very thorough with them because this will be the last we see of them in this state, and it will be helpful I think to compare the "before" with the "after".

The 'whole shebang': PHOTO #1


The mostly disassembled action: PHOTO #2


The right side of the receiver: PHOTO #3


The top of the receiver: PHOTO #4


The left side of the receiver: PHOTO #5
]

The bottom of the receiver: PHOTO #6


Here is the trigger assembly from the right side: PHOTO #7


The trigger assembly from the left side: PHOTO #8


The forward part of the trigger assembly from the top: PHOTO #9


And the rear part of the trigger assembly from the top: PHOTO #10


The disassembled trigger assembly: PHOTO #11a


And: PHOTO #11b


Here are the pins for the breech-block and hammer along with the screws that attach the trigger assembly to the receiver: PHOTO #12

I'll be discussing those pins some more.

Here is the hammer: PHOTO #13


And here is the breech-block: PHOTO #14


Here is the breech-block with the firing pin and retaining screw removed: PHOTO #15


I will polish every external piece to as close to a "mirror" finish as the particular part will take. I suspect that the breech-block and hammer may not polish as highly as the receiver does. I don't think the barrel will either, but I haven't made up my mind whether the barrel will be part of the final project or not.

Which brings me to a critical first hurdle: Removing the barrel. There is little doubt that this barrel is the original, and equally little doubt that it has ever been off of the receiver. Getting it off of the receiver so I can clean, polish and color may be a real feat. I will soak the joint in Kroil, and maybe apply some GENTLE heat, but I still anticipate it being a 'bear' to get off. If the barrel were to be ruined, I wouldn't cry, but I hate to ruin it unless I absolutely have to.

There is also the steel buttplate. It will get polished and "blacked".

I intend to make new pins for the breech-block and hammer. The through-holes for those pins are 'ovaled' slightly. I haven't decided whether I will ream them round or not. If I ream the receiver, I'll have to ream the breech-block and hammer too. I'll fabricate new pins from 4140 stock I have on hand.

Tomorrow, I start on the barrel removal. Wish me luck with that. It would really be nice if it would come off without a major struggle.

Paul

j0e_bl0ggs has started a companion thread http://thehunterslife.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15827 in which we can comment thereby keeping this thread relatively 'clean' of relevant but parallel comments and ideas. I think that is a good idea. There are lots of "how tos" on the web in which you have to wade through lots of "conversation" when what you're after is the original story. The 'conversation' is a critical part of a WEB essay, so I don't want to discourage that. Having a "parallel" thread allows us to explore wide-ranging ideas while keeping this thread on track.

I am going to edit the original post to number the pictures, and all subsequent pictures will get numbers so that we can discuss them easily in the parallel thread.

Paul

I have moved the other posts to  http://thehunterslife.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15827. "Keep those cards and letters coming in".

Paul

So, the barrel came off with relative ease. The only marks are small cosmetic ones that will polish out. (They're smaller than some of the other marks I found when I started polishing the barrel.) However...

Under the heading of "That's interesting" or "I'm still learning"...

When I was taking the action apart, I noticed that the barrel was pinned in the action. As I was drifting that pin out, I wondered why they bothered to pin in the barrel. That could only weaken the barrel where the pin was. I figured it was a "belt and suspender" thing. However, when I got the barrel off, I saw that it was not threaded! The barrel fits in the action with as a pinned sleeve. The 'suspenders' were necessary because there was no 'belt'.

Here's how it went...

First I applied Kroil http://www.kanolabs.com/ liberally to the joint everywhere I could get access, which was around the front of the receiver ring, the rear of the receiver ring, the screw-hole for the extractor retaining screw, and the slot for the extractor. I then applied some heat to the receiver ring with a propane (actually MAPP gas) torch. NOT TOO MUCH HEAT. Too hot to touch bare-handed, but not much more. I let it sit for about 10 minutes while I got other stuff (like the camera) ready.

