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Blue Wonder Gun Blue by
Jamie Mangrum |
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Before Christmas a Surplusrifle.com reader emailed me a
hyperlink to take a look at an online video that showed a new
and unique way to blue
firearms. I went to the site and watched the video and was
immediately intrigued by what I saw.
The video demonstrated the following process:
- Apply the supplied
Blue Wonder Gun Cleaner to the surface of the firearm
and then heat the surface of the firearm with a propane torch;
- Wipe off the excess cleaner;
- While the metal is still hot you apply the
Blue Wonder Gun
Blue
solution;
- After you apply the coats as necessary to achieve the level of darkness you want, apply
the supplied "developer" solution;
- After the developer has had time to work with the gun
blue solution you should end up with a very dark blued firearm.
Believe me - when you combine
handling firearms and a propane torch - you are just talking
"fun" in my book!
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Novum
Contact Information
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1585 West Sam Houston Parkway North
Suite 200
Houston, TX 77049
Phone 832-204-0866
Email: sales@novumsolutions.com
Web Site:
http://www.bluewonder.us/BlueWonderGunBlue.html
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Manufacturer's Product
Description and
Price |
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With
Blue Wonder™ Gun Blue, you can have the “Hot Blue” finish,
at home, quickly, easily, inexpensively and without any “Cold
Blue” residual odors.
Blue Wonder™ Gun Blue's unique, two part
process, using 24 Carat Gold and Pure Silver, provides a deep
blue luster finish that rivals any factory new or “Hot Blue”
finish, and it deeply penetrates and fully bonds to the metal,
so it will not wear off.
This kit contains the following:
Blue Wonder™ Gun Blue – 1 Oz.
Blue Wonder™ Developer - 2 Oz.
Blue Wonder™ Gun Cleaner - 1 Oz.
Suggested Retail $29.99 |
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From left to right:
Blue Wonder Gun Cleaner, Gun Blue, and Developer. |
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A very rusty Arisaka
Type 38. Note non-existent blue on some of parts. |
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On one of my recent weekend treks I came across a rusty Arisaka
Type 38 rifle sitting on the rack in a gun shop. The bore seemed
to be in pretty good condition so any other problem was just
cosmetic in nature and could be easily repaired. It was apparent
that it needed me and could be purchased for a price less than
the cost of the gas burned on the trip home (gas is pretty
expensive here). On closer inspection I found no bluing
remained on about half of the rifle's metal surface. Also there
was quite a bit of surface rust, but it had not yet turned into
nasty pitting.
The condition of the stock is something we won't
talk about in this article other than let's just say that it has
quite a bit in common with the surface of a certain celestial
body orbiting the earth.
Since bringing the Type 38 home it has sat in
the back of my collection awaiting the day when I would pull it
out and restore it to its original beauty and grandeur. After having a
conversation with Novum, my samples of the Blue Wonder Gun Blue
system arrived in the mail and I decided it was time for a
project. It was a beautiful and warm spring day, so I set up in
the back yard on a large plastic table that my wife says I have
already ruined. |
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Remove all factory
bluing from areas to be re-blued. Note ruined table. |
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Supplied
Instructions |
| Wear rubber gloves to protect hands
and keep oil from getting on the metal. |
The instructions state that all factory bluing had to
be removed from the surface of the rifle because the
Blue Wonder
Gun Blue will not bond to it. I tried to use the supplied Blue
Wonder Cleaner to remove the bluing but was unable to, so I used
my fallback of
Naval Jelly® Rust Dissolver (Naval
Jelly technically being a brand of jelly
containing phosphoric acid).
The process I used for removing the bluing can be found in a
short article on this site. This process worked very well and
also removed the surface rust from the effected areas. |
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Clean the entire
area that is to be blued with Blue Wonder Gun Cleaner. |
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Supplied
Instructions |
Liberally apply
Blue Wonder™ Gun
Cleaner gel again, to the areas to be blued, and “while
the gel is on the surface of the metal”, use a propane
torch and heat the area until it is “hot to the touch”
(about 125oF to 130oF – too hot to touch but not hot
enough to cause a burn). If a propane torch is not
available, you can use a hair dryer or heat gun. (Remove
or protect wood, plastic or composite components!)
