Porter Baldridge Page 10
I want, I set the parts aside for a day, then I wipe them down with
paper towels and oil them. This tends to set the bluing and make it
more durable. As this second edition goes to press, I have found a
great new product. It is a metal blackening (bluing) kit put out by
Eastwood. Their number is 1-800-345-1178. This kit will do a great
job on parts, though it is too small to do a barreled action. Make sure
you follow the directions, and the results will amaze and amuse you.
This product was designed for automobile restoration, but it is the
most forgiving gun bluer I have found, and is extremely durable. A
good way to clean the metal work after scraping or wiping the majority
of the cosmoline off is to boil them in a solution of Cascade
dishwasher compound. This gets all the grease and oil off, and a light
wire brushing will ready the parts for paint or bluing. For gross
cosmoline removal use kerosene or paint thinner. On the rifles I have
fixed up, there seemed to be an inordinate amount of dried on crud
under the cosmoline, and the Cascade trick loosens this too.
On original wood, I bring it back with WATCO DANISH OIL finish in a
shade of your choice. I clean the stock, if not too grungy with this
finish and steel wool (000 grade). Lay on a good coat after the wood
is cleaned, let it set a day or so, then scrub down with paper towels.
To make wood match, use various shades of Lincoln Leather Dye
applied, steel wooled, and WATCOed. If the wood is really greasy
and grungy, use Easy Off spray oven cleaner on it, wash it off, sand,
and do as before with WATCO, Leather Dye, ETC.
It is often better to scrape these stocks rather than sand them. The
non walnut stocks get somewhat fuzzy when sanded sometimes.
None of this is an exact science, do what you need to do to make the
wood match and look good. Oh, by the way, I have found that
FORMBYS furniture refinisher is an excellent product to clean the
grease off stocks, and to generally de-mung them. Follow the
directions on the can, then follow up with WATCO. This works nearly
as well as oven cleaner, and is easier on the skin, and all around an
easier process. If you balk at the the price of this product, get yourself a
quart of acetone, tulol, and denatured alcohol. Mix them together in a
gallon can, and you have three quarts of cloned FORMBY'S for less
than ten dollars. Do not smoke around either product, do not get any
on ya, and it is best used ouside as the fumes would put a glue sniffer
in orbit. This product will also get the oil out of cracked pieces so they
can be glued with epoxy, microbed, or Brownell's Acro-Glass. The
WATCO Satin Oil for maintenance works well to keep your rifles
looking nice with none of the disadvantages of linseed oil. This stuff
© Porter Baldridge 1996 All rights reserved.