Bleach on a barrel

[gru556]

Has anyone aged a barrel withbleach? If how did ya go about it?

[FrankG]

Yup , does good !
Degrease thouroghly , plug bore and vent, apply a good coat of Birchwood Casey Super Blue and just as it dries apply 50/50 water /bleach with a spray bottle to wet barrel . When it dries wet again , repeat till well rusted and uglified .
To clean up , get a 5 cal bucket of water , steel wool and rubber gloves. wash parts with water and scrub gently with steel wool to remove rust then oil parts . Wax with a good paste wax.
You should end with a mottled grey aged look.

[Leathermonger]

or you can use vinegar, less caustic and works as well will look something like this grey here





dont mind the lines, thats a faux damascus I'm working on

[FrankG]

Jim, looks like English Fine Twist !!

[mouse]

I did the vinegar treatment on a knife and I just love the way it turned out.

[Leathermonger]

Jim, looks like English Fine Twist !!

Thanks Frank, the trick is to not have the same width on the wrapping between the strings, not bad for the first time, going to try another, also, you really need a fine all cotton crochet thread or smaller, too fat a thread just doesnt look correct!

[n5lyc]

i don't have the weapon any more, but used  cotton kite string put the barrel on a spindle, and as it turned, ran the string from end to end, and in random distances,till it was covered, used a cold blue, it looked different.

Ian

[voyageur1688]

 Like the looks of it.
I think I will do that on a couple I have.
Voy

[Robyn]

 
Hi
you can try this method First clean the barrel. re-blue it with cold blue , wrap with some rags and randomly tie it with string and poor white vinegar over the barrel. let it sit for about 2-3 hours  and unwrap wash with warm water dry and coat with bee's wax mixed with turpentine. polish to high finish....
you can test this method on some bright steel stock and experiment until you get the desired finish before you do the barrel.
the reason for re-cold bluing first is that the whole process still allows the original bluing to remain largely intact under the new finish.
regards Robyn

[Dryball]

Thanks Robyn! That should make the process easier to understand.

DB

[Leathermonger]

Hi
you can try this method First clean the barrel. re-blue it with cold blue , wrap with some rags and randomly tie it with string and poor white vinegar over the barrel. let it sit for about 2-3 hours  and unwrap wash with warm water dry and coat with bee's wax mixed with turpentine. polish to high finish....
you can test this method on some bright steel stock and experiment until you get the desired finish before you do the barrel.
the reason for re-cold bluing first is that the whole process still allows the original bluing to remain largely intact under the new finish.
regards Robyn

That all depends on what color and style of finish your trying to achieve, sounds like a great method though, you have any pics of the finished product?