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Antiquing "How-To"

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r0gue:
Hi all!  First post to CCFH!  Link to great Antiquing "How-To"

http://members.cox.net/longshot_logan/Metal%20Antiquing.htm

r0gue

Marshal Will Wingam:
Great post on how to make 'em look old. Thanks for posting the link. Thanks to Rio, also, for putting this here in gunsmithing.

jiminy criquet:

--- Quote ---Please forgive me for totally and utterly desecrating this brand new EMF Great Western II Single Action. I wanted to use this gun as it was a perfect example and had no wear or damage (until I got my hands on it).
--- End quote ---

LOL!  That's a damn shame to do that to a brand spanking new revolver, IMHO.  If you want it to look 'old', then use it for a while or buy a used one for cripe's sake.

With that said...if you absolutely must have an 'antique' look , then I would recommend using ferric chloride...available at Radio Shack stores as 'circuit board etchant'.  It's amber-colored stuff that comes in a plastic bottle and sells for a few dollars.  Dillute it 3-to-1 or 4-to-1 parts ferric chloride to distilled water (i.e. 3 parts distilled water, 1 part ferric chloride.  (The higher the concentration of FC, the more agressive the etching.)  You can wipe it on with a cloth or submerse the parts.  Ferric chloride leaves a grey oxide coating on the gun that repels rust.  When you're done etching the parts, simply wash them off with dishwashing detergent and hot water to neutralize the FC.  Then douche the parts with WD-40, and steel wool the finish to your taste.  Keep covered with WD-40 or a good coat of oil overnight so that the oxide coating soaks up as much rust preventative as possible to further protect the gun from rust.  (Don't forget to strip the bluing from the gun and degrease the parts before using the Ferric Chloride....see below.)

Word to the wise:  Don't dump the Ferric Chloride down the drain after you're done, as it will eat your pipes.  Put the diluted FC solution in a plastic container with a sealable lid, (like Tupperware) and label it for next time, as it's reuseable and doesn't get contaminated in the etching process.  Cool stuff.

Here's some other hints for this process:
Common brake cleaner is a cheap and effective degreaser.

Muratic acid is an excellent remover of gun bluing and all around metal stripper.  Muratic acid can be found in your grocery store under the guise of toilet cleaning products...read the labels.  I use some type of 'scrubbing bubble' tablets.  2 or 3 of them in a few cups of distilled water usually does the job on a gun frame.  (You can also get distilled water at the grocery store....but don't drink it as it sucks the minerals out of your body and will eventually kill you.  Besides, it tastes like crap.)
When I'm done with the stuff I dump it in the toilet and clean the toilet afterwards.

Now the legal stuff:  I'm not responsible if you fail to read and understand the product labels and follow common safety practices ....like wearing rubber gloves, not breathing vapors, using proper ventilation and/or wearing a vapor respirator (about $25 at Home Depot), etc., etc., etc.

Advertising:

Yankee John:
That is a great how-to,  and I used basically the same method when I redid my Uberti Cattleman.  I just had to do something to get rid of that "matte blued" finish!

The only real difference that I did was that I used Flitz polish in the very end.

Here is a pic of the completed Uberti:

Silver Creek Slim:

--- Quote from: johnrtse on November 11, 2005, 08:29:29 AM ---That is a great how-to,  and I used basically the same method when I redid my Uberti Cattleman.  I just had to do something to get rid of that "matte blued" finish!

The only real difference that I did was that I used Flitz polish in the very end.

Here is a pic of the completed Uberti:

--- End quote ---
Looks good.

Slim

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