Plum Brown

[Frizzen]

Question. Can you dilute Plum Brown with anything like say a little water so you can have a lighter brown?

[Hungry Horse]

 If its Birchwood Casey's, dilute it with a gallon of used antifreeze, and drain oil, and take it to the Haz-Mat pick-up. The only time I use this stuff, is when I want a little color in an engineered  "antique" finish. Otherwise use cold brown. Its more durable and puts down a more even finish.

                      Hungry Horse

[Old Salt]

I've used plum brown on small parts and been pleased with the color.  I suppose you could rub the colored part with steel wool to make it appear lighter brown.   

[whetrock]

regarding the "rub the colored part..."

I used it some years ago on a couple of pieces. With one I wanted a rich, even chocolate brown. With that piece I intentionally left a smooth coat on everything, and I was pleased enough with what it produced. The color was dark, but it was consistent.

But with the other piece, I was hoping for nice antiqued look, like rust that had been cleaned off. So I browned it, then scrubbed it back down to metal. I was not pleased with the results. It left odd, rather splotchy, sometimes swirled marks in the metal--nothing like what I had hoped for. Maybe there was something off in my techinique. I don't know. But I don't think I would go that route again.

[LH]

You can get all kinds of different results with plum brown.  Vary the temperature of the metal and the number of coats.  For really dark brown,  use the propane torch after the first coat without wiping the excess off.  When its cooked dry,  apply another coat.  For a lighter brown,  I'd try not getting the metal very hot. 

[pathfinder]

LH is spot on,as far as I know anyway. I like it as long as it's used properly. you can vary it a lot with using different heat levels and number of coats and amount of product.

[blaksmth]

 I have used it for 30 or more years and have had good luck metal has to be clean and free of grease, on parts that are tempered I  put the parts in a pan of boiling water and heat them then put on the plum brown let them set then back in the boiling water till I get the color I want.

 DAWN dish soap is a good de- greaser to boil small parts in a pan, for barrels I de-grease it with a can of spray carb cleaner then use a propane torch as described  above 

[Dphariss]

I have used it for 30 or more years and have had good luck metal has to be clean and free of grease, on parts that are tempered I  put the parts in a pan of boiling water and heat them then put on the plum brown let them set then back in the boiling water till I get the color I want.

 DAWN dish soap is a good de- greaser to boil small parts in a pan, for barrels I de-grease it with a can of spray carb cleaner then use a propane torch as described  above  

The parts do not convert to black iron oxide when boiled? I guess recoating with PB would borwn them again...
I use it on staight or straight taper barrels. Thin swamps are harder to brown with it since the waist cools too fast. The did change the formula to make it less toxic and this did not improve the performance.
I use multiple heats/coats and find that trying to get more than a swipe or two before rewetting the cloth will cause problemsso I do maybe 2 flats on a barrel then resoak the cloth again.
I don't use it on hardened parts so I use a propane torch or two.
Dan

[Hungry Horse]

 I think many of the browning solutions that are on the market today have changed their formulas, because of the toxicity of some of the ingredients in the original formulas. I know for years I used a product called Ol' Thunder, that was the best in our area. It put down an even, very fine grained, coating that would wear like iron. The product is still available I think, but the last time I used it, it didn't work half as well as in the past. It took many more coats, and came out quite blotchy. Another builder told me the original formula had some sort of mercury based ingredient in it, that had to be removed.
 A friend that owns a metal fabrication shop, uses some sort of metal treatment, that is designed to blacken iron, and steel, but when treated like most cold browns, it put down a beautiful reddish brown, with a very fine grain, and good wearing characteristics. He gets it from a chemical supplier that specializes in metal treatments for the industry.

                         Hungry Horse

[Dr. Tim-Boone]

Homer Dangler's browning/Rust Bluing solution does a very nice smooth job and if you put more on for longer you can get a nice matte finish with no reflective surfaces..... easy to use just clean the barrel and coat it every 45 minutes or so for a day or two (except over nite!!)

[blaksmth]

Dpharris,

 I use the boiling water to get the parts to a good heat with out having to worry about over heating a part and maybe changing the temper or hardness of  the part,  like I would with a torch and when you bring the part out of the water it is dry and I can put on an additional coats if needed.

[Dphariss]

Dpharris,

 I use the boiling water to get the parts to a good heat with out having to worry about over heating a part and maybe changing the temper or hardness of  the part,  like I would with a torch and when you bring the part out of the water it is dry and I can put on an additional coats if needed.

Understood.
My point is that boiling red iron oxide changes it to black iron oxide. I have blued a barrel with plumb brown in this exact manner. But rebrowning with Plumb Brown should then convert it back to red iron oxide again.
This is the process used to do rust blue.  Rust-boil-card-rust-boil-card till the color is right.
Dan

[Hungry Horse]

Dan;

  I have used plum brown to rust blue as well. It doesn't take much boiling time to get it to go black. The first one I did was a total accident.

                  Hungry Horse

[oakridge]

Frizzen, I'm not sure your original question was answered. And, I don't know what would happen if you diluted the browning solution. I do know that different solutions have given me various shades of brown. Could be slight differences in the formulas. I've used several plum browns, express brown, Laurel Mtn. brown, etc. with different results.

[Frizzen]

I have this made in 1975 small frame Euroarms Remington that I use in the As Issue matches at
Friendship. I was just wanting to turn it a little brown, like a light rust. Probably my best bet would be
To put the browning solution on, then take steel wool to it. Don't want it real dark. I used white
Vinegar to get this look.

[Blacksmoke]

I have had best results with "Lee's express brown"  avbailable from Brownells.  You can control the color with how much heat that is applied and how many coats are applied.          Hugh  Toenjes

[Hungry Horse]

Frizzen;

  In my opinion the way you have used plum brown is where it really shines. It duplicates the mottled texture of aging quite well. It allows one to accent the salt, and pepper, rust patterns generated by cold blueing, and subsequent bleach washes, beautifully ( avoid the fumes). The fact that it doesn't demonstrate the durability of cold browning, is an advantage, when using it for aging.

                 Hungry Horse

[DaveP (UK)]

To change a plumbrown brown to blue/black is it necessary to actually boil it in water or is it enough to simply heat the parts - for example, in the oven while SWMBO is out, which is how I browned my repro Remington?
If you have already applied oil to the parts would it be too late to try it?


I dont think I'm a natural revolver shot and I'm having more fun tinkering with it it than I generally get from shooting it. Sad, but thats life...