Bead Blasted Locks

[frogwalking]

I hate polishing locks.  German ones with the removable pans are a lot less work than the English type.  Having said that, I polished the lock for the rifle I am currently working on,  then rust blued it.  I applied the solution and carded it every morning and evening for 5 days, during which it  often rained, and was generally a period of high humidity.   The boil happened tonight, and the finish is really really even and black.  However,  there is an obvious grain structure that makes me wonder why I spent so much time polishing the thing.  I don't think it would look any different had I simply began the rusting directly over the bead blasted finish.   (I think it looks fine, and am not complaining.)  The Barrel, a Rice product , was blued a month ago during a fairly dry period and has a very nice smooth low sheen and not  quite as dramatically black. 

Do you folks polish the lock before blueing or browning?  What are your thoughts on this issue. 

The frizzen face got accidentally blued.  Should I sand this off before shooting?

Thanks,

Frog

[kutter]

If you are only boiling the part once to get it to turn blue (after the last cycle), then don't bother polishing much. A bead blasted finish would have been fine as you've found with most solutions.

The chemical being on the metal all that time makes for a matted finish. You're rust browning actually and just turning it color at the last cycle. It'll rust between cardings even if you don't add extra soln w/some of the stuff around and with the right humidity and temp.

Short rusting times,,you don't need to see a heavy red rust form when doing rust blue. Just a darkening of the surface. You should have to hold the part/bbl at an angle to a light to see any reddish color to the new coating. Anything more is just pitting the steel giving it that matted look that everyone assumes rust blue always does. It doesn't have too, but maybe you want it too. The lighter rustings require more coats to accomplish a finished job, but that's the way of retaining a (high) polish if you want one.
You can cut the rusting times to a matter of a couple of hours or less after the first couple of coats and end up with a high polish blue that looks like charcoal blue. But be ready for many many applications and boil & card each one.

You can build color & preserve the polish you took time to do.
Easy on the carding wheel. They are still wire brushes and can matte finish steel all by themselves. All they have to do is wipe the loosened oxide coating off after boiling. If the oxide does swipe right off,somethings wrong. Water isn't doing it's job. Too short a boiling, wrong soln for that steel, ect. Every job can be different.
Rust blue is not completely like doing a rust brown finish.

[BillC]

Just remember that if the lock surfaces aren't at least filed then there will be obvious casting marks and miss matched molding lines that will tell the casual observer that this is a modern made lock and besides it just looks unfinished. I suppose one could file out the bumps and blemishes and then re blast if going for a grainy finish.
Bill

[Acer Saccharum]

The Brownells stainless steel wire brush with .003 wire, is super soft and will not pit or 'orange peel' the surface.

[kutter]

Even the .003 dia wire wheels can matte the surface if you want them to. Though not nearly as agressive as the larger diameters.
Too high of a speed,,too much pressure against the wheel,,using a wheel that's worn/the wires are too short.
Any of these or in combination will ruin your attempts at the high polish rust blue finish. It'll still look great, don't get me wrong. But the wire wheel will still matte the steel surface enough to break down the brilliant polish you're trying to save if you're not careful.

Carding with 0000 steel wool is more often used when trying for the high polish blue. Slower to use, but will not damage the polish of the steel.
Even cloth, burlap, thistle can be used to card.
Cut the soln down as you go along too. 2:1,,3:1,,down to 5:1 for the final coats. You do everything you can to avoid matting/pitting the surface. All you want is color.

[frogwalking]

I have been using the Brownell carding brush for several years.  I think Kutter hit the nail on the head concerning doing the carding more often during periods of  high humidity.  The finish is very even, and the grainy nature is not particularly unpleasant.  My polish job did not clear all the casting flaws (pits), but the grain structure made them disappear.  The barrel is quite smooth as I noted.  I am sure the humidity is a large factor, but could the steel alloy used also play a part?

[WadePatton]

I... but could the steel alloy used also play a part?

short answer, yes the alloy-like any production item has tolerances, which allow for very slight variations (in the steel) and these can be seen in the colors attained.  I learned this from a master pistolsmith/machinist/lawyer years ago. 

IOW he could see (and i could after he pointed it out) color variances in production moderns-that indicated variations in hardness of the alloy.

[Dphariss]

I... but could the steel alloy used also play a part?

short answer, yes the alloy-like any production item has tolerances, which allow for very slight variations (in the steel) and these can be seen in the colors attained.  I learned this from a master pistolsmith/machinist/lawyer years ago. 

IOW he could see (and i could after he pointed it out) color variances in production moderns-that indicated variations in hardness of the alloy.

Or the nickle content. Alloy will likely effect the color more than hardness. This is common with old Winchester nickle steel barrels and receiver parts.
Some Ruger frames would come out purple at normal caustic blue temps or with some brands of salts. Never tried to rust blue one.

Dan

[WadePatton]

He was/is/does machine work on factory produced revolvers (opening frames/fitting his own cylinders) and had learned this association on blued frames, that color and hardness were somewhat related (cast steel).  Which i take to understand would be from variations in alloy or treatment of the alloy as the salts used in finish work shouldn't change the hardness of the metal.