Hot bluing in OC while I wait or at most 3-day turnaround? Best compressor, blasting?

[dchang0]

Hi, all--

Are there any hot-bluing shops in Orange County (or south LA County or north San Diego County) that can do the work while-I-wait or at most with a 3-day turnaround?

I contacted the highly-recommended TechPlate, but the turnaround time is several weeks.

Thanks in advance!

[kcstott]

Do you know how long hot bluing takes?? I'm willing to bet No one with a proper hot salts set up would do even a one week turnaround.

[dchang0]

Nope, no idea how long it takes. What's the shortest you've seen in the real world that still did a good job? I guess I no longer have a limit on driving distance if it's going to take that long (might as well ship it anywhere in the USA).

[ar15barrels]

Do you know how long hot bluing takes?? I'm willing to bet No one with a proper hot salts set up would do even a one week turnaround.

It's the polishing and prep that takes the time.
I don't think hot bluing takes a long time.

http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/lid=11044/guntechdetail/Bluing_The_Traditional__Hot_Salts_Way

Parkerzing is WAY easier though.
Just degrease, blast, dip, rinse and oil...

[kcstott]

Yeah but that's on paper, with everything up to temp, all parts fully prepped ready to go

I'm not saying it will take a week to do but it will take every bit of an eight hour day plus the over night cure time.

Thing is I know for sure I don't like customers looking over my shoulder. Can't stand it. And I sure as hell wouldn't want them waiting around 295˚ boiling caustic salts. Nor would I want to try to do a rush job working around salts.

Nope thats where I would want the customer to drop it off and come get it in a week or so.

Now parkerizing is different and much faster and safer to work around. that can be done in just over a couple of hours tops from start to finish

Send it to Hot Flash blueing, Danforth Gunsmithing, or Glenrock blue

[dchang0]

Thanks guys.

Ah no, I wouldn't be actually looking over the finishers' shoulders. I'd just be in the waiting room with a laptop, far from the salts. That was the hope at least. And it wasn't about rushing the job but about the shop not having a huge backlog. Last time I had a muzzle brake sent out for hot bluing, the shop kept pushing back the date. "Oh, it'll be done in two weeks," then "next week," "next week," "next week." Six months later still not done.

I'll check with the shops you mentioned, kcstott. Thanks again to both of you.

[ar15barrels]

Now parkerizing is different and much faster and safer to work around. that can be done in just over a couple of hours tops from start to finish

I parkerize about 3-4 times a week.
The longest part is waiting for the tanks to come up to temperature.
That's about 15 minutes on my setup.
I shaved a FSB down to a gas block yesterday.
I lit the burners, cut the FSB down, finished ground it to shape while also shaving the lug and sling swivel tabs.
By the time I sandblasted it, the tanks were at 180.
Into the tank for a few minutes, then hot water rinse and into the post treat oil.
Probably 25 minutes for the whole thing.

Granted, a whole gun takes longer as there is the disassembly, lots more blasting and then the re-assembly...

[bridgeport]

Hi, all--

Are there any hot-bluing shops in Orange County (or south LA County or north San Diego County) that can do the work while-I-wait or at most with a 3-day turnaround?

I contacted the highly-recommended TechPlate, but the turnaround time is several weeks.

Thanks in advance!

http://www.mikesgunsmithing.com

Try these guys. Very nice hot blue work done in a timely manner. right off the 91 frwy in east Long Beach. (Orange and Artesia) they also do excellent nickle and gold work.

[dchang0]

http://www.mikesgunsmithing.com

Try these guys. Very nice hot blue work done in a timely manner. right off the 91 frwy in east Long Beach. (Orange and Artesia) they also do excellent nickle and gold work.

Wow, that's pretty much exactly what I was looking for: nearby and quick turnaround. Thanks!

[fred40]

I live near this address and never noticed this place. Thanks man!

[Eagle Eyes]

The shortest period you can hot caustic blue is you want the finish to look nice and not rust right away is 24 hours.

Everyone one who does or has done hot caustic bluing will tell you that all parts should be soaked in water displacing oil then left to drip dry for at least 24 hours for best possible finish and rust protection before handling.

If you can find anyone that can do Hot Caustic Bluing for you faster that 2 weeks you would be lucky. You have to factor in you are not the only customer and places that do hot caustic bluing for firearms are very few are far between. If the firearm was fully disassembled all the parts need to be degreased, dried, soaked in a bluing remover at the very least, have iron wires tied to all the parts and hung in the solution, rinse them, soak them in water displacing oil, hung to drip dry then have all the wires removed.

[dchang0]

Thanks for the explanation, Eagle Eyes. I've been reading various posts on forums that suggest that hot caustic bluing is doable at home, albeit slightly dangerous. I've done electroless nickel plating before and am adept at chemistry, so it's a feasible backup plan in case I can't find any shop that can do it in a timely manner.

Mostly it's about finding a shop that is good at forecasting the wait. That is, if they say it's three weeks, it turns out to be three weeks plus or minus a day or two, rather than saying it'll be two weeks and taking months. That's probably a universally-desired trait in everyone from building contractors to plumbers and electricians and computer repair to car repair.

[ar15barrels]

I'm doing a parkerizing run tomorrow around 12noon to 1pm if anyone needs small parts parkerized.
Turnaround will be about 1/2 an hour to an hour...

[Eagle Eyes]

yea there is a big safety difference between the 2 for one basic reason:

Electroless plating is done between 190 and 200 degrees while Hot Caustic bluing is done at 280 to 295 (the main ingredient is Lye), water boils at around 212. So adding water to plating solution is not that dangerous but adding to Hot Caustic will actually cause small steam explosions if you add to much to fast (in most cases you will need to add water couple times during the process since not enough water will raise the temp and ruin the process if to high a temp). That and you have to keep a rolling boil going and you will get it splattering all around the tank unless you setup some sort of shield.

[kcstott]

Not to mention evaporation loss.

dchang0 yes you can do Hot blue at home. But as mention you are playing with 295˚ F boiling lye mixed at 10 lbs to the gallon so it is a very caustic solution so not only will you get a nasty scald you will also get a chemical burn too if you're not carful,
Then if you have anything steel or aluminum around where you are bluing it will corrode the first time and will be rotted away in no time.
You can not hot blue in a garage full of tools you want to keep.

Best bet if you really want to do it your self is set it up outside or mount wheels on the stands so you can roll it out side and fire it up.

oh yeah then theres the heating issue. BTU's baby and lots of them.