barrel browning

[yip]

 whats the best way of browning a barrel? i don't want to do hot browning, how about a hot box?

[jerrywh]

 You are going to get a dozen different answers on that question.  After trying about 6 different ways including the hot box I have settled on this method. I lay down a few cotton rags on the bench or any flat surface and wet them good and damp. I then set up 2 blocks about 2"  to 3" tall on each end for the barrel to sit on. Set the barrel on the blocks over the wet rags and place a sheet of aluminum foil over the barrel . Try and fix the foil so that it will not touch the barrel. You can check the progress every so often and if there are any sign of water droplets on the barrel just remove the foil for a spell. A temp. of about 80° seem to be about perfect.
  I use Laurel mountain forge browning solution. A lot has to do with how it is applied. Best applied very sparingly. I also put a wooden plug in each end of the barrel to handle it with. The wooden plugs sit on the two blocks at each end. The barrel never touches anything if I can prevent it.
  There are a lot of other little tips that go along with the process.  The process also depends on the type of brown you want to achieve.   Different types include a polished dark brown look like some of the English guns or a light cinnamon colored brown or a dark frosted style as many of the hunters like. The hardest to type achieve is the polished English brown ,  There are also different ways of carding. It goes on and on.
   It might help if you stated what finish you would like to achieve.

[Mike_StL]

On these hot summer days,  I find my mini van works just fine as a hot box.  Temperatures get to about 150 degrees F.  I made a small support fixture to hold the barrel.

[flehto]

I also use LMF browning solution and a "sweat box" w/ hot towels laid on the bottom. The towels are reheated w/  hot water every couple of hrs. The bbl is horizontal and has a wood plug in the muzzle and an aluminum holder for the breech end. The breech plug is installed.

The 2 pics below show a handy wooden holding fixture used for applying the LMF and the bottom pic shows the handy aluminum holder at the breech.....Fred

 

  

[frogwalking]

I just brown the parts in the, in the garage.  No hot box, nor anything else.  When the humidity is high, as it often is here in southeast Tennessee, the barrel rusts so fast that I card it twice a day, and do not reapply the solution before bed, or it will get too rough before morning.  When the humidity is lower, it just takes a little longer, and I let it rust overnight.  I doubt this will work in Arizona, but should be fine is Mississippi.

[M. E. Pering]

I have used Birchwood Casey Plum Brown with excellent results.  I know it is a hot brown, but that is easily done with a propane torch outdoors.  The one gun I did using this product was done on the wood stove in my kitchen.  I have done the hot box method on other parts, but the results were not as uniform.  I wrapped the parts in damp paper towels, and put them in my solar wax melter, which can get quite hot.  But the faster you can brown a part, the less carding you will have to do to it after.

Matt

[Nordnecker]

I'm no expert but have used LMF a few times with good results. I don't have a hot box or any other fixture. I just hang the barrel with a piece of coathanger wire through the tang screw hole. I use a small rag or a Q-tip to apply the solution. I never swab directly from the bottle. I pour a little bit out and use it. I don't know what it is made of, but if you spill it on a piece of wood it will turn the wood green. If you heat the wood it will turn brown just like AF stain does.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

Nitric acid.

I use a damp box as described by John bivens in his rifle building articles many years ago.  The humidity, even on a damp day like today, is 7.5 %.  So I need a moisture source.  If I bronw on the bench top, it takes about a week to do the barrel, and the results are great.  But the damp box gets the same results in about 12 hours! 

I plug both ends of the barrel - the breech with a special plug and the muzzle with a dowel.  I screw an eye into these plugs, so I can hand the barrel in the box, switching ends on each application.  Applications are every 2 1/2 to 3 hours.  It takes from five to seven applications to brown a barrel.  If I run out of time in the evening, I just take the barrel out of the box and leave it on "V" blocks overnight on the bench.  By morning, the colour is evened out perfectly and I card it and kill the rust.  I use baking soda and water to kill the rust, flush with boiling water out of a kettle, and oil it while still hot.  Over the next few days, I rub the barrel down with an oily cloth removing still more surface rust, until it no longer is rusting.  This yields an even dark brown with very fine grain.  It is enormously durable and rust proof.

[yip]

  fellas it seems the hot box is the way to go, i'm meeting a guy on Sunday he building a hot box, so i'll get a idea on how its done.

