I still think cold bluing has its place in a modern shop

Last week, a customer brought in a 1950s Winchester 94 with a small scratch on the receiver. Everyone online says to just send it out for a full re-blue, but that's a $400 job for a tiny spot. I mixed up some Oxpho-Blue, prepped the area with a degreaser, and applied it with a cotton swab. The match was nearly perfect and the whole fix took 20 minutes. Why are we so quick to dismiss the old ways when they still work fine for small touch-ups?

3 comments

3 Comments

sethp2618d ago

Consider the environmental waste of shipping a whole gun just for one spot, like @jasonc77 avoids.

julia81112d ago

Cold blue works great for that, sethp26.

jasonc7718d ago

Agree completely. It's like we've forgotten how to fix things and only know how to replace them. I use cold blue on worn screw heads and small dings on vintage tools all the time. It preserves the original finish and history of the piece. A full reblue on that Winchester would have erased its character along with the scratch. Sometimes the simple, cheap fix is also the right one.