A day in the finishing room. Blasting and blueing.

[A.G.R]

well the weather finely broke and warmed to 34* ..yay….
I have been wanting to finish a HW 80 action thats been waiting, I’ll post the build later in the week

I machined the breech to match the chamber.. Something I do to all my builds. I HATE FLAT BREECH BLOCKS. I added screw plugs where the sight screws were. It’s a catch 22 here as you weld them full and get heat transfer stains or you see the fine lines Where the screws are. I choose the later as this is a satin hunting gun.

pics are not in order, fresh out of the last bluing dip,they sit oiled for 1/2 hr. Then lightly wiped. You can already see the nice satin black finish mellowing out..

Then it was off to the blast cabinet. Then on to blueing.. Here are a few during the process.

 

[Privateer]

I can tell the pictures don't do the work justice!
Very nice! How do you radius the breech block?
By hand with a grinder/files?

 

[A.G.R]

I’ve milled them before , but I can file and sand them faster and safer. You have to hand shape them , Hw are easy. They look best when you have the plain breech block. HW uses soft steel. Webley not so much.. it’s real grainy and hard..

in Bluing, metal prep is everything. Do it right and black is black.. High polish will net high gloss.. that being said. It’s very time consuming and easy to get waves if you don’t know the sequence and procedure.

 

[Privateer]

Nice blasting setup. All I have is an air eraser setup.
What do you use for abrasive in the blaster?

 

[A.G.R]

Nice blasting setup. All I have is an air eraser setup.
What do you use for abrasive in the blaster?

It is very portable when needed. Most air rifles are small enough when broken down
You need a dedicated glass box and a separate aluminum oxide booth.
Depends on the finish desired, Alum -oxide for rust bluing , The carding wheel will smooth everything out with each successive dip. Glass beads , #12 for satin hot dip, pressure is key in blasting. 65 psi is all you want. Gloss bluing ,or standard Hw factory is not blasted at all ,it’s polished and buffed With specific compounds

 

[TheBeardedGunsmith]

Are you doing hot blue or touch up cold blue?

 

[Ranchibi]

Beautiful work!

 

[A.G.R]

Are you doing hot blue or touch up cold blue

You Can’t get that depth with any cold blue solutions .. it’s my own hybrid rust blueing solution
4 hrs work. Heat parts, apply solution, steam, boil,card repeat .. final oil bath. That’s 12 applications.. hot blueing for gloss only. Carding and prep in blast booth makes satin finish ..

 

[TheBeardedGunsmith]

You Can’t get that depth with any cold blue solutions .. it’s my own hybrid rust blueing solution
4 hrs work. Heat parts, apply solution, steam, boil,card repeat .. final oil bath. That’s 12 applications.. hot blueing for gloss only. Carding and prep in blast booth makes satin finish ..

Thank God. I do traditional hot caustic bluing and it saddens me when people use cold blue to refinish a whole gun.

 

[Star7]

Does bluing the inside of the compression chamber present any difficulty? Sorry if that is a stupid Q.

 

[KWK]

The barrel looks chopped. Will it be choked?

 

[A.G.R]

Does bluing the inside of the compression chamber present any difficulty? Sorry if that is a stupid Q.

nope, bluing adds no thickness at all to the surface. It just changes the color of the metal.

The barrel looks chopped. Will it be choked?

yes it is and as you can see the shroud there. What you don’t see is the secret Wink. It is choked mildly. I don’t like heavy chokes.
custom spring,port work, and as usual custom stock. .

 

[crowski]

I wish I was a fly on your wall to watch your procedure. Not to replicate, but just watch. Nice work. Crow

 

[A.G.R]

I wish I was a fly on your wall to watch your procedure. Not to replicate, but just watch. Nice work. Crow

If you were close your welcome to watch,learn, and do..
This hobby is full of egos and so called secrets that many think if they tell them ,their giving away their value..
Where in it’s actually killing this sport. Many a great tuning men have left this world to not share their knowledge with others or the youth ,only to lessen the appeal of this great sport.. THERE IS NO MONEY IN TUNING AIR RIFLES. ENOUGH FOR BEER AND FUN.. KIT DROPPING IS NOT TUNING..

I have no secrets. I can tell you my grandmothers cookie recepie, making them like she does is another thing.
..