When I was ready, I clamped the receiver - WITH THE TRIGGER ASSEMBLY BASE IN THE ACTION - in my machine vice between two pieces of red oak. I then grabbed the barrel right in front of the action with a pipe wrench. (Now before I hear too many howls, I padded the jaws with lead shims, and as I said, the marks left are purely cosmetic and will polish out.) It took less elbow grease than I thought it would, probably because there were no threads. Nonetheless, I couldn't turn the wrench and take pictures at the same time. I didn't realize the barrel wasn't threaded until I got it completely out.

Here's what it looked like once I got it out: PHOTO #16


Here's what the receiver and barrel stub looked like: PHOTO #17


OK... The receiver is ready for polishing. I took it over to my polishing station where I have a hard felt wheel set up on a Sears "grinding" wheel motor. This works for pieces as small as actions. For aggressive initial polishing, I use an automobile rubbing compound. This is fairly aggressive, but doesn't "remove metal" unless you really lean on it for a long time in the same spot. One of the "things" I have learned about working with rotary machinery and metal is that it is best to hold onto the work-piece with our bare hand if it is reasonable to do so... and it is reasonable to do so when polishing. By holding the work-piece in your hand, you cannot get the metal too hot and remove the temper. If it's too hot to handle, it's too hot.

I worked on the piece on the wheel for about 20 minutes, and besides some minor progress on areas that were essentially already smooth, I made no headway. I was going to have to get more aggressive. I got out the wet/dry silicon sand paper - 400 grit. Using my table saw's table as a flat surface, I put some Kroil on the paper and 'gave it a go'. The Kroil (or even water will work) acts as a medium to create a slurry of oil and abrasive that works well on metal. Here's what it looks like "in action" (sort of).

PHOTO #18


It worked, but slowly for sure.

Here's what one side looked like after about 20 minutes: PHOTO #19


Notice the "high" rim around the breech-block pin hole.

Too slow with 400 wet/dry. I got out some 100 grit garnet paper and gave it a go. Garnet paper isn't "wet/dry", but it will work for a while. Here are some pictures of what the receiver looked like after about half an hour with the 100-grit paper:

PHOTO #20a


PHOTO #20b


PHOTO #20c


PHOTO #20d


PHOTO #20e


Notice that the 'buggering' on the screw heads and other high spots are starting to "brighten". Clearly there is some serious 'grunt work' ahead. The garnet paper was fine for finding out what I needed, but silicon wet/dry paper is the best for this task. I'm off to the local hardware shop to get some in as coarse as I can find as well as some more all the way up to 1200.

I'm not sure how I am going to be able to get after the breech-block and hammer aggressively enough to make any reasonable progress. I'll have to give that some thought. Also, I won't be able to use the table saw table for the curved surfaces. That means even more tedious sanding.

More later.

Paul

Hokay.... Take a good look again at those nasty beasts (above) because they are no more. The 80 grit Durite worked very well. The flaws that remain are too deep to take out. If I did remove them, the receiver walls would be significantly thinned. With the exception of one of the flaws that's about 5/32nds deep, they are purely cosmetic. Still, sanding them completely away would take too much off for my tastes.

Here are two pictures of the left side after a few passes of the 80-grit Durite. PHOTO #20f


And a different angle. PHOTO #20g


Notice how 'flat' the sides aren't.

Here is the right side after 'working it over'. PHOTO #21a


And the left. PHOTO #21b


And here it is after hitting it with 240-grit Durite: PHOTO 22a


PHOTO 22b


As you can see, there is a long way to go, but there is definitely 'hope'. The flaws should be much more difficult to see once it's blacked. There are also a couple of pits. I could 'dimple' them out, but I don't feel the need. The idea isn't to make this appear to be something it isn't. Those flaws were there the day the thing came out of the foundry, and the pits were either there too, or it came by them 'honestly'. Neither are structural flaws. Even the really bad one on the upper rear of the left side doesn't cause any structural weakness even though it is almost all the way through on the rear end.

I'll get after the difficult surfaces tomorrow. When I get tired of sanding, I'll start on the new breech block and hammer pins.

Paul

PS - I have 'gained' another 'tool' in my metal coloring toolbox. Look here http://thehunterslife.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15816 at post number 39 for the story on that.

So... I got to spend several hours in the shop today and 'good things happened'.

I wanted to get working on the through pins for the breechblock and hammer. First I wanted to fabricate them, then I wanted to 'experiment' with different coloring schemes/techniques.

