Birchwood CaseyE & F Super Blue Liquid Gun Blue 90 Ml

Suffice it to say, but I should have taken a “before” picture. Having said that, bluing tools is really amazing! The process is easy, and there are really easy to follow YouTube videos that walk you through the process. In just a few hours you can make old tools look so much better, and the chemical process is corrosion resistant. If you have older, quality tools, buy this product and follow the videos. The pry bar I feature is one I could have cleaned up even more, but just a few minutes with a wire wheel led to a really nice, smooth finish. This is a simple skill, and when you use a quality product you can restore old metal and really extend its life!

I buy a fair number of old garage-sale tools to refurbish. Some of the tools I buy are bare steel, either because they were made that way or because the plating is completely gone. I clean them up, get them functional, and blue them with Super Blue.I can't tell you how many 50 cent pliers, side cutters, crimpers, screwdrivers, etc. I've bought over the years. Tool restoration is one of my hobbies, and sometimes I fix them up just to give them away or donate them. I want them functional but I also want them to look good, and I don't want to spend a bunch of time on them.Most often I'll wire brush the old tool, occasionally finishing them off on the belt sander or with a 4-1/2" flap wheel. I'm going for a smooth finish but nothing too polished. It's a tool, after all, not a family heirloom, and I'm going to use it, not hang it up on the wall. After I've gotten rid of the dirt, rust and pitting, I degrease and use the Super Blue.I usually do 2-3 applications, buffing with 0000 steel wool between each one. When done I wipe the tool down with oil and it's ready for service.I did this recently with some crimpers and side cutters that were part of an inexpensive tool haul. I spent maybe 5 minutes prepping each tool before applying the Super Blue. Once I was done bluing and oiling them, they looked excellent. Not mirror-smooth, but smoother than the factory finish for any of them, and the bluing helped to hide any staining or discoloration.I really like the look of oiled blue steel. While this finish won't be as durable as something like Parkerizing (or even rust bluing, probably) it only takes a couple of minutes to apply. The result is about 75% as good as something like caustic bluing with maybe 10% of the effort. Why mess with boiling lye or sodium nitrate solution when I can dab this on with a cotton ball in a couple of minutes?One thing to keep in mind-- don't dip your parts in the solution to blacken them. If you do dip your parts, set aside a small amount of solution just for this purpose and don't put it back in the original bottle. Dipping parts into the Super Blue will leave behind traces of metal that will begin to degrade its performance. No, I don't understand the chemistry behind this, but I saw it happen for myself. The solution will begin to change color and be less effective at bluing.Instead, use a cotton ball or paper towel to apply sparingly, and if you must dip your parts, keep a portion of the solution set aside just for dipping. This will keep the majority of your Super Blue contaminant-free.I can't say for sure if this is a good choice for a firearm or not (I have no experience with Super Blue in that context), but for a quick and dirty tool restoration, it's perfect. This is my 2nd bottle and I always try to keep some on the shelf.

Product works great. It seems a lot of the negative ratings are from people not being familiar with bluing. How well this will blue a piece of steel depends mostly on the alloy. Two different "high carbon" steels will blue differently, even the heat treatment can effect how the surface will oxidize.Also one of the answered questions says the opposite, but this will NOT work on stainless steels. At least I wouldn't expect it to. I inadvertently applied some to one kind of stainless steel and it had no effect. That was common knowledge to me, but I guess technically they should be more clear about that. It might work with some stainless steels (I don't know) but they would be the exception not the norm.If you're not familiar with bluing by all means give it a try. Its easy and fun, just keep in mind every piece of steel is going to be different.If you're having issues here's some things to try:Try polishing or gently sanding the surface before cleaning.Make sure its cleaned thoroughly, I use acetone and it works well.Use gloves during and after cleaning to keep your hand oils off the material.If the finish is uneven or blotty, you can take steel wool or a soft wire brush to it (copper ideally) until the finish looks more uniform, then wipe away the removed material and apply the blue again.Finally if its still rusting it could be the oxide not adhering to the surface. Keep it oiled at least overnight, or if possible I preferer to use museum wax because that stuff can stay on there forever and just act as another layer of protection.I had to do all of that while bluing the scabbard in the pictures, but a few days before I had no trouble at all bluing a gun. It just depends on the steel.Also never get even a little bit of iron into the bottle. It will ruin all of it overnight. always pour it into a separate container and never pour it back into the bottle.

I normally use Dura Blue on guns & tools. I bought this and found that it seems to leave a parkerized appearance on the metal. It takes very many coats to achieve what only a few coats of Dura Blue accomplishes. I like the product but was just surprised by the appearance of the steel after uses… it looks good but more parkerized than traditional bluing.

works very well

Shipped fast. Product worked great.

It seemed to work OK, but for some reason I could not figure out was why it was taking portions of color in only certain spots no matter what type of metal I was using or how prep was performed.(Note I do customs work and am adamant about perfecting in prep.)

Had to repair the frame of 1911 which I accidentally ground the parkerizing off of. Also, I removed the grip safety, thumb safety and mainspring housing and slide and blued them back up where the pakerizing had worn off. Had to go several coats.