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restoring the black finish on aluminum (w/pics)

diyguy

.270 WIN
Not every restoration I do is a complete tear down of a hopeless case. This is a good example. I picked up this 1961 Ted Williams model 34 Sears and Roebuck, 22 semi auto at an estate sale for $40. It was a great find with the original sears scope and vintage case and looked like it hadn’t hardly ever been used in its 50+ years on the planet.

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The gun has an aluminum receiver and like all aluminum parts, the anodized finish on the high spots or sharp edges has worn through to shiny aluminum.

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If you haven’t tried aluminum black, you should. Like gun bluing, it’s a wipe on, wipe off product that works very well.

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Clean the areas with acetone or denatured alcohol and then with a swab, apply the black.

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And this is what you end up with after 3 or 4 applications.

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As long as I was at it I grabbed a piece of aluminum stock from the shop and gave it a brushed finish to show the coloring.

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Like bluing, its good to polish the metal because aluminum black and gun bluing both etch the polished metal making the final finish less than polished when you are done. Since still photos make it hard to see the real effects of this etching, here is a video of how the gloss is etched away and you can compare the surface finish of the metal next to its polished self. The black makes the surface finish more of a matte finish. When finished, apply paste wax and buff your gun to a shine. (this offers additional protection and makes the gun look great)


Lastly since everyone will care about the durability of this finish I took steel wool to the sample and buffed the hell out of it in what would be considered outright abuse to a gun. Here is the result of that abrasion exercise.

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Repair those glossed over edges. It couldn’t be easier.

There are a lot of uses for such a product. If your a bowhunter, lots of archery related parts are made of aluminum. Use your imagination. Sometimes the use might simply be "because I can" and that's ok too. Such as aluminum cartridge casings.

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If you have aluminum you need to blacken, this product works great and is far better than a sharpie marker since it blends perfectly with anodized parts where as a sharpie leaves a shiny look that is too black and comes off far too easy.
 
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Thank you for another EXCELLENT thread Sir.

I'm sure there are a few folks here on the forum with aluminum Mossberg receivers that could use a touch up...
 
Thank you for another EXCELLENT thread Sir.

I'm sure there are a few folks here on the forum with aluminum Mossberg receivers that could use a touch up...

You're not talking about the:

"OHHHH NOOOO.... MOOOOMMMYYYY.... my Mossberg got scratched while I was doing tactical room clearing drills in Susie's bedroom. Man... Now I totally lost rep points with my bros!:( What will I do? I guess it's just going in the trash... what a piece of junk!
I like mine with character, but I never new Birchwood had this product. Very neat and certainly useful! Thanks for the review @diyguy
 
Wow, I never expected it to look that good. I'm not sure which damned bolt gun it is, but something in my safe has put matching scratches on both the 20 ga. and .410 receivers. I'll give this a try - thanks!
 
I'm gonna have to check this out, my 88 has a few "character" scratches on the receiver... Thanks for the tutorial !
 
Excellent write-up, DIYGUY. Aluminum Black is great stuff. If we find the alloy we are working with won't take it very well, we add a bit of heat to the part from a heat gun on low before application and it seems to darken up a lot easier. This is the method we commonly use to blacken loading port modifications on Mossberg 930 receivers.

William

http://www.OR3GUN.com
 
Although I WILL be picking up some "Al Black" for the toolbox, a Sharpie will do a quick touchup in a pinch... And I have an anodizer that does a lot of stuff for me so I have THAT option, as well...
 
WOW!!!!!!!!!!
I never dreamed it would look THIS good!!
Thanks for a great post!
I listened to all the naysayers about this product-shame on me!!
Again, thank you :)
 
Sometimes the use might simply be "because I can" and that's ok too. Such as aluminum cartridge casings.

Looking back at this post, that cartridge case you attached looks like nickle-plated brass, not aluminum. How about a pic of the head stamp? Attached is alum-cased .38spl ammo.
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I recently smacked the 835 with a machete. Twice actually. I wasn't worried about the aluminum receiver as much as the barrel but that was before I saw this stuff. Now it may be a necessity!

Good find and good post!
 
Great to know that this stuff works as advertised. I know the cold blue can be a little difficult sometimes.
 
No story really, was clearing an area to set up my blind with the 835 across my back. Somehow while moving around and swinging I hit it a couple times. Nothing severe, the metal was kinda burred so I smoothed it with a file.
 
I thought I'd give the aluminum black a try, on A mag flashlight image.jpg image.jpg

No, I didn't put the gouges in the light. A contractor was working at the Firehouse and apparently needed to change the battery's . After what appears to be a number of failed attempts he gave up and left the light lay. 6 months later I found the flashlight in a empty locker. I got the end cap off without further damage, then drilled out the batteries, and cleaned all the corrosion, I've been using the light for 3 years so far.
 
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