I started off by putting a scrap piece of 4140 in my programmable kiln. I liked the blue you see in the pictures in post # 39 here: http://thehunterslife.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15816&page=4, but I wanted to see if I could get the "yellow" found on small parts on old Lugers. The yellow color comes at a much lower temperature than the blue does, so I set the kiln for that temp - 442 degrees F, heating rate at 1500 degrees per hour, and a soak time of 20 minutes. Then I went over to the lathe and got set up to make the pins.

It's a reall hassle to try to get pictures AND work on a lathe. When you're tansitioning from one action to another, you cans stop and take a picture or two, and that's what I did.

The first order of business was to measure the holes in the receiver. I knew by looking at them that at least the hammer holes were out of round, and the breechblock were probably too, but just not as bad. Turned out that the left-side hammer hole was about 10 thousandths out of round, and the right side about 5 thousandths. The brechblock holes weren't bad; both about 3 thousandths out of round. The receiver was 1.335" wide at the holes.

With those diameter dimensions - approximately 0.465" - I figured I would make the flange about 0.535". I chucked a 6" piece of 5/8ths O-1 drill rod (nominal 0.625"), in the lathe and commenced to get after it. Then the "beeper" on the kiln notified me that it was finished. I looked at the piece. Nothing. I continued the soak at 442 F for another 10 minutes.

Once I got the pin shaft to the appropriate diameter for the hole it was going in, I needed to make the permanent head, and a screw/head for the opposite side. I didn't get every step of the process photographed, but here are a few to examine:

Here you can see the round stock that has been turned down to close to final diameter of the head -  ~0.535" and what will become the threaded shaft of the head on the opposite site of the pin from the permanent head.
PHOTO 23a


Here's the same from a different angle. PHOTO 23b


Here is the die cutting the 10-32 threads on that shaft. PHOTO 24


And here's the threaded screw before the head is shaped and parted off: PHOTO 25


Here is a sequence showing drilling and threading the hole in the through pin for the screw: PHOTO 26


PHOTO 27


PHOTO 28


Here are some pictures of the finished pin and screw head. You'll notice a little double diameter on the pin. That's because the diameter of the hole in the hammer is smaller than the diameter of the hole in the receiver. I made the pin, doing the final fitting by trying the receiver on the pin until it just fit. I cut the pin off, turned it around in the lathe, and shaped the permanent head. I then fit it in the receiver. Perfect. Then I tried to put the pin through the hammer's hole. No soap. WHAAAT... The hole in the hammer was smaller. So, back on the lathe, and fine shaving until the hammer fit on the pin. However, I kept the diameter of the shaft the larger size of the receiver hole on the side I could.

PHOTO 29


In the mean time, the kiln was 'calling' again. Again, no color. Fine. I'll up the temperature to 475 F and soak it 20 minutes. You know what happened then... The next time it was finished, it was 'past' straw and on to 'bronze'. Here's what it looked like. It's tough to get these subtle colors right on the computer. This piece was "dark bronze" shading toward "brown".
PHOTO 30


It wasn't the color I wanted, but it did show me what "soak time" and "temperature" would do. Next time, I would get it right. And I did.

Here's what the finished (but not colored) pin looked like in the receiver: PHOTO 31


and PHOTO 32


Here's what the real pin looks like (in the receiver) when I got the temperature and soak time right (435 degrees for 40 minute soak, watching every ten minutes).

PHOTO 33


Now I know that "yellow" doesn't look particularly 'exciting' against the silver of the unfinished receiver, but imagine the receiver that blue/black from the sodium hydroxide/sodium nitrite solution. I think they are really going to stand out. If they don't, I can always "black" them. I'm also going to "straw"  color the trigger. I think that will look good too.

I have a little touch-up to do on the pins to get the flats exactly the right diameter, and I think I will put spanner-wrench pin holes in the screw heads so they can more easily be screwed on and off.

Basically, it's back to the polishing 'salt mines' tomorrow.

Paul

So yesterday was a "learning day".

