Originally Posted by
IAmSam
Slight thread hijack - sorry...
Quite awhile back I stripped a steel frame then not wanting to rattlecan it, and in my pursuit of being unusual, ended up "finishing" it with gun blueing. Was kind of a mess to do, but looked pretty nice when it was done. I sold that bike not very long afterwards and have since wondered if the blueing would have held up? Or would it have required redoing it regularly?
Can any of you gun nuts...errr...aficionados please opine?
Gun Blue is basically a controlled oxidizing process on the surface of the steel. While it is more rust resistant than bare steel, it still needs to be protected with a coating of oil to keep it from rusting. It will also abrade or polish away with relative ease since it is not very deep (or should I say thick).
Sounds like a cool and unique way to finish a bike, but perhaps one that might require more upkeep than most people are willing to put up with.