Using naval jelly to finish metal work

[mountainman70]

Good evening my friends.
I'm interested in learning how to finish barrel and other steel parts with naval jelly.
I found some at advance auto, its pink.
So, how do I proceed?
Thanks and best regards
Dave

[J C Hunt]

I would not use naval on any firearm. It is for removing heavy rust and will leave a ugly bare metal surface if you follow the instructions on the bottle. Works well if you are going to paint the object after.

Jim

[mountainman70]

On a previous thread several were discussing using it to get a grey finish on the steel parts. Thats what I am after. I am half afraid to use this stuff due to it being some kinda nasty breathing wise.
I might even take it back.Thanks for your note. Dave

[xx54]

I have heard of tannic acid. Gives a dark finish on metal. you may check that out.

[rich pierce]

Naval jelly cleans rust and puts small pits in the steel or iron. That leaves a full finish. It doesn’t look much like anything one sees on new or old guns. To dull a bright finish I brown the item lightly and then rub it back with pumice and oil. It gives a finish like this.

[David Rase]

I rust blue all the metal parts then I rub the blue off with Naval jelly applied to a Scotchbrite pad.
David

[mountainman70]

So, I blue it first, then rub back with the jelly on a scotchbrite. Sounds reasonable.
I am finishing up the Chestnut longrifle I got from moodyholler back in 20. Is looking good,will post pics before long.
Have a goodun guys,you,too, Rich!!Dave

[T*O*F]

What you are seeking is called "French Grey."  A lot of high end engravers use it as a finish.  Naval jelly is phosphoric acid and reacts with steel to leave a thin phosphate coating one the metal.  It's similar to Parkerizing.  It's not the best product to use.  In the auto body field, there is a product called 'conversion coating' which is used after sheet metal with surface rust has been sanded off.  It stops after-rusting so primer and paint can be applied but it is expensive.

Rase's method may be your best option but I don't know about eventual after-rusting or finish longevity in future usage.  Engravers usually apply a thin coating of lacquer to the finish, but those are high end guns which will probably never see any field use.

[hortonstn]

Polish the metal clean then use beechwood caseys rust and blue remover with scotchpad
Then oil leaves a nice grey finish that seems to wear. It's also easy to touch up

[kutter]

Naval Jelly works OK to put a gray color to the metal. I've used it quite a lot on engraved pieces over the years.
To keep the color even, it helps to rub the surfaces with a PinkPearl erasure while the stuff is working. Otherwise dark areas can occur and spots in the otherwise plain gray color needed for a French Grey look.

That spotted and discolored look might not be a problem if aging a M/L though.

Other engravers have used things like toilet bowl cleaner and with good results for a French Grey finish.
A darker gray color results from what I've seen.
Many of those products used to have an acid like Hydrochloric in them. Some still do.
Others have gone green and now use citric acid and others as substitutes that may work for the products intended use, but they won't do much to put a gray color on your lock plate.

Printed Circuit Board Etchant will put a gray color onto steel in a hurry.
It's Ferric Chloride by it's chemical name.
You can get a big bottle of it off of Ebay.

Use it in a very small % soln with plain water if you do use it. Always use it at room temp.
It works very fast and no need to heat it or the part(s) to accelerate the process!

2% to 5% soln of Ferric Chloride to Water is plenty strong and it won't take but a few seconds dip in that and quickly back out at room temp to turn the steel gray and start to etch.
The etch is very fine.
Immediately rinse the etched parts off in cold running water after taking them out of the etching soln.

Handle with hooks and/or wooden plugs/handles. Avoid finger prints, oil, grease, etc just like any other metal finishing.

This is the same soln and % I use to etch damascus pattern bbls betw rusting cycles and carding when refinishing.

***You must protect the bore when using this***
I coat the bore(s) with plain shellac. A heavy coat. It stands up to the boiling water cycle of rust bluing needed for Black&White damascus finishing. I recoat the bore(s) at around cycle #7 or #8.
Damascus takes around 15 cycles to complete unlike plain rust bluing or browning  that can be done and completed in 4 or 5.

[wmrike]

Unless I am mistaken, the prime mover in naval jelly is phosphoric acid.  I have used straight-up phosphoric to get a very light to medium gray finish on guns.  The darker (medium) gray was achieved by first getting a good rust, and then using steel wool and phosphoric to remove most of the rust.  The phosphoric leaves a surface that is rust resistant, but no so resistant that I put aside the usual wipe-down with RIG