Note to self...

[Hot Dogger]

Note to self, don't put naval jelly on any more rusty revolvers or any firearm without first removing the mainspring. You see, because the naval jelly causes the mainspring to break, either by structural fatigue or heat fracture, something. Remember when you brushed the naval jelly on the rusty frame (carefully you thought) and it started smoking and smelled of rotten eggs? And you thought, wow this stuff works really great? No, that was the bluing on the mainspring fuming not the rust. Also note, a new S&W mainspring is $12. Another note, a new mainspring for the H&A .32 you manged to break rather than simply using a dremel tool, that's $12. Further note, I'm sure that I've told myself this before, but don't bend a piece of tempered spring steel with a pair of pliers, the spring will snap, use a dremel tool. An even further note, the web store with the new mainsprings, Numrich, is closed for the virus pandemic, so who knows when they'll process my order. Note to self, perhaps find a new hobby, one that doesn't involve the use of naval jelly.

[NightTrain]

Why can't you de-harden/de-temper those components, do what you need to do, and then harden/temper them again?

I've been watching some extremely great Machinists YouTube channels and it's a simple process.

There's a ton of firearm restoration channels, too, and those guys are very talented.

[Hot Dogger]

Why can't you de-harden/de-temper those components, do what you need to do, and then harden/temper them again?

I've been watching some extremely great Machinists YouTube channels and it's a simple process.

There's a ton of firearm restoration channels, too, and those guys are very talented.

Well, it wasn't really an issue of the metals temper, it was more a matter of my temper. I'm the world's worst amateur gunsmith, but I'm learning. The web store MidwayUSA has many great Youtubes, I watch gunsmith stuff on Youtube all the time now. I want to get a hot pot and nitre blue everything, guns, watch bands and cases, it's such a lovely blue.

[NightTrain]

Check out these guys, they are absolute masters at their craft and their work is stunning :

my_mechanics : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMrMVIBtqFW6O0-MWq26gqw

Clickspring : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dU7iKNmQBIs - this is his Clock overview, it's a stunning piece of work. This Aussie really has talent, and check out his Bluing methods - they're beautiful pieces of art in their own right, even though they're just a component.

Clickspring is in the middle of completely rebuilding the Antikythera Mechanism, trying to be faithful to what materials and tools the ancients had to work with thousands of years ago, and it's pretty fascinating.


This Old Tony : https://www.youtube.com/user/featony Tony is a very smart guy and there's a ton of humor in his stuff, and he's one hell of a machinist. He's got projects from rebuilding his motorcycle to making his kid an air rifle to building a Vortex Tube.

The different methods and results of all of these guys bluing different things is very interesting. There's more than one way to skin a cat, and the results are very different. I'd have to say that Clickspring is able to get a more deep, brilliant blue than anyone, though.