When I learn/try something for the first time, I follow the directions religiously, and pay close attention to all of the cautions. If the results are 'as described', the next time or two I "do it", I 'test' the cautionary notes. "Just how important REALLY is it to... ?"

By employing this approach, I determine 1) IF the process works "as advertised", and 2) I learn the reality of adhering RELIGIOUSLY to "the rules". In a nutshell; I'm determining the "boundaries".

So, it was time to "determine some boundaries" with regard to the 'alchemy' of coloring gun metal. I had already determined that 1) the hot sodium hydroxide and sodium nitrite solution (hereafter "hot salt"), worked "as advertised", and 2) the "externally applied heat" (computer-controlled kiln), process also worked "as advertised". I wanted to have a look at what the "yellow-colored" pins would look like against the kiln-derived "blue" and the hot salt black. Since I wasn't about to 'play around' with the actual action, I would use a 'surrogate' receiver. Since this was going to be an "exercise" anyway, I decided that it would be a good opportunity to test the significance of some of the cautions I had read and been advised about.

The "surrogate" receiver was a piece of 3/16 x 2 1/2" steel flat-bar. I'm not certain, but I think it's 1018. 1018 is NOT 4140, therefore the very FIRST "test" would be to see if the two coloring processes would work "as advertised" on some "plain ol' " steel like 1018. I cut about a 3" piece off of a piece of scrap I had left over from making my wife some "ski-skates". (They allow her to practice cross-country skiing on the ice of a frozen lake when there is no snow to ski on. But that's another story.) I used the flat-bar for the blades. Here's what the flat-bar looked like:

PHOTO 34


I thought about 'flattening' it, but since I was in "test" mode, I decided just to knock the  patina off of it with sandpaper and go from there. First I drilled and reamed a hole of proper size for the pin. Then I sanded the patina off of both sides, but didn't attempt to remove the 'stains' that were on the steel's surface. I got it 'good and clean'.

Maybe here is a good place to enumerate the process in general and specifically some of the 'cautionary notes':

First, those elements that are not unique to the method of coloring:
1) Polish metal to as fine a grit as desired.
2) CLEAN the metal of ALL substances especially any form of "grease" or "oil".
 . . . a) Boil piece in solution of de-ionized water (hereafter DIW), and laundry detergent.  I can't get my hands on DIW very easily, so I used distilled water (DW hereafter) and it worked for the "first" effort.
 . . . b) Rinse piece in clean, boiling DW,
 . . . c) DO NOT TOUCH WITH BARE HAND FROM THIS POINT FORWARD.

For the "applied heat" process:
1) Place in kiln and program kiln for the temperature of the color that you want.
2) Set "soak" time.
3) Observe periodically to 'catch' the color that you want.

For the hot salt process:
1) Prepare solution of DIW, NaOH, and NaNo3 in the following proportions: Sodium hydroxide (NaOH) 80-90 oz/gal (600-700 g/l) + sodium nitrite (NaNO2) 27-33 oz/gal (200-250 g/l)
2) Put enough solution in stainless steel, porcelain, or glass container to well-cover the object to be blacked.
3) Put container on heat source.
4) Put object in container.
5) Heat until gently rolling boil. If solution is correct, this should produce a temperature of about 260 to 280 F.
6) After object is well-blacked, turn off heat, remove from liquid and rinse in boiling DIW (or in my case DW).
7) Dry.
8) Oil or wax or grease.

As I said, I followed the instructions to the "T" for my first effort, and the results were "perfect".

Since I figured that the chemical "black" SHOULD work "over" the heat-derived "blue", I decided to "blue" the piece first. I put it in the kiln and programmed it for a temperature of 625 F and a soak time of 40 minutes. While that was 'cooking', I went over to prepare the hot salt bath.

The first thing I noticed was that some of the salts had come out of solution. Notice the layer in the bottom of the jar.
PHOTO #35


I figured that the solution had been so hot from the NaOH plus water mix (180 F) that the solution had become super-saturated for room temperature and the excess just precipitated out at ambient (55 F). I 'swirled' the liquor around to mix it thoroughly, and poured enough in the "tuna can" to make it about an inch deep.

