Here's a quick video I made during the bluing session today. I ran 7 complete cycles. It took about 5 hours. Everything turned out really well.





Note the positive air flow draft coming in the window (drawn by the overhead hood/fan exhaust system).





Everything cleaned up. The work is curing it's new dark black finish. And ...

Gary has left the building!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/11/2010 04:45PM by barnespneumatic.

Excellent! Hope you went out and had a nice dinner after that one.

-- Jim

Hi Jim,

We went to a nice place we hadn't tried before. Nice atmosphere. The meal was great. The waitress was terrible, and we had to fight to pay and leave.

At any rate, the company was good. ;?)

Gary

It's interesting to see the process of your work. Not everyone shows the process of their works. Thanks Gary! I see you have a new toy to play with now, the Camcorder he..he..

Gary, that's a neat system! I think that's just like the volcanologists wear when they collect lava. I bet it's just as caustic. Nice rack, are those new?

Kent

Hello Kent,

You bettcha. Hey ... reminds me. At dinner last night ... there was a table of two older couples. One tiny old lady with dyed red hair dominated the table with a non-stop monologue bashing Sarah Palin while the rest ate. She sure drives them nuts. Only thing the lady could find wrong in the country now, I suppose.

You are right about the caustic nature of the bluing shop. I'm always amazed that it doesn't cause any lung or throat irritation. It doesn't. However; just the atmosphere, wherever it can rest on open skin, causes a itch you can't ignore. You don't DARE brush it with a glove ... or you'll get a nasty chemical burn. I've done it. Takes awhile to heal too. So; I suit up with a tighty drawn hood and long sleeves ... tall neoprene gloves, neoprene apron, and full face shield. Still, the stuff will itch my scalp thru the hood. This is some mega salt.

For readers, this process relies upon a condition known as "Super Saturation". As you know ... water boils at 212 degrees F. Well, as you add salt, it raises the boiling point. As you saw (reminds me of another video I'll load) ... this tank of salt just barely boils at 290 degrees F, because of the absurd salt content. When cold, the tank is solid. As you heat it, it begins to soften, and you must break it apart. You stir and chop, stir and chop, until it becomes a liquid at about 150-180 degrees. You must carefully balance the water/salt mix ... to keep the boiling point at the exact mix and temp. Too much water, and it all boils over, at too low a heat, and froths all over the tank and floor. Too much salt and heat, and the chemical will produce "red stain" ... that you must grind off. It's a very tight balance act. You can't loose attention, or you have a real mess.

I'll load that other video.

Gary





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/11/2010 04:46PM by barnespneumatic.

Nice post Gary! I'm glad the session went well. That's a lot of nice parts there. I saw a couple gun parts in there that are almost recognizable by the owner. That ought to get someone excited...

Yeah ... did you see your barrel? Catch it on the way by? hahah.



I notice the comentary on the last video indicates 8 pots might have resulted in permanent brain damage. hahah.

Gary

Gary,

How many pounds of gas do you estimate you used today?

Tough process! Good bluing does put a gun's look over the top.

Lon

Hi Lon,

Probably around 50 pounds of Propane.

Yeah ... it does look nice. Gets a real rich black color. I soak it longer than is really required. Makes a nice tough surface.

Gary

Dropping in a picture of us before dinner last evening. I've made better friends with the new camera.



The weather has been delightful. I love Spring!

Gary

Great picture! You and Kelly looking great Gary. Is that a camara trick or you look a lot younger with the new weight loss? lol.

Hi Peter,

Oh yeah ... with the total grey hair, and the snow white beard ... I look like a KID again! hahah.

Gary

Gary,

I think the weight loss does make you look younger.

Dang, Lon, I was just marvelling over how the sun caught Gary's beard, shining it blonde, almost Scandanavian, and oh so young!!
But, back to the videos and such.... Gary, I am in awe of the blueing process...I was sure something alien was going to emerge from that boiling mass of salts!!
Impressive.
Cheers
Neil

It appears that something alien DID emerge ... once Lon became involved! heheh.



Yes - bluing is something to get on to. Takes a bid of desire to stick to it. Quite a few things that can go wrong. Including being disolved by a bubbling ooozzzzz ....

Gary

Thats awesome GB. Never seen it done b4. Thanks for posting that or THOSE videos.

Like the GOATEE and FRO'.............lol

I spent all day yesterday, taking the parts from the racks (carefully), cleaning them, blowing out the oil, and cataloging them again. This involves putting a pc., of painter's tape with their catalog number on them, changing them to "blued" status, and marking out the owner, and which other parts they go with. It's a bunch of confusing work. Has to be kept straight.

Now, I can clean up the shop from the marathon building and sanding season ... and get ready to pull out a set of parts to be completed. I'll have to build the stock, and complete whatever billet parts were roughed out to get the proper measurements and interface connections with the steel. I'm not out of the woods, but I now have a map and compass.

Gary

If anybody's marking their calendars, haha, I've now lost 35 lbs. too. And, with tossing out Aspertame AND Splenda, about 90% of the headaches are gone.

Did you catch that guys? Customers are only responsible for 10% of Gary's headaches! That's a big relief to me...

Nothing beats real sugar. That fake stuff'll scramble your genes.

You're still allowed to have coffee I take it, right?

-- Jim

Are you sure of those numbers Jerry? Or does this mean that Gary has freed up 90% of his headache capacity for his customers?

It's all in how you look at it.

It's both! He said stopping the artificial sweetners stopped 90% of the headaches and since the customers (like me remain a pain (perhaps in the other end)), we can only be 10%. But that also means that he's freed up headache space for us!

let me rephrase that ....





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/14/2010 12:28AM by barnespneumatic.