Help with French Greying

Experience in polishing, blending polish marks and coloring steel would be a big help. For example, on a vintage double gun action which is still hard but just kinda turned a bit grey/silver there are any number of things you could do. Old carding wheels can be a big help and give you different looks - examples would be-using a clean dry carding wheel at about 600 rpm and running it over the action will give you one look, but using a carding wheel which has been oiled will give a similar but different look. Using scotch brite pads will also give you another look. Now you can take any of those treatments and ink the engraving background and get another look. I always used rustoleum on a q-tip to ink the engraving.

Engraver Sam Welch has a great process of bluing the part and using naval jelly to work back the bluing to a grey. Rust blue or caustic blue ? Yes, if you are experimenting try it both ways and learn. Rust bluing and then using oven cleaner works too.  Rust bluing and using Phosphoric acid also works. Be sure to neutralize when done playing with the acids. 

Be sure to fully disassemble and clean the parts you are coloring first, absolutely chemically clean. Most anything above will color the steel and each will give you slightly different shades /hues/tones.

Covering the steel with coatings is another ball game

good luck

best to all

Dave

Here is a bit of a correction - above I said  'oven cleaner' when I should have said  'Toilet bowel cleaner' 

best to all Dave

Thanks for the info Dave. 

I am working on two test pieces now. One is the bottom of the trigger plate and the other is the trigger guard. The trigger plate had pitting in the area where the triggers are so I draw filed it and then ran through the sand paper up to 800grit (probably too fine) and then used Mark Lees express rust blue on it. it took about 5 sessions with the express blue to get it nice and dark. I then used naval jelly (phosphoric acid) to remove the blue and attempt to grey it. It gave an OK grey, but I do think the 800 grit was too fine. I think I will go back over it with 400 grit and recoat with Naval Jelly.

The trigger guard also had pitting so I got rid if the pitting and ran the grit up to 400. Then I used Mark Lees slow rust blue and gave it 5 session with that. It came out a beautiful color. I am going to use the naval jelly on it to see if it give me the grey finish I am looking for.

Pic of the trigger guard after bluing.

This weekend I used the Naval Jelly to remove the bluing to see what I would get. It was a little streaky at first but some elbow grease and 0000 steel wool gave me this.

Atta boy !

dave

That looks nice!  I have found that sometimes several applications of the Naval Jelly are needed to get the metal really clean looking.  Your steel wool worked just fine.  I usually selectively remove the bluing leaving unengraved areas blued.  But not always...just depends on the look you want.  I use steel wool at times.  I buy oil free 0000 from lmii.com, a luthier supply business.

Thank you! I havent had time to work on this project in the last week and i want for another 3 weeks. I appreciate your post and letting me know that i can do more cycles of naval jelly to see if that helps improve the color.