God bless TCA 05-58541 Benefactor Member of the NRA, Member of the American Legion, Retired Boss Hog of Roseyville , KC&D Qualified
ChiefEagles wrote:Cold blue it with gun bluing. Clean it good. Blue it but do not wash it betweeen bluings until you get right color. Also, Brownell [shooting supply co] has an epoxy coloring for guns that will work if you can bake the part.
The Chief is correct. I used a cheap bottle of bluing bought at WalMart and had excellent results. My advice is to make sure the piece is very clean. Than means clean it with alcohol to remove any grease and dirt. Remove all the rust as well.
Repeated applications will darken the piece until you have the right color. It's an amazingly simple process. Do not let it intimidate you!
To get it to shine like a new part, polish the blued part with a bristle brush in a Dremel tool.
Jim
Modeling the Baltimore waterfront in HO scale
Dale, Chief, and Jim,
Thanks for the info. Can gun bluing be applied with a small brush? I ask because the conveyor beam is riveted to the two uprights, and although the rivets are avaliable, I'd rather just apply the bluing with a brush so I dont have to deal with the rivets. How long does the bluing take to dry? I will try to post pictures later today.
jimtrumpie wrote:Dale, Chief, and Jim, Thanks for the info. Can gun bluing be applied with a small brush? I ask because the conveyor beam is riveted to the two uprights, and although the rivets are avaliable, I'd rather just apply the bluing with a brush so I dont have to deal with the rivets. How long does the bluing take to dry? I will try to post pictures later today.
Jim, It can be applied with a brush, rag, or as I used, a q-tip. The bluing process is immediate. As soon as it touches the steel, it will turn it black. It's not paint either. It's a chemical reaction that actually turns the steel black. The instructions on my bottle said to leave it on for 2-3 minutes, then rinse it with water. I did and rinsed my parts with a wet q-tip. You can repeat this process as many times as you like to make the piece darker. Make sure to dry the piece when done. Otherwise, it will rust again and quickly. You can also apply a little oil or WD-40 to protect the parts from rust when the bluing process is complete. I did not wait to do that. I did it right after I dried the parts. It is so easy, even I could do it!
Jim,
Thanks again. I am thinking of going to Wal Mart in the near future (I was just there Saturday, and I felt like I was forgeting something!). I will post pictures of the loader later today before I start taking it apart.
Below is a link to the fluid I used to blacken my parts. The very last item on the page - "Perma-Blue". As you will see, it's not expensive at all, and I think I actually paid less at WalMart. Good luck and please keep us posted on your progress!
http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/store/ProductDetail.aspx?p=4942&title=METAL+FINISHING+PRODUCTS
Here are the pictures.
Thanks for telling me about Perma Blue. I bought a bottle today, and it did a great job on the sweep arm. I stripped the base, removed the rust, and I am now in the process of priming the base. I will try to have the loader completed for Sunday Photo Fun.
Does gun blue work on non-ferous metals?
Thanks
Dave,
No, the directions on the Perma Blue say that it will only work on ferrous metals such as steel and tin.
FJ and G wrote:Does gun blue work on non-ferous metals? Thanks
See the link I provided to Jim about the Perma-Blue. The same company makes other blueing fluids for non-ferous metals such as aluminum.
Jimbo, glad to be able to help. I can't wait to see those photos!
I had it back together by 11:30 last night. It came out much better than I thought it would. I'll have to take some pictures of it somtime this weekend...
That's awesome!
Just as an aside, Jim, I've found that polishing the blacked piece with a bristle (not wire) brush in a Dremel tool will put a nice factory-like sheen on it. A little oil along with the polishing will add even more luster.
Here are the photos showing the results of the restoration.
I would like to thank everyone for their help (especially jaabat). The loader turned out better than I could have hoped, and I know it is a result of the help I received here. Thanks again.
Thank you for posting the pictures Jim. Looks great!
Rickster
Jim : that sure did come out nice !! Let us know how well it operates if you get a chance. I'm sure it probably works perfectly !!
Thanks, John
Rickster and John,
Thanks for the compliments. If I knew how to post video, I would post a video of it in action. I was suprised at how well it worked before I restored it, because it looked like it was in a flood. There was dried mud everywhere on the vibrotor, and the conveyor rollers were frozen with mud. The rust on the base was deep as well. The best part was that the vibrotor did not need any adjustments. I have never had a 342 that works as well as this one.
Jim that's great to hear ! ! If you have a digital camera that takes movie clips & need help just say the word. I've used Photobucket & You Tube & Google for movies with my digital camera. Start a thread or email me . That would make a nice movie clip, though they do take a while to get all up & posted !!
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