boiling a barrel

[rich pierce]

I am going to try an express blue that calls for boiling the barrel.  That is, immersing in boiling water.  Ideas on an easy inexpensive setup?

[Ed Wenger]

Rich,

I haven't done it, but I've read where a length of rain spout was used over a couple burners...

         Ed

[sz]

An easy way it to buy a piece of mild steel channel of about 4 feet long and either weld ends to it, of hire a welder to do it for you (still quite cheap)

Channel comes in various forms and the "deep channel" is best.  You don't need it to be much larger then 3" wide and 2" deep
Works great.

[Dave Dolliver]

I've done up to 44" barrels.  Had to get a sheet metal shop to cut out a  blank that i could bend into a trough and weld up the corners.  Took 2 Propane camp stoves to get enough burners under the long length.  Have also used a sheet metal pan about 36" long that I got from Brownells years ago on one 2 burner camp stove.

Dave Dolliver

[P.W.Berkuta]

I purchased a section of steel gutter at my local Home Depot and soldered on the end caps. The heat source will be the tricky part. My BBQ grill will get it hot enough when the wind is not blowing but I have only done barrels up to 36" long. My gutter sections are 38" long and 15" long. The short section I have done on the kitchen stove - worked well for me.

[oakridge]

I used a local sheet metal shop that makes gutters. I gave them the specs and they made it up in a few minutes. Price was very reasonable.

[rich pierce]

aluminum?

[Tom Currie]

I have made a cheap wooden box lined with a heavy plastic drop cloth and barrel suspended in on wood blocks. I had 3 big kitchen pots of boiling water available and dumped these in to fill the pots. No heat source thereafter. This was rust blue barrel that is a smooth blue/black and has held up rather well. 

Not sure if your application calls for sustained boiling or not.

[ken]

A section of rain guter works well. Cut it and fold up the endsand hammerit closed. Transmits heat well and it is cheap,also stays flat.

[Joey R]

Rich, sounds like you are maybe using Mark Lee's Express Blue? I made my tank out of !/8" aluminum and also made a lid for it but any tank configuration will work. The lid could also be a sheet of tin but it helps to keep the heat confined. I swiped the venturi from my turkey fryer and coupled it to a 36" piece of 1" black iron gas pipe with 3/32nds" holes drilled at 1" increments and that's what I use for a burner. Works good. I would think that a 2 or 3 burner camp stove would work great also. Good luck and don't forget to use the tongs!!!!!

[David Rase]

I use a 3" diameter piece of exhaust pipe and boil in the vertical position.  I weld the bottom end of the tube shut.  I then weld a bar onto a muffler clamp.  I clamp the bar down and then adjust the pipe to a height where I can lay my oxy/acetylene torch on the ground under the pipe.  I used to use rain gutter ran across 2 burners on my kitchen stove  but like the vertical method.
DMR

[Dave B]

I used soldered up galvanized gutter over a double burner propane cook top from harbor freight. Works great. I think the muffler pipe sounds good too.

[Captchee]

 i have 5 tanks set up for rust  bluing etching . 3 steel tanks and 2 plastic tanks.
1 steel for boiling
1 steel for boiling in log wood
1 steel for  Ferrous sulfate
1 plastic for  ferric Chloride
1 plastic for  de rusting

 for the steel tanks .  what i have is just what steve suggested .
 only difference is i bought my lengths long enough that i could cut  large enough squars out of the ends . thus leaving  only a 3 inch bottom plate  on both ends . i then heated and folded that . then welded the sides  on the ends .
 then  one end i drill and threaded for a steel plug .
 Cost was around 15.00 per tank

 for the plastic tanks i use 3 inch black PVC pipe
 one the end i glue on couplers so i can use 3 inch plumbing plugs . then come in 1 inch from the coupler  and using my band saw i cur down on both ends just above 1/2 way . then  cut that section out to create a trough
 Take the sections  you just cut out and  cut 2 4 inch lengths off it . Lay each sidways so the curve is up out of the middle cut  a notch that matches the bottom curve of your tank . These now become legs to hold the tank so it wont roll over
 Now using the same Black PVC glue  that I used to glue the plugs on . I  the legs on .
Cost  was less the 7.00 a tank

 For heat I use two Colman propane camp stoves . The little 2 burner ones .
A single stove just doesn’t have the heat even with both burners to bring the water to a good boil . It will however give enough heat to  convert the red iron oxide to black .

[Acer Saccharum]

I also use Coleman stoves. Two, two burner units. Boiling a barrel uses a lot of heat.

i have a sheet metal tank, wit welded up ends. I think if it were insulated, it would take less heat.

Speaking of insulation, I had a brilliant idea of using a board to cover the tank to raise the temp. It worked quite well. However, do NOT use a board with ANY knots in it.

Why?

Well, uh,

When the knots get hot, they drip rosin into the tank. This interferes greatly with the even surface I just spent a whole day trying to get. Everything needs to be cleaned, de-greased, re filled, re heated, re boiled. Argh.

Tom

[Dphariss]

I also use Coleman stoves. Two, two burner units. Boiling a barrel uses a lot of heat.

i have a sheet metal tank, wit welded up ends. I think if it were insulated, it would take less heat.

Speaking of insulation, I had a brilliant idea of using a board to cover the tank to raise the temp. It worked quite well. However, do NOT use a board with ANY knots in it.

Why?

Well, uh,

When the knots get hot, they drip rosin into the tank. This interferes greatly with the even surface I just spent a whole day trying to get. Everything needs to be cleaned, de-greased, re filled, re heated, re boiled. Argh.

Tom

I made a tank from a piece of 4x4 thin wall square steel tube. Cut the top out and used pieces of this the weld the ends. I use one Coleman stove
Mine is a little short and a 42" barrel with a breech plug and a wood plug in the muzzle is about it. Need one about 5" longer. But it was a piece of scrap my neighbor at the time had.
Its done quite a few barrels though.
I usually boil them for about 20 minutes.
Find some thin sheet metal for covers.

Dan

[keweenaw]

I made mine from 16 ga. mild steel bent into a 6X6 trough with one inch lips extending laterally from the top and ends welded in.  The lips help greatly in moving the tank around to empty it.  The tank is stiff enough that one only needs to support it at the ends.  Lids were made from the same steel with 1/2" rims bent down to give it some rigidity.  I have Brownell's pipe burners to heat with.  I like the bigger tanks, rather than using guttering, because I can do a couple barrels at a time for rust bluing, etc. and the larger volume of water doesn't go much below boiling when you put your work in it. 

Tom

[Ryan McNabb]

Had a sheet metal shop weld me up a tank out of stainless - 8" square and 48" long, with a proper lid.  It cost a bit but it's eternal.  Could have also been aluminum for a bit less money.  As you can see there are lots of cheap ways to do it.

The heat source is going to be your challenge.  For several barrels, I sat the tank across two eyes on our kitchen stove (propane) and it wouldn't really boil, but would roll just ever so slightly.  It was hit or miss with those barrels - some would blue great, others never got more than gray no matter what I did.  It would be better to get a 3 burner outdoor cooking setup at a place like Northern Tool or some similar place, hook it up to a grill tank, and keep the lid on to get it boiling faster.  I did this and got more dependable performance but the heat was pretty formidable - nearly caught my shirt on fire once.

It's not necessarily a quick or easy way to blue in my opinion.  (I honestly think that charcoal bluing would be less trouble.)