# Gun Bluing an Iver



## tailhole (Jul 25, 2013)

Got this spray painted Iver from the bay, stripped it and thought gun bluing would be an appropriate finish.
Still need to do some work to get it on the road, but here is the mockup....



BEFORE....





AFTER....


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## scrubbinrims (Jul 25, 2013)

What is gun bluing (am I the only that doesn't know?)?
Chris


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## rustyspoke66 (Jul 25, 2013)

Seems appropriate to me, after all they were a arms manufacturer and the bike does not have nice original paint by any means.


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## pedal4416 (Jul 25, 2013)

I think that will look great! Makes sense, weren't the headsets blued?


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## Greg M (Jul 25, 2013)

Hot or cold blued?


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## tailhole (Jul 25, 2013)

*Bluing*

Bluing is treatment done to steel to create a mild rust resister. It's primarily done by gunsmiths to create the blackish-blue color you find on the metal parts of guns.
Traditionally, the process was done by dipping the metal parts in a vat of the bluing solution and heating it to around 300 degrees.
There's also a cold bluing process (this is what I did).  This bluing solution is sold very cheaply (less than 10 bucks) at most gun shops and is applied to CLEAN metal quickly & evenly (30 seconds to a minute).  Drips and runs must be wiped and blended quickly or visible streaking occurs. 
This is mostly a cosmetic treatment and a top coat of oil or some type of clear coat should be applied to prevent rust.  I used boiled linseed oil, a lot of it, rubbed in over a few coats.
And Tom, I'm not sure about the treatment Iver used on the headset parts.
I'll keep you posted on how it holds up over time.


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## Iverider (Jul 26, 2013)

COOL!

I'm thinking about doing a copper plated bike albeit a Trek from the 80s instead of an Iver.

Did you strip the handlebars and chrome parts? Or just blue over them?

As far as Iver headset parts, the cups would have been Nickel or Chrome plated. Cones may have been blued.


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## pedal4416 (Jul 26, 2013)

all of the ivers i have owned have had black headsets. all were pre 1935. Theres a picture of one here
http://thecabe.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?14890-1913-Iver-Johnson-Truss-frame

And it looks very similar to my gun barrels.


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## rustjunkie (Jul 26, 2013)

cool, can we see some close-ups of the finish?


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## tailhole (Jul 26, 2013)

*other parts*



Krautwaggen said:


> COOL!
> 
> I'm thinking about doing a copper plated bike albeit a Trek from the 80s instead of an Iver.
> 
> ...





That sound cool.  Post some picks when you do it.
I just blued the frame & fork.  The other spray painted red parts were stripped and liberally coated in linseed oil.  I will see how this holds up (I've done it before with good luck).  But might ultimately powder coat them with a matt clear powder from Powder by the Pound.  Luckily, I can do my own powdercoating at work for just the cost of the powder, which is very cheap (like $15 a pound, enough for a couple bikes).
My cranks, cups, etc were in original unpainted condition, so I just cleaned those up with a rag & WD-40.
Fun stuff.

-Scott


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## tailhole (Jul 26, 2013)

*photo*



alw said:


> cool, can we see some close-ups of the finish?




I'll try to add one later this evening when I get home.  Some spots are slightly darker than others, but overall looks decent.


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## pedal4416 (Jul 26, 2013)

tailhole said:


> I'll try to add one later this evening when I get home.  Some spots are slightly darker than others, but overall looks decent.




Id like to see the close ups as well. I bought cold bluing for touch up stuff on my guns from Birchwood Casey and have not used it yet.  I had similar intentions on using it for war era blackout bikes.


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## tailhole (Jul 28, 2013)

*Photos*

I tried to take some photos, these turned out the best, but it's hard to capture the finish, it sorta changes color in different light.  There are small specks of red paint that were deep in some of the pits that I couldn't get out or didn't see.  So inspect your frame thoroughly before putting on this or any other finish.  Looks pretty good overall, I think.  The red specks aren't visible if you're standing a foot or so away.  
-Scott


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## pedal4416 (Jul 28, 2013)

Very nice!! I'm going to do a few parts on my CWC cycletruck. Thank you for the pics!!


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## SirMike1983 (Jul 28, 2013)

Greg M said:


> Hot or cold blued?




My question as well. Cold bluing is quite corrosive and can be harsh on steel. It works as a touch up for user firearms, but there still is no substitute for fire blue. A gun maker buddy of mine uses fire bluing and wow does the color have depth.


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## Talewinds (Jul 28, 2013)

Ditto here too on the hot/cold bluing????

Gotta be cold bluing, that's really the only commercial way to economically get it done these days.


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## tailhole (Jul 28, 2013)

Yeah, the more difficult method is usually always more expensive and of higher quality. I wanted a quick fix on an otherwise very ugly Iver.  I got the bike fairly cheap and always wanted to try bluing a bike (I've done other parts on furniture I've built). As you can see from the photos, there is a fair amount of pitting too, to I don't feel bad spending $15 on a finish as opposed to several hundred on another method.  
I know powder coat would fill and help camouflage some of the minor pitting, but I've powdercoated lots of frames and parts (I have access to a powder coater at work & do it myself for just the cost of powder - $15) and wanted to try something else.
Anyway, I really dig it and think it looks cool, especially as Rustyspokes pointed out it's a nod the history of the products produced by the maker.

If you do it, after cleaning with denatured alcohol, I'd recommend starting at the bottom and work your way up to avoid drips on raw metal ( = staining ), work quickly with a sponge and in the other hand have white rag to quickly blend drips and overlap.  It's says for it to stay on for 30 seconds or so, then wipe.  My cheap bench mount stand allowed me to rotate and keep the tube I was working on be at the bottom to help avoid drips (also try to just do one tube at a time, especially with the first coat).
Don't worry if it's not as dark as you like the first go, you can make it darker with more coats (up to about 4 coats, then it doesn't really get darker).  The goal with the first coat it to completely cover the raw metal evenly.

Good luck and if anyone does this, I'd like to see the photos and any other tips  you might discover.

Here's a before bluing shot with metal prepped and then another mock up shot.  I need to do some tweaking, but hopefully will chain it up and ride it today.


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## eddy45 (Apr 25, 2015)

*Blue condition update*

Do you still have this bike? I was wondering how the blue held up over time,I have blued dozens of guns in my life and most of the time you need to keep it oiled or use a silicone cloth to stop the rust I was thinking of doing this to my sears frame please update thanks,  ed


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