doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DIY Gunsmithing @ doublegunshop.com DIY Rust Blue Humidity Box

Before fitting a new bathroom recently I was in the process of stripping out all the old fittings. Most of it with the help of a big hammer but when it came to the old shower cubicle, I had a eureka moment. It had an extruded aluminum frame with nice corner fittings, it was in the corner so had two glass outer sides and two plastic/acrylic panels against the walls , all with nice rubber bead strips which sealed it all up. The hammer went back into the toolbox and I stripped this down carefully and kept all the screws and brackets.
The plan is to use the plastic back panel to make the sides, top and bottom of the box using cut to size sections of the frame and using the cut down door panel frame with a piece of perspex or plexi glass using the original hinges, magnetic strip closer and door seals.
It's overkill I know but should look rather nice in the workshop, as soon as the renovation work is done in the house , I'll build it and post some pics.
I'd spent a lot of time looking for extrusions which could be used to build this, had even looked at aquarium building materials but the whole time, an old shower cubicle would've done the job. Should've realised a long time ago as I'm in the shower 2, maybe 3 times a year, whether I need it or not
Keep your eyes open next time a neighbour is working on their house, they may just be throwing one of these away.

A walk in rust bluing sweat box?
I don't have that kind of spare room in my workshop.

It'll be a miniature version, using the cut down frame and sides. Probably 4x2x1 feet or so.

I'm using an old 6' tall school locker that I coated the inside of to prevent it from rusting, and to seal in the humidity.

We Brits live permanently in one with the sky as the lid.

Hi Damascus, I've got the damp over here in wild and woolly Wales but there's a distinct lack of warmth at the mo. Saying that, it's the first day of British summer time today. The sun is out and the sky is blue, should be out bothering flying pests with the shotgun instead of working in the garden.

Hoping to use the cabinet to speed things up a bit and to have a more organised workshop (no more barrels hanging from the roof beams like wind chimes )

Going back in to the far reaches of my memory to a time when looking back now at old photographs of myself, and thinking was I ever that young. The rather old man, well he was to me in my early twenties who earned a living as a Birmingham barrel finisher and told me about the "all muck and magic" of barrel bluing and browning. His continuous mantra was "the slower the rust" forms the smaller and finer its grain structure the better and longer lasting the finished job will be.
I never put forward the speed argument, just thought better of it. Though I do like the Idea of a set of shotgun barrel wind chimes in my garden!!

I've only once used a humidity box. I find that rusting twice per day, with a boil in the morning before leaving for work and once in the evening after dinner, perfectly fits my schedule and produces excellent results, perhaps owing to the mantra of damascus's Birmingham barrel finisher. In any event, this works for me, and in a week I'm done. Pretty easy.

I hear what you are saying about slow, but if I go over about three hours rusting time, I get fine etching on the surface.
Maybe my solution is too strong.
Chuck

With out a cabinet, it depends on the temp. and humidity for the time of the year, where you live. You just have to watch it and boil, when it is time. It may only take a couple hours in the summer, and all day in the winter.
Mike