Heating the metal while the gel is on it, draws rust
particles and residue out of the pores. Heat also
removes moisture, expands the pores and activates
Blue
Wonder™ Gun Blue. This step is very important, in order
to obtain Factory Blue results!
Using a clean, dry cloth or paper towel, wipe the hot
Blue Wonder™ Gun Cleaner off of the metal. Do not touch
the cleaned piece with your bare fingers or let it come
in contact with any oil, grease or other substance as
the bluing may not bond to these areas! |
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Now I came to the fun part of the project - the propane
torch! Even now while typing the words "propane torch",
it makes me smile.
Following the instructions I first cleaned the
surface of the rifle with the
Blue Wonder Cleaner. Then while
only working with small sections at a time (if you work with
large sections the metal will most likely cool before you can apply
the gun blue), I applied a liberal amount of the cleaner to
the surface and then heated momentarily with the propane torch.
I heated just until the metal surface was hot (not red hot). I then wiped off the
excess cleaner with paper towel. |
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Immediately after
wiping off the gel and “while the metal is still hot”, apply
Blue Wonder Gun Blue with a soft paper towel or cloth. |
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Supplied
Instructions |
| Apply as many coats as necessary to
obtain the desired darkness. Each successive coat of
Blue Wonder™ Gun Blue will increase the darkness,
(minimum of 5-6; maximum of 15-16). |
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Next I applied the first coat of the bluing solution to the
heated surface of the rifle. At first the color of the metal
only darkened a small degree, but as I applied successive coats
this changed. A couple things I noticed right away was that
there were no horrible fumes and there wasn't any surface rust created by the
application of the bluing solution. These are both common
experiences when using a standard
cold bluing product.
The instructions state that you should apply a minimum of
five to six coats with a maximum of fifteen to sixteen coats. I
ended up applying about nine coats to all the surfaces of the
rifle before I felt it was dark enough for my liking. One thing
I have got to say is you need to block out some time for this
project and you need to be patient. This is not a fast process.
The more time you take the better the final finish ends up
looking. Another thing to note is that later if you are not
pleased with the end result you can easily clean, heat and apply
more coats of the bluing solution until you do get the desired
darkness and finish. |
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After the final coat
of bluing is dry, “saturate” a small area of a clean paper towel
or cloth with Blue Wonder Developer and apply it liberally to
the blued areas. |
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Supplied
Instructions |
| The developer dries and sets the
Blue
Wonder™ Gun Blue and brings out a deep, dark luster. Let
the piece “SET” undisturbed for 6 to 8 hours so that the
gun blue and developer have a chance to properly react
with each other. Do not apply gun oil or other
substances to the blued areas during this time. After 6
to 8 hours, apply a coat of quality gun oil such as BreakFree CLP or similar. |
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Shortly after the final coat of bluing dried I took a clean rag
and applied a coat of the developer all over the surface of the
firearm. The instructions state that you should wipe off the
excess developer and then let the firearm sit undisturbed for
six to eight hours. This time allows the developer to react with
the bluing and I did note that the finish darkened even more as
time passed. The photo above shows the rifle's blued parts (sitting
on the ruined table) with
the developer applied. Note that all the parts have a very dark, rich, and
satin gloss finish.
After eight hours I applied a coat of gun oil over the entire
surface of the rifle. The final finish is much, much darker than
traditional
cold bluing and less splotchy. |
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Blued Barrel in
Contrast to Non-Blued Upper Barrel Band. |
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In evaluating the ease of use and length of time it takes to
complete bluing a firearm using the Blue Wonder bluing system, I would rate this
product somewhere between cold
bluing and commercial hot bluing. Once you get the hang of all
of the steps required it is not difficult to complete - it just
takes time. The final product/finish is much darker than even my
favorite cold bluing solution of Birchwood Casey Super Blue. After cold bluing there is always a slight acrid smell that
seems to permeate the metal and never quite goes away. This is
one way you can tell if a firearm has been cold blued. The smell
does not completely go away with using the Blue Wonder product,
but it is considerably less noticeable.
The photo above shows the blued barrel of the Type 38 in
contrast to the upper barrel band that has not been blued. You
can see for yourself that the Blue Wonder product produced an
excellent and very dark finish.
jlm;) |
