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

Last summer I needed no help in the garage in N. Carolina. Come fall and winter, I had to use the cabinet. To keep it from getting to extreme in there, I've placed a heating pad from the pharmacy on the floor of the locker, with a 9"x9" non-stick cake pan on top of it. Not to fast, not too aggressive, but a good healthy rusting nonetheless.

You could also get a small crock pot at Goodwill.

If I use Laural Mt Forge bluing/browning formula, I dilute it by at least 1/2. I dilute almost everything when it comes to bluing

Great idea! I like that plan better than what I'm using. Thanks.

I am lazier than that. I bought a plastic box that is used to store long rolls of Christmas wrapping paper, just a few bucks. It works great in the winter when our humidity is low here in Missouri. I definitely don't need it in the summer.
Phil

Plywood box, light bulb on a rheostat, two wet wrung out hand towels in the box.
Try for 90�F and 90% RH. Sort of like East Texas, but works in dry Colorado.
Chuck

Sounds like the box I made nearly 40 years ago as an experiment. I'm still using it. The full length door hinge is and old leather belt, complete with four buckle hole for venting.
Mine has a build in shelf with a small rubber water dish just under the light bulb. No steel anywhere to rust or scratch.
Tall enough inside to rust a 42" M/L barrel. I try for 80% and 80*. Wet paper towel scraps for extra humidity. Two hours rusting time.
We will be using it in July for my Metal Prep & Rust Bluing Seminar.

It's interesting to see that others have issues with changes in the weather from season to season too.
I'm hoping to be able to plan my day around the rusting rather than hanging around waiting for boil time. I'm expecting some small variation in time but if a pair of barrels can go into the cabinet and I know it'll take X number of hours to get somewhere near, that'll mean I could go and do something else in the meantime without risking coming back to pitted metal. It's not a problem most of the time, but if I'm busy with other work or call outs to jobs it can get a bit tricky.

All my rusting is scheduled by the clock and all other work in the shop revolves around rusting when I'm rust bluing.
Knowing the solution, damp box and preparation rusting cycle are very predictable and vary little in timing, mainly with the first cycle taking a bit longer.
Visual inspection and experience are the last word for each cycle.
Learning to professionally rust blue require quite a bit of experience that is what I teach, my decades of experience.

BTW I'd never use a crock pot, I just don't need that much humidity. Too much humidity is more dangerous and potentially damaging than not enough.