Fire blueing lock and trigger

[Rog215]

Hi all new to the forum here. I have just received my Kibler colonial rifle a few days ago and it is well underway. I was searching for techniques to finish the steel parts and came across fire blueing. My question is can I fire blue the frizzen without affecting to much the hardness of the part? Or is there any other methods to achieve that look? This is my first kit I’m putting together and want to make the rifle as correct as possible. As for the barrel I’m going to brown it. Any suggestions are appreciated.

[smart dog]

Hi Rog215,
Probably very few long rifles were finished with fire bluing but there are some that suggest it such as the Edward Marshall rifle.  There are 2 kinds of heat bluing, charcoal bluing and temper bluing.  Both require heat that would ruin the properties of your frizzen unless you attach a separate hardened sole. Temper bluing is the easiest but least resistant to fading and wear.  You simply polish the parts bright and to a pretty high finish and then heat them slowly to 580-600 degrees Fahrenheit.  It is best done in a forge or heat treating oven but you can do it with a propane torch by placing the part on a thick steel plate and heating the plate from below.  When the parts starting turning purple with hints of blue, stop heating and let air cool.  The residual heat will continue to raise the temp and  turn the parts all blue.  Charcoal bluing is much more robust and creates a deep dark blue color.  In this process, the parts are packed in a metal box with ground charcoal and heated to 900 degrees for up to 3 hours.  It is critical that the parts be highly polished before packing.  After heating, the parts are rubbed with rottenstone and oil, cleaned and degreased, and heated again.  I find 2 cycles are enough but some prefer more.  The finished parts are rubbed again with rottenstone and oil and cleaned off.  Here are examples of temper bluing, note also the screw heads are temper blued as well:
     




Here is an example of charcoal bluing:












I leave the frizzens alone and they just have colors from tempering to 375 degrees after I case harden them.

dave

[FDR]

Rust blue the barrel and/or the other parts depending on the look you want.

Fred

[Scota4570]

I did the lockplate,  butplate, screws and trigger of one my SMRs a little differently.  I heated the parts in charcoal to around 900* and quenched them in canola oil.   This makes a deep blue black.  It is not burned on oil.  IT will not be perfectly even on large parts.  It works really well on screws, I do all my screws this way.  My intention was to not make a perfect job but to look like something that might have been done by a blacksmith.   

To test the process, polish a piece of steel.  Heat past the colors, to just faintly glowing red in shop light, then dunk in canola oil.   

[Tom Cooper]

I've done successful temper bluing of screws and other associated small parts with a lead pot.

[smart dog]

Hi Rog215,
If you want the rifle, which is supposed to be Rev War or colonial period, to be historically correct, don't brown the barrel or rust blue anything.  The best course is to just polish the barrel bright and perhaps tarnish it with cold bluing rubbed back heavily.  The lock and triggers could be polished bright and tarnished as well or temper blued.  I am not sure how commonly charcoal bluing was done on American colonial period rifles but the methods were certainly known. For bluing screw heads, you don't need to do anything fancy.  Just heat them slowly with a propane torch and when they start to turn purple, stop and the residual heat will turn them blue.  Then air cool and oil.

dave 

[Rog215]

I appreciate all the suggestions, I just finished putting the rifle together about 15min ago and is ready to come apart for final finishing. I’ll have to think about which direction to go with the steel parts. I do like the look of the cold bluing rubbed back. How fine of a polish would you suggest to achieve the best results?

[Bob Roller]

About 40 years ago I would on a once in a while basis redraw main,sear and frizzen springs and get an indigo/purple color on a brightly polished spring.It didn't harm the springs and along with the fire blued screws contrasted with the brightly polished plate and cock.and I also drew the pan cover part of the frizzen to the same color.I don't know about doing this to a cast spring but I know it can be done on a forged and polished spring.I don't know if there are any of my locks finished this way still around or not.
Bob Roller

[davec2]

I have often used niter bluing.  Very easy.  Too hot for some applications but perfect for screws and small parts.  Although it's called "bluing" you can get a range of colors by varying the temperature of the molten salt.

[davec2]

Oh by the way, if you want to go a little nuts preparing a tool to help attain an even heat blue, watch this guy........



Go to the last 45 seconds or so to see how he blues a screw head evenly.....

[Bsharp]

I like this, Thanks for sharing!

[Daryl]

That was a great video, Dave. He works at the same speed I do.
His end product, of couse, is much nicer.

[hortonstn]

I agree with smart dog polish,cold blue then rub back I'd hate for you to ruin the lock
Just my opinion