I checked on the piece in the kiln every ten minutes until the whole 40 minutes of soak time had been completed and took the piece out and cooled it in some rainwater. It looked "OK", but not great. I didn't know if it was the 1018 or the fact that it wasn't scraped down to absolutely "bright". I inserted the yellow pin in the hole I had drilled and reamed. Here's what it looked like. (Again, it's tough to get the photography right without setting up a 'studio'.)

PHOTO #36a


PHOTO #36b


PHOTO #36c


PHOTO #36d


PHOTO #36e


There's something VERY important to note in picture #36d - See those 'dark spots'? Those are where small kernels of the POWDERED laundry detergent settled on the plate before it actually started boiling in the cleaning bath. They had not dissolved yet, and wherever they touched the metal intact, they left that spot. A VERY important detail to note. Either use liquid detergent, or MAKE SURE ALL of the powdered detergent is dissolved before putting the metal in the cleaning solution.

As you can see, the pin stands out a bit better against the darker background. I think if the plate had been really blue (later I'll show you another piece that I was using for a support in the kiln that is gorgeous blue), it would have been prettier.

So, then it was off to the hot salt bath. When I returned to the hotplate, here's what I saw.
PHOTO #37


The 'salts' were coming back out of solution. Didn't matter, I would be heating it up anyway so they'd go back into solution soon enough. I put the plate in and 'turned up the heat. Soon it was 'cookin'.
PHOTO #38a


PHOTO #38b Warming right up...


PHOTO #38c Gettin' up there...


And then it was 290, and 295, and 300, and 305, YIKES! (The yikes is why there are no pictures.) The concentration was too high, and that allowed the boiling point to exceed 295 F WHICH, according to the "cautionary notes" would result in

QuoteAt temperatures above 295ºF (146ºC) the obtained oxide coating turns red and rusty.

I removed the plate and rinsed it in rainwater immediately. Looked like "mud on a white horse".

PHOTO#39


So... Was it the heat-derived "blue" that made it "ugly", or the fact that it had gotten too hot? I concluded that it was due to the "blue". My rationale is: 1) It's not "red and rusty", and 2) while the solution was certainly above 295 F, the plate was not. It didn't have enough soak time in the solution to get that hot. I got it out as soon as I realized that the solution was too concentrated.

Fine.

This time, I decided to draw-file at least one side of the plate to "bright", AND in doing so, flatten it too. Here's what it looked like after that process:
PHOTO#40


Of course it looks gray in the picture, but it was "in the white". Since this was an 'exercise', I decided not to boil it in detergent again, I would just clean it with acetone. Also, I wouldn't 'worry' about handling it with bare hands.

I added an equal amount of rainwater to the container and put the piece in. After a bit, it looked like this:
PHOTO #41


When I decided that it was as dark as it was going to get, I took it out and rinsed it with rainwater. Here's what it looked like with the pin in it:
PHOTO #42a


and
PHOTO #42b

Which is nothing "to write home about", but I think that was because it wasn't really polished. I just sanded it with the 240 Durite.

I haven't shown you all of the pictures though... Have a look at these two:
PHOTO #43a


and
PHOTO #43a


Fairly conclusive result to that 'test'.

All in all, I have drawn these conclusions:

1) If it is an "important" part, MAKE UP NEW SOLUTION.
2) Heat "blue" can be gorgeous, but probably isn't as durable as the chemical black.
3) MAKE SURE ALL THE POWDERED DETERGENT IS DISSOLVED BEFORE ADDING METAL TO BE CLEANED!
4) Where you touch clean metal with a bare finger, there will be NO coloring.
5) Don't try to hot salt black something that has been heat blued.
6) The "yellow" pin looks good enough to keep for the time being. If I don't like it on the receiver, I can always heat blue it.

Like this (with a flash):
PHOTO#44a


and this in natural light:
PHOTO #44b


Paul

So... I've been traveling for the past week, and didn't get anything done, but today I got out to the shop and got the receiver "to 320". Meaning, that the entire external surface of the receiver has been sanded to 320-grit wet/dry. Trust me when I say that was 'no mean feat'. A little over 15 hours of work. However, from this point forward, it gets substantially easier.

