always willing to fill in the quiet times in life and have some projects that can be done by myself.

Is there a site on the use of Plumb Brown? I can degrease by using Simple Green. Applying the product should not be difficult with the use of rubber gloves and eye protection. The humidifier is in question. Give me an example of one to make that could be of size to do a barrel as well.

What is the best way to apply? With strokes or actual resting in solution? If so how much of the product should I buy? 2 Bottles - 3 etc...?

I have done a floorplate in Blue Wonder but it does not wear very good at all. Now on to another home study.

regards,

Hi Grizz- I've used Plumb Brown and found it not too bad with a fairly coarse finish. However lately I've run across Laurel Mountain Forge Brown and that is absolutely the best. I ran a hot tank blue business for years and did some rust bluing of doubles. It is quite a bit of work. So when I found that Laurel Mtns. product will Brown AND Blue I had to give it a try. First I down loaded the advanced instructions from their site and followed exactly. I first redid my .50 Mowrey muzzle loader and got a lovely deep, dark chocolate brown. I was so impressed that I hauled out a 6.5x55 Swedish mauser I have and followed the bluing instructions. Perfect first time out! I opted for a matte type blue and it is lovely. To get a matte finish you card with a stiff wet cloth... use 4x steel wool and you come up with a bright finish and all the heat you need is to heat scalding water on the kitchen stove and pour it into my 4" scalding trough (split plastic pipe 36" long, capped both ends) onto the metalwork. Six passes and a lovely job. When I think of the years of hassle with oxnate tanks and pipe burners this has got to be the only way to go. Cheap too !! $7.95 bottle will do three long guns.-- Cariboo

I'd go with cariboo's suggestion. He's giving you good advice.

cariboo, sounds like positive results! it is a no go to get any of these "rusting" type products in the bush via small air commuters. Did notice when in town in the last few days that most products are BirchWood Casey. Had a Brownells order(Oxpho) a wk or so but they would not ship to Fairbanks by truck,being the close road port if you will. From there I can get er here. Just a hassle living in the sticks in this regard.

If there is a way to get the stuff to Fairbanks, Ak. via UPS then it is easy-some more homework.

thanks

Hi Grizz.- I know what you're saying. I live in the Demented Dominion just south of you. At least you're sending within your own country. I found that there is always a way around the Fun Police. Best thing about Laurel mtn. Is that the specifications of this stuff barely makes the definition of corrosive. Also there is an outfit named Muzzleloader Builders Supply that just the other week sent me some bottles of Wahkon Bay Acid Blue and Homer Dangler's Brown. They were out of his Blue that I want try. Then I'm going to stock up on Laurel mtn. That'll probably see me to my rocking chair. So someone will always do business. Perhaps you have an amigo in the 49 who will buy it and simply mail it marked Xmas Cake! Anyway if you go to Winrest.com and look at their drop dead beautiful rust jobs and their damp box you can see it doesn't need an elaborate set up and it ain't rocket surgery. My pump house sits at 55% humidity and does just fine. I've built a damp box about 45" tall 16" square with a 250 watt spot light under a 1 lb. coffee tin to hold water. The work will be hung on wires. Haven't used it yet but when its 35 below the humidity is zip! (you know that!!) so it'll be used then---Cariboo

Grizz- Forgot...don't use a wax base polish on your wheels (knife makers polish) Laurel Mtn will let you get away with murder on degreasing...but won't cut wax. Gotta use something like Brownells glue based polish.--Cariboo

cariboo, demented dominion?

them pointers are a good one-much abliged!

I'll second cariboo's high opinion of the Laurel Mtn. Forge product. It is great stuff and, used as directed, allows you really great control of the type and quality of the final finish.

Has to be some posts about this in the archives...but agree, Laurel Mt. works. Pretty rare to find a product that does exactly what it claims to do, but it does.

Agree with the others, Laurel Mountain Forge works great as a brown, and even better as a blue. I don't use a split pipe, simply cap a piece of PVC long enough tp hold the barrel or barreled receiver, and pour boiling water down the pipe.

:D alright I believe you all(chuckle).

emailed them this afternoon and will see if they will UPS the "stuff" to Fairbanks and from there I will get it here.

mahsii'

I've tried a lot of browning solutions with less than desirable results from most. Wahkon Bay is spotty, slow and very difficult to stop once it finally got going. BC Plumb is a surface only finish like cold blue, wear properties are not very good and as someone else stated, the finish is very rough. LMF didn't trip my trigger any either.

I've also tried dozens of home recipe's and mixtures of different over-the-counter solutions given on-line but the best is still what I got from an old gunsmith many years ago. Of course, it's one of the most dangerous too and thanks to this present day lawyer-happy society, I hesitate to give it out in favor of my own protection.

One thing that does work quite well and squirm if you will but human urine is one of the best browning solutions available and the price is right. You can mix your own artificial urine blend using water, salt, ammonia and citric acid (sorry, don't have the recipe in front of me for the exact proportions). It too works well but is slow however much safer than pure acid base solutions. 10-10-10 fertilizer brine is also highly effective but difficult to get even and hard to kill.

I rarely use a sweat box unless I'm doing heavy pitting or the air is extremely dry which only happens for about 1 week a year. Preparation is the most critical part of the process no matter what solution you use. Chemical de-grease followed by a hot water & non-residual detergent scrub is a must. From there on out it's a matter of knowing how far to card off and when to get the results you desire. If you're going for rust blue, the final carding operation is the most critical step because any little variation you put in mechanically, is going to stick out like spraying a big ole spot of flourescent marking paint on it.

One thing that does work quite well and squirm if you will but human urine is one of the best browning solutions available and the price is right. From there on out it's a matter of knowing how far to card off and when to get the results you desire. If you're going for rust blue, the final carding operation is the most critical step because any little variation you put in mechanically, is going to stick out like spraying a big ole spot of flourescent marking paint on it.

well I have sent an order from Brownells to a gent stateside and we'll get things taking care of.

Oxpho and Pilkingtons-be good to have around

LMF is the best of all the browns I have seen and used. One trick taught to me by my cousin was to hang the barrel in the bathroom while taking a shower, and leave it there for awhile afterwards. It works great to get the nice even deep brown. Anytime you have access to steam like a shower, use it. This brown also wears very well and for many years without rubbing off. The deeper in the metal you can get it the better it will wear.

The deeper in the metal you can get it the better it will wear.


Depth = pitting when talking about a brown finish ... perhaps you meant to say "hardness" as opposed to depth?

The "harder" the rust, the better it will wear. The "thicker" the rust layer, the more prone it will be to flakeing.

No, I mean depth...pitting. Making them look like an old relic. They do not flake and hold the brown much better.