[kutter]

I'm no expert but have used LMF a few times with good results. .... I don't know what it is made of, but if you spill it on a piece of wood it will turn the wood green. If you heat the wood it will turn brown just like AF stain does.

Primary ingredient is Ferric nitrate (iron nitrate) (maybe ferrous Nitrate can't remember now!
But the link to A/F is there to see. That's why the same look and result on the wood.  
It does have a bit of copper sulfate in it too I believe but not entirely sure. Maybe that'd keep insects from chewing up the stock if left unattended lying on the ground for a while.


I use the stuff for slow rust blue and brown, Have done so for many years.
I'tll work at lower temps and humidity but takes a while. Sometimes parts can hang for 2 or 3 days in 65F weather before rusting but they eventually will. A hot box is easier. The shower steamed up and door closed works great. Takes about 2 hrs.
Nothing to build, nothing to stow away when not in use.

[moleeyes36]

 fellas it seems the hot box is the way to go, i'm meeting a guy on Sunday he building a hot box, so i'll get a idea on how its done.

Yip,

Do a search on "damp box" and "browing box" here on the forum and you can get some great info on them including pictures and instructions on making one.  As I recall, Taylor posted pictures and a description of his a few months ago.

Mole Eyes

[patkinson]

I have used Homer Dangler browning solution for over 30 years.  I wouldn't know why anyone would use anything else.(impossible to get a bad job)   Phil

[JOHN L. HINNANT]

Good Afternoon All,

D. Taylor Sapergia, mentions the John Bivins "Damp Box." The late John Bivins wrote a truly great paper titled, "METAL FINISHES for the Custom Gunsmith" that was published in the RIFLE Magazine, March-April 1997. A pictorial drawing of his "Damp Box"with comments is found in this paper.

This paper is an absolute treasure trove of information about metal finishes. By all means, do your best to obtain a copy of this article. Although written in 1977, the information is still very valid and applicable today.

Another excellent source is Clyde Baker's book, Modern Gunsmithing. Although written and published in the 1920's, the book contains two very good chapters on Bluing/Browning and Heat Treatment of alloy steels. This is one of those, "Must Have" books.

If you are fortunate to secure a copy. keep it in plastic page protectors and place in a three ring binder.

For many, many years I clipped magazine articles and kept them in file folders. About 20 years or so back, they had stared to become brittle with age and difficult to handle. Not wanting to lose all of this information, the individual pages were put in clear plastic page protectors and cataloged in separate three ring binders according to subject. Some my information dates back to the early 1950's, and others were cdating back to 1946. The earliest personally clipped article is from the December, 1952 Popular Mechanics titled "How to Make Your Own Hunting Knife." The photos are from the shop of W. D. Randall of Orlando, Florida

I still continue this practice and recommend all of you do the same. Today I have a library of information that is not found on the Internet or many other places, if any.

The late John Bivins was a Master Craftsman and artist. It was my great pleasure to attend three workshops where he was one of the instructors and to get to know him over the years. I would never presume to claim a friendship with him, we at least knew each other on a first name basis. He was not only a Master Craftsman, but also a gifted and talented writer and teacher of the craft. He definitely influenced me.

John Bivins left us all too soon, and we are the poorer for it.

My Respects to All,

John L. Hinnant
"God and Texas"

[JOHN L. HINNANT]

Good Evening All,

As a follow-up to my previous post, I would encourage all who are builders of the muzzle loading rifle to join the NMLRA.

The monthly publication, MUZZLE BLAST, alone, is worth the annual dues. The cover is usually a good color photo of a custom rifle with an accompanying feature story inside. One of the monthly columns is Long Rifles of Note. Between these two, much useful information is available to the reader. For re-inactors or such there is also good information. Then there is the how-to articles.

Frequently, good articles about building firearms, knives, and accouterments and tools can be found among the pages.

I have clipped many an useful article from Muzzle Blast that always increases my knowledge, provided solutions to a problem, or caused me to think about a new project. or twist on a new project. The covers, especially the ones with a rifle on it are also clipped and filed in the binder.

I have not been back to the National Matches at Friendship, IN since 1983, and probably will not go back again, but always enjoy the MUZZLE BLAST each month. Over the years, it has enriched my knowledge in this Muzzle Loading game.

My respects to All,

John L. Hinnant
"God and Texas"

[Keithbatt]

Here is a link to a damp box made from cardboard made by Davec2.

http://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=21382.msg203054#msg203054


Keith