coat or soak in oil?

old fart

New member
i am re blueing a revolver cylinder, got the blueing done and it looks good enough for me. i heated the cylinder and blued it monday around noon, after it looked the way i wanted i rinsed well with cold water and dried it. i put it in a container and compleatly covered it with mobil 1 synthetic oil as thats all i got. its been soaking ever since, is this ok or should i just set it out and keep it coated? also is the mobil 1 ok?, it will be next monday before i can get something else. thanks
 
i cleaned and degreased, used blue and rust remover. the cylinder was shiny bright, blued and it turned a nice blue/black color. washed real well with cold water, dried then put it in the oil. did this on monday, just took it out of the oil and i've got rust spots on the cylinder. just some specks here and there but its driving me crazy. the gun isn't worth putting alot in as its an nef but it a good shooter and i wanted a gun to take hiking., guess its going to the classifieds on facebook. with the ammo i have to go with it i should be able to sell it to someone who isn't bothered by a little rust. i can't handle having a gun that has rust, just wouldn't be happy if i kept it.
 
If i had to guess what happened you did not displace all the moisture, a water displacing spray oil then regular motor oil might have been better.

I am a big mobile one fan but for blueing, qwenching and stuff like that its chemistry is diffirent enough from dead dino fluid that I would not use it; weirdness can and does reault. Plus its a waste of money
 
That'll be fine. I wouldn't worry about that a bit. I do that sometimes when I use Simple Green to clean guns with because SG is a degreaser and soaking it in oil like you say just gives it a little time for the oil to soak into the pores of the metal. Been doing it for years.

I would caution about using a water displacement formula like was suggested. I ruined the finish on a Para-Ord frame by spraying it down with WD-40 and letting it soak overnight.
 
It makes no difference what you're doing, any time one is rinsed in water, it needs to be followed by something that is "water displacing". Mobil one is as good for lubrication as anything else, after you get all the moisture out. If there's any moisture left, most of the best lubricants tend to seal it in. WD40 is as good at getting it out to begin with as anything I've ever tried. Follow it with your favorite lubricant. I never lost any sleep about a backpack gun looking as good as it works.
 
When I blue a gun after the last carding I spray it down with Water Displacing Oil from Brownells, as soon as you spray it on you can see the color change. let it set over night and your good to go.
 
It makes no difference what you're doing, any time one is rinsed in water, it needs to be followed by something that is "water displacing". Mobil one is as good for lubrication as anything else, after you get all the moisture out. If there's any moisture left, most of the best lubricants tend to seal it in....
Oldgunsmith I have a question for you. I seem to remember from High School chemistry that alcohol will combine with water. That being the case, could you dip the part in alcohol and place in a 'warm' oven to burn off the alcohol and the water that is now bound to it?
 
96% ethanol, 93% isopropanol (not the 80% rubbing alcohol) or acetone all work great. A couple of dips and you're good. No need for oven unless it's the middle of the winter in MN or AK.
 
well i decided to try one more time, except i did one thing different. after i used the blue and rust remover, i put on rubber medical gloves so my skin didn't touch the cylinder. reblued and after 3 coats it looks like the gun. i also went and got birchwood casey barricade to put on it. thanks for everyones help, i'll post pics after i reassemble later tonight. thanks again
 
It looked great till i got up this morning, the crane is really rusty and the cylinder ain't too good either. I don't know what went wrong but with no cylinders available anywhere it looks like the gun is gone. I do thank everyone for the help but nothing is working so i'll let someone who doesn't mind try to get it blued.
 
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