"To 320" means that there are no marks, (scratches actually), on the receiver except those from the 320-grit paper. That said, there ARE many more marks there, but they are no removable without removing too much metal. They are the 'character' of this old piece.

The next steps are:
400-grit w/d,
600-grit w/d,
800-grit w/d, and finally,
polishing wheel.

Of course there are also all the other pieces of the action that need polishing. Ugh. But necessary.

Here are pictures of the receiver as it sits:
PHOTO #45


PHOTO #46


PHOTO #47


PHOTO #48


PHOTO #49


That's about the best I can do for the photos without getting 'serious'. I'll get 'serious' with the pictures when I finish the final polishing.

Be sure to compare the above pictures with the "before" pictures of the receiver.

If I can get the coloring right, this thing should look pretty good.

Paul

Several hours later...

PHOTO #50
Here is the trigger guard taken to 400-grit wet/dry. You can see what I meant by "mirror finish":


Paul

I think the receiver is polished. Here's what it looks like now.

PHOTO #51


PHOTO #52


PHOTO #53


PHOTO #54


PHOTO #55


PHOTO #56


PHOTO #57


PHOTO #58


PHOTO #59


Next comes the cleaning in prep for the hot salt bath. It is going to have to be squeaky clean, inside and out.

Paul

As I was preparing mentally for the cleaning, I remembered conversations I have had with people that professionally fit barreled actions to stocks - Great American Gunstocks is one I remember off the top of my head. I was discussing getting stocks for the .375x.284 Win and .338 MAI and was inquiring about the cost of having them do the final inletting. I told them that the barreled actions were currently in the white and asked if they preferred them to be blued first. Both of them (whoever the second one was), stated emphatically that they preferred the barreled actions to be in the white. The reasons should be obvious I think. So... Recalling that, I am not going to black this receiver until I have inlet it into the butt stock I have.

I was planning to use a piece of 'flame' birch I have from a tree I cut down on my property, but when I went to look at my 'gun lumber', I saw a nice piece of walnut I bought off of EBay a few years back. I got it with the intent of using it on one of my rolling block actions.

PHOTO #60


I tried the original butt stock on this piece and it fit perfectly.
PHOTO #61


So I am going to use this piece for the butt of this rolling block. I'll only inlet the metal, not completely shape and finish the stock, before coloring the receiver. That won't take more than a couple of hours, and I can get back to coloring the receiver.

Paul

It took a while to get here; had to fit the wood, do final clean-up, and get prepared for the hot salt coloring, but it's done.

As I said, I am considering using the river red gum I got from Branxhunter.

PHOTO #62


PHOTO #63


I'll put together a separate photo series on fitting the wood.

I spent about an hour with a toothbrush, some dish-washing liquid, and some LAVA hand soap. I scrubbed every nook and cranny of that thing until there was NO more 'color' on the soap foam on the toothbrush. Then I boiled 'it' (receiver, trigger plate, trigger guard, the trigger plate screws and the tang screw) in water with dish-washing liquid.

PHOTO #64


While this was boiling, I prepared the blacking 'liquor'. About 43 ounces of lye (NaOH) and 23 ounces of sodium nitrite (NaNO3) in half a gallon of water. About 4 pounds of chemicals in half a gallon of water. I also got a separate container for rinsing after coming out of the blacking bath. I set up the hotplate, the blacking liquor, the rinsing container, and the stainless steel pan in which the 'cooking' would take place. Once I filled the pan with the blacking liquor the setup looked like this:

PHOTO #65


On the left in the coffee can is the balance of the blacking liquor. Next is a separate little rinse coffee can. The pot on the right is the post-blacking rinse. In the foreground is the pan with the blacking liquor in it on the hotplate. (Actually, because this picture was taken later, you can see the receiver in the blacking liquor.)

This is not a "pretty" process. The chemicals are nasty, and since it's boiling, too-small-to-see droplets of blacking liquor spatter out all over the place. A lid would be nice, but you have to watch 'things' and a lid precludes that. Also, putting a lid on increases the temperature. If you are watching the temperature closely (advisable), then you would have to take the lid on and off frequently which defeats the purposes of having a lid on in the first place.

