Touch up bluing....?

Is there a cold bluing or maybe a marker that matches Ruger's factory blue/black?
Have a very slightly sharp edge along left side grip frame that the factory grip does not cover
that I would like to lightly blend.
Tried another grip panel Ruger just sent me and it's better but lacks just about a 1/64th of inch to give a smooth edge.

there are quite few different makers of touch up cold blue and as I always say, these are ONLY temporary....but in an out of way spot like you mention, we've found that 44-40 cold blue from World of Parts ( Used to be Numrich Arms) seems to work, blend in and last the best on most Rugers 4140 chrome -moly metal alloy........make sure you follow directions, degrease well, and we usually burnish the area ( slight heat) to blend in better...with practice, you'll "see" the results, we've had , and tried about everymakeon the market, and prefer to hot blue, and these days with the darker metal finish, find that black oxide can also do the trick...yes, that is a 'hot blue".....seems to me that Dulite makes the chemicals most similar to Rugers finish.

A black Sharpie works for me.

Brownells makes a product called Oxpho-Blue they call it a cream formula. I've used it for years, easy to use just follow directions. Sorry just noticed grip frame in the post, if it is a tiny spot I would find some finger nail paint.

↑ Your post is good! He didn't say if it was an aluminum or a steel grip frame.

It is steel...my .44 Flattop Bisley.

yes, if he would have asked about the aluminum grip frame, we would suggest Birchwood Casey "Aluminum Black" often works on the Ruger grip frames made of aluminum,,,,BUT if you do NOT degrease it, it may NOT work........ 8)

the location of the 'bare' metal we often see where the front of the grip panels meets the "steel" cylinder frame.......... :wink:

and now , today ,many of BOTH frames are indeed "steel".........I hate when the wrong screwdriver is used and they make the screw holes all chewed up or in the white...... :roll:

recumbent said:

A black Sharpie works for me.

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^ ^ ^ This ^ ^ ^

My experience is a "touch up" always looks a lot like a "touch up" and draws more attention to the area than what you're trying to cover. Much like a "touch up" on that rock chip on your car or water stain on your drywall ..... gotta cover the WHOLE area or nothing.

For steel, I've yet to find a better cold blue than 44/40.

If you want to go simple, Sharpie--but get the fat "Professional" Sharpie, which has something like glossy black enamel in it. A regular Sharpie will wear off quickly, and it has an unattractive purple tint to it.

If you decide on a cold blue treatment, whichever you use works better with heat and multiple applications.

After degreasing with acetone or lacquer thinner, heat the part with a hair dryer until it's too hot to touch. Apply blue. Reheat and apply blue, etc.

I prefer Oxpho blue cream and Nu Blue. I bought mine online from Stock Doc, the maker.

Snake45 said:

For steel, I've yet to find a better cold blue than 44/40.

If you want to go simple, Sharpie--but get the fat "Professional" Sharpie, which has something like glossy black enamel in it. A regular Sharpie will wear off quickly, and it has an unattractive purple tint to it.

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I have seen a bunch of blackhawks with that purple tint! :shock:
gramps

Thanks for all your suggestions!

rugerguy said:

there are quite few different makers of touch up cold blue and as I always say, these are ONLY temporary....

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Just curious as to what you consider 'temporary'? I ask because I used Birchwood Casey cold blue on a rifle I built 20+ years ago and it is still the same color as when I did it. It has also been shot and cleaned many many times. I believe that proper preparation is the key to using cold blue. If you do a half way prep you get a half way finish.

After I cut and crowned my Bisley I used Perma Blue and it looks good. Has held up well too.

Fox Mike said:

rugerguy said:

there are quite few different makers of touch up cold blue and as I always say, these are ONLY temporary....

Click to expand...

Just curious as to what you consider 'temporary'? I ask because I used Birchwood Casey cold blue on a rifle I built 20+ years ago and it is still the same color as when I did it. It has also been shot and cleaned many many times. I believe that proper preparation is the key to using cold blue. If you do a half way prep you get a half way finish.

Click to expand...

About 15 years ago I built up a Walther P.38 out of cigar box full of random, mismatched WWII parts. I hand-polished the frame and cold-blued it with 44-40 and I was amazed at how good it looked--and how well it's held up. (It's kept oiled with Birchwood Casey Sheath.)

How well cold blue works depends largely on the steel itself. I did an air rifle barrel with 44-40 and it also looks good after 15+ years. OTOH, I've had very little success touching up the holster wear on the barrel of a Colt Python and a Colt Diamondback. It looks okay only until you've put it into the holster about twice.

I've found there is no "one best" cold bluing that works on all steels used in firearms over the last 100 years or so. That's why I have a bottle of Oxpho ("bluer" finishes), Dicropan ("blacker" finishes), 44/40 and a tube of Permablue. Sometimes a combination works best. I degrease, warm gently with a heat gun, apply with a Q-tip, dry/react for 2-3 min, buff lightly between applications with degreased 0000 steel wool, apply coats very sparingly as each coat can actually remove prior color. When finished, buff lightly with 0000 dampened with oil.

It's not a race against time and I've made repairs that are undetectable under magnification.