Les Baer and blueing

[hunts4food]

I recieved my single side thumb safety from Les today for my Baer Custom Carry and after 4 hours of careful fitting and blending(first time ever to do one) it came out perfect. Now I need to blue it. Also need to touch up the blueing on the frame where the ambi safety rubbed the blueing off. Les said if I send the safety back he would blue it but I want to learn plus I still have the frame issue that needs touched up. Can you guys guide me through the process and tell me what I need? Thanks in advance.

[Greg Derr]

Hot bluing requires a few thousand dollars of an investment I'm afraid.

[drail]

Setting up a bluing operation at home is most definitely not worth the trouble unless you plan to do it for a living and you also get to deal with OSHA and the EPA. Those are some nasty chemicals.

[hunts4food]

So what about the cold blueing I am seeing? Would that not work?

[Greg Derr]

Cold bluing is fine for small scratches, it does not last on hard use areas.

[153]

Send the part back to Les!

[navman]

Slow rust blue is another alternative. It requires and investment of time and energy, but requires less equipment. Depending on several factors (ie Water source, heat, humidity, propper degrease, etc) the finish is a Blue-black, that while not as beautifuly blue as Hot salt bluing, is very attractive.

Do a web search and you can see some examples. Here is one I did a few years back.

http://forums.1911forum.com/showthread.php?t=285858

[Rick McC.]

I've had very good results doing exactly what you want with a Birchwood Casey Blue Touchup pen

Changed the ambi out on my CC Comanche and needed to cover frame wear and the "fitted" areas on the new TS.

Be sure and degrease the area to be blued first; I use 90% isopropyl alcohol from the drug store.

Take care,

Rick

[log man]

Hot bluing is not that big a deal if you really want to have the ability. I did it early on as I didn't like the cold blue results. Did some research and went with Hubbard-Hall's Black Magic hot bluing salts. Made a tank from some material I had. The sides should be 6" above the level you fill. Maintaining the water concentration is how it is kept boiling, and maintaining the temp at 285-290 degrees F. I used a turkey burner. For the water replenishment I attached a pipe on the top back edge, against the side, using an on/off, and metering valve. The pipe is closed on the end and has small holes pointed at the side so the water gets heated as it runs down to the solution.



LOG

[hunts4food]

Thanks for the help guys. I may try the touch up pen on the frame and send the safety back to Les for blueing if I can't get it looking good. I hate to spend a bunch of money to get set up and just blue one piece.

[ken_mays]

Another option is to find a local 'smith who blues. Ask him when he's going to run the tanks next, and see how much he'd charge to throw your part in.

[hunts4food]

Ok guys I decided to tackle it myself. Story of results can be found in the Les Baer section on here.