Browning barrel, how much to polish

[David R. Pennington]

How much should I polish my barrel before applying the browning solution. I like a good deep brown so I usually use a cold solution and card between applications till I get a good dark color. I usually end up with an almost matte finish so my question is, is there any point going real fine with the polishing. Always before I have gone progressively finer down to a very fine polish. Is this necessary or am I waisting my time. Right now I have draw filed and worked it over with 320 paper. How much finer do I need to go?

[Don Getz]

Dave......you've gone far enough.    The higher the polish, the more difficult it is to brown.   A slighly roughened barrel
will brown much quicker.    You could have stopped after draw filing..........Don

[David R. Pennington]

Thanks Don. I am ready to get this one together. Weather is really damp so it should brown pretty quick. I didn't want to waste any more time than needed but I also didn't want to have to do it twice.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

If a polished brown is what you are after, ie:  carded between applications with FOUR OUGHT STEEL WOOL, then draw file and polish to 180 grit abrasive cloth.  But even 180 grit won't take out scratches left by a plugged file when drawfiling, so that job has to be good to start with.

[flehto]

After draw filing, a light rub w/ 220 grit paper. Previously used denim for carding but w/ the last 2,  used green "Scotchbrite" and it did an excellent job.....Fred

[Dphariss]

How much should I polish my barrel before applying the browning solution. I like a good deep brown so I usually use a cold solution and card between applications till I get a good dark color. I usually end up with an almost matte finish so my question is, is there any point going real fine with the polishing. Always before I have gone progressively finer down to a very fine polish. Is this necessary or am I waisting my time. Right now I have draw filed and worked it over with 320 paper. How much finer do I need to go?

I do 320 for rust blue. But I take out all the file marks and don't want scratches showing in the completed job.
If you are going to do a rough brown then finish is not important. If you are looking at doing a smoother brown then you want a finer finish.
But nothing more that 220-320 is needed in any case.
Going too far will slow the rusting.

Dan

[keweenaw]

If you're using steel wool for carding, and I do that at lot, you should degrease it.  A quick wash with some coleman fuel will do the job.  I just take a can or peanut butter jar and pack it with the steel wool pads, fill it with the fuel, swish it around and then take the pads out and squeeze them to remove most of the excess fuel.  Let dry in a well ventilated space.  Don't do it in the house!

Tom

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

Fred and Tom have answered the question about grease and oil.  For a matt brown, I use a roll of canvas as a scrubber to card the barrel.  For a more shiny brown or rust blue, I use de-greased steel wool.  I use a Scotchbrite (green) pad with Comet to degrease the polished barrel prior to browning.

[David R. Pennington]

I've got a real soft fine brass bristle brush that I card with. I always wash it first with laquer thinner and it works real good but I don't know what I'll do when it wears out.  I havn't seen one like it and don't remember where I got it.

[Ted Kramer]

I use a sharp, clean file for draw filing and clean it every couple strokes with a file card. That's all that file is ever used for. That's all I do to prepare for browning, except cleaning the metal with acetone.

I have a very fine wired (.0025/.0030" diameter wire) stainless steel wire wheel I bought from Brownell's that works great.  Part #360-164-631. It has a 1/4" hole through the 2" wood center and I made a shaft from a bolt so I can use it in my drill press at about 1500-1750 rpm. I do the 3-4 hour cycle (~24 hours total) for rust browning and this wheel is perfect for it, gets into all the little nooks and crannies that are tough to card w/steel wool.

[Dphariss]

Rust blue will tolerate steel wool carding. When I use it on brown most of the color comes off too.
The boiling hardens the oxide a lot besides making it black.
So I use something like burlap on browning.
Dan

[B.Habermehl]

I will go down to 220 grit or so. I use wakon bay brown or blue reagent. Do not touch the steel from beginning to end of filing and sanding with bare hands, no degreasing will be needed. Apply reagent, with a patch. Put the barrel into a humidity cabinet. Next morning, I will reapply the reagent. After work I will card with a fine wire brush turned on the drill press at moderate speed. Continue this regimine til lthe barrel will not rust. 4-8 cycles. Boil to achieve a blue black. Or neutralise with warm baking soda water for a deep brown. The resulting finish will be a shiny satin. Not flat, Not glossy.

[David R. Pennington]

Hardly would ever need the added humidity around here. It will almost brown a barrel without any help. I can put the reagent on and it will usually have a good coat of rust overnight.