Gun bluing

TJK9787 · September 16, 2009

Does anyone know if any major stores carry gun bluing supplies. I live in lower New York and i cant think of any place that would have it.

EDIT:just found out theres a firing range close by gunna check there

RookieBlue7 · September 16, 2009

Just know that you're not going to get a true blue hue out of it because it's going to be a cold bluing. Hot bluing is where it's at, but it's also expensive. If you want a true blue hue that you can DIY, flaming the putter and stopping when it turns blue is going to be a better bet. Cold bluing produces more of a brown.

turbo4door · September 16, 2009

Picked up some Birchwood Casey super blue gel at my local gun shop. Turned it a nice dark gray after a few coats. Looks awesome

BParis · September 16, 2009

You can get the Birchwood Casey gun blue kit at Dick's Sporting Goods. I tried to pick it up at my local Wal-Mart, but they don't carry it any longer.

The cold bluing is actually a dark, steel grey color. The more coats you put on the darker and deeper it gets.

azone · September 16, 2009

The only real cold blue is an acid blue. It is an old technique. You can get the materials and instructions from Brownell's shooting supplies.

ScottyMizuno · September 30, 2009

Hi everyone,

I'm new to Golfwrx - but a very avid and keen golfer.

Having recently purhcased my first scotty, I've been enthralled ever since.

A friend of mine is going to sell me one of his very old and worn scotties (its a newport) for about $50. I think its a steal, but it does need a lot of work on the head.

I have no experience at all with how to recondition a putter head - I'm 21 yrs old, and have never given it a try - but extensive googling and research, and I'm keen as mustard to now do it.

Just a qn about this bluing concept...If my putter head is completely rusted and has actually been tried to be painted over it, will bluing it magically fix all my problems?

Will it a) get rid of the rust
b)get rid of the paint
c) make it all gun metal black looking?

That being the case, what will happen to all the writing on the putter - will that become visible and clear - or will that too also turn black?

If it does turn black, then it doesnt make sense to me - because you would want the words "scotty cameron" to be showing visibly wouldnt you?

Sorry for all the qns, but I am really excited about this, and with your help, I think I've found another passion apart from hitting the golf course!!

Thanks

RookieBlue7 · September 30, 2009

[quote name='ScottyMizuno' post='1979488' date='Sep 30 2009, 01:12 AM']Hi everyone,

I'm new to Golfwrx - but a very avid and keen golfer.

Having recently purhcased my first scotty, I've been enthralled ever since.

A friend of mine is going to sell me one of his very old and worn scotties (its a newport) for about $50. I think its a steal, but it does need a lot of work on the head.

I have no experience at all with how to recondition a putter head - I'm 21 yrs old, and have never given it a try - but extensive googling and research, and I'm keen as mustard to now do it.

Just a qn about this bluing concept...If my putter head is completely rusted and has actually been tried to be painted over it, will bluing it magically fix all my problems?

Will it a) get rid of the rust
b)get rid of the paint
c) make it all gun metal black looking?

That being the case, what will happen to all the writing on the putter - will that become visible and clear - or will that too also turn black?

If it does turn black, then it doesnt make sense to me - because you would want the words "scotty cameron" to be showing visibly wouldnt you?

Sorry for all the qns, but I am really excited about this, and with your help, I think I've found another passion apart from hitting the golf course!!

Thanks[/quote]
No, it won't get rid of the rust, no it won't get rid of the paint, and no it won't look gun metal. Cold Bluing is a process that involves, basically, staining the metal a darker color (depending on which cold bluing kit you get, you might get a brown color, others will be a darker, near black color, while others might have a slight bluish black tint to them, again, dependent upon what type/brand of cold bluing you decide to buy).

The writing on the putter will still be there, you will need to paintfill it to make it stand out, search on here for paintfilling and you'll see what that means.

You'd also need to strip it down to bare metal (which means removing the paint, rust, etc) before you blue it. Strip the paint first and then take the head an submerge it in some CLR (Calcium Lime Rust) solution available at any store that sells bathroom cleaning supplies. Let it sit in there for 10-15 minutes and then remove it, maybe give it a light rub with a soft bristled toothbrush and then rinse it off with water, making sure you dry it as soon as you rinse it to prevent trapping any water in the pores of the metal (which leads to rust). I always dry mine with a towel then blow them off with an air gun.

Once you have it down to raw metal, you'll then need to remove any nicks and dings, should you choose to do so. This involves progressive sanding, meaning you start with a firm grit and progressively go to a finer grit. Once you have everything smoothed out, you'd then be ready to blue it.

Use the bluing solution according to the manufacturer's specifications. Let it set overnight to make sure everything gets good and dry and set in. You can then paintfill it in whatever colors you choose. I recommend Tamiya XAcryllic paints for the paintfill personally, as they work better than any other paint I've tried. Once you're done paintfilling, then rub it down with a good quality gun oil, again a preference of mine is Rem Oil made by Remington. I always put 3 light coats of gun oil on, letting it sit for 30 minutes between coats. Once that's done, wipe it down with a dry cloth and you're good to go. Make sure to keep dirt, debris and moisture off the head after usage by wiping it down with a towel after each shot with the putter (at least that's what I do). At the end of the round, take it home and oil it again with the Rem Oil. I reoil my putters that are black ox, blued, flamed, etc after every round. You want to do this to keep it where water will bead up and not get trapped in the metal's pores, as that's what leads to rusting.

sjujohn · October 5, 2009

I used the 44/40 blu gel this weekend and even after wiping it down and drying it. THough when I wipe it down with an oil cloth a little bit of black comes off. Should I wipe it down with 0000 and apply another coat, Any suggestions?

bankerrkt · October 5, 2009

RookieBlue7 .... I would suggest that if you have never tried your hand on refinishing that you might want to buy a couple of cheap beaters off of Ebay to learn and experiment on before starting on a Scotty. I'm not trying to discourage you so please don't take it that way. I'm just conservative that way. Good luck with your project. This forum has some really knowledgable folks that are great about sharing their experience.