This spot is normally my bullet casting station. I chose it because it's already 'messy' with what goes on with casting lead bullets. However, this is a MUCH messier operation. Here's what the bench-top looks like "after", and I didn't spill anything.

PHOTO #66


PHOTO #67


You may recall from my post about my first attempt at hot salt blacking that I used this same hotplate but a smaller container - a tuna can. Obviously a tuna can wasn't going to work for the action. As you can see from photo #65, I used a much larger pan. Unfortunately, while the hotplate was more than adequate for the tuna can, it was insufficient to heat the pan large enough for the receiver and almost half a gallon of liquor to 275 degrees F. I was never able to get it above about 257 degrees F.

PHOTO #68


If you overheat the liquor, you ruin both the liquor and the 'coloring'. From what I read and hear, it just turns 'rust red'. The good news is, if you can't get up to 275 F, it just slows the process down. So I was still able to get the action colored, but it took a lot longer (an hour) that it should have (15 min). Nonetheless, it worked. The results are VERY nice.

PHOTO #68


PHOTO #69


PHOTO #70


PHOTO #71


PHOTO #72


PHOTO #73


I have to tell you that it looks much worse in the pictures than it does 'in the hand'. The camera 'picks up' things you can't even see with the naked eye. For example, in photo #72 it looks like the front trigger plate screw looks "messed up". I don't know what the camera is picking up, but that screw looks perfect 'in the hand'. Over all, I am very pleased with the result.

There were some 'tense' moments though. First was the liquor not coming up to heat. I put the metal in at about 245 degrees F in anticipation of it climbing all the way to 275 F. When the metal had been in 10 minutes and the liquor still wasn't above 255 F, I was worried. Unfortunately, it was too late to change horses in mid-stream. I was committed.

Second, because it was taking longer to black due to not being up to optimum temperature, it wasn't coloring evenly. In fact, when I turned the receiver over after the up-side was fairly colored, there were two very large areas of the down-side that were still 'in the white'.

Then, after it was clear that it was going to 'work' chemically, those 'flaws' in the casting I mentioned in post #4 weren't coloring. I had two concerns about that. First, I was concerned that I hadn't been able to get ALL of the grease/residue from polishing out of those cracks and therefore they wouldn't color. Second, when I boiled the pieces in the detergent water right before coloring, I had had to leave them for a while while I prepared the rest of the operation. When I got everything ready and went to take them out of the cleaner, the looked TERRIBLE! There were 'streaks' of corrosion (rust, but not 'red') all over them. All the NON-homogeneities of the casting were corroding differently after being in boiling water.YIKES!

PHOTO #74


PHOTO #75


And you should have seen the trigger guard. It looked like it was made from zebra skin! However, as soon as I rubbed on them, the corrosion came right off. Here's what they looked like right before going into the blacking liquor. Note the reflection from the 'mirrored' receiver.

PHOTO #76


While the action was 'cooking', I was finishing the heat-coloring of the breechblock and hammer pins in the kiln. You can see the results of that in several of the photos above. It's really difficult to get the "nitre blue" of the one cap to show up well in the pictures. Here's another photo that shows that blue fairly well.

PHOTO #77

(Ignore the "scratches". They are only visible in the flash photo. You can NOT see them 'in the hand'.)

I like the "gold" look of the caps a little better than the 'nitre blue', but it is a close call. I think I'll go with the 'gold' to start with. I have to make a couple more "real" pins and heat-color them "gold".

I oiled the action and am ready to start on the next "thing" which is the breechblock and hammer. Not looking forward to that. I'm going to soak in Coca Cola over night and see what happens. Regardless of how the "Coke treatment" works, they will get hot-salt colored.

I also need to get the trigger 'in the white' so I can color it 'gold' too.

The 16-ga barrel is a beast. The bore is actually pretty good, but the exterior is REALLY bad. Even worse than the receiver was originally. I'm not sure I can 'make it work'. However, I have several ideas about replacement barrels and of course chamberings. I'll keep you posted.

More when there is more to report.

Paul

You are truly amazing Paul..............          or maybe a bit sick.  8-))
 
  Cheers,  and a tilt of the Maker`s Mark shot glass,     JaDub

Thanks, JaDub. Probably a bit of both...

Paul