Restoring

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seaaggielee
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Joined: April 13th, 2010, 3:36 pm

Restoring

Post by seaaggielee »

Hey everyone,

New to this site and new to the P-64. I just bought one and I am interested in doing a little restoration to it...you know...make it look cleaner and newer.

I bought a stripping and blueing kit but haven't done anything with it.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
blinddog
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Re: Restoring

Post by blinddog »

I have all of mine Duracoated. I just thought it was a real good finish because of its durability and ease of application. But, there is nothing like a good fresh blued pistole to make you go WOW! I also have Dennis custome grips on mine. He makes some fine wooden grips for many types of guns. Hang around and you will find out this is a really great forum. Glad your here.
blinddog
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Re: Restoring

Post by blinddog »

Oh, I forgot, if you are going to blue your pistole with a cold blue kit, remove the bluing and reblue it in small areas following the instructions on the bottle of blueing. You might want to strip it and send it to a gunsmith and let him blue it. But if you have it clean and take your time you can produce an excellent blueing on your P-64. Maybe someone else can chime in and add some info that my old mind has forgotten.
seaaggielee
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Joined: April 13th, 2010, 3:36 pm

Re: Restoring

Post by seaaggielee »

Thanks Blinddog...I was considering taking it to a gunsmith so I didn't mess it up but I would really like to do it myself...I plan on making custom grips for it too.
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juniustaylor
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Re: Restoring

Post by juniustaylor »

I've experimented with cold blue, several kinds. Brownell's Oxpho-Blue, Birchwood-Casey Super Blue, and the regular B-C cold blue. Also messed with Van's Instant gun blue. I personally prefer the Brownell's stuff. It seems to produce good results and is pretty durable. Unless you have a good friend that's a gunsmith, I don't think it's worth the money. A lot of them want as much as one of these pistols cost! boomer has done some experimenting with some pistols and cold blue IIRC. You could probably PM him.

When using the blue remover after you have washed the parts you want to start the bluing process immediately or surface rust will start to form in a matter of seconds practically. My dislike of the B-C Cold Blue is that it requires water to neutralize the chemical. Well, that's all fine and dandy until you have to do multiple coats and you have to constantly dry the metal before reapplying. The Oxpho-Blue requires no neutralization. You simply put it on, let it set for the allotted amount of time, wipe the excess fluid off, and let it turn to a haze. Buff it with light steel wool and repeat until it turns the color you want. That's it, it's so simple.

It's really not a tough task at all. Just devote a good amount of time to it and be patient.
piaggior
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Re: Restoring

Post by piaggior »

I've had alot of good luck with Brownells Gun-Kote. I experimented with finishes on some of the rifles I have built, and this stuff holds up really well. It's nice that it comes in a rattle can, so you don't need to buy any equipment.
blinddog
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Re: Restoring

Post by blinddog »

I guess it's all in a persons experience with a certaint product. I like Birchwood - Casey remover and blueing.It is a slow process, but doing it right is well worth the time and elbow grease. I know you will do well.
blackblade
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Re: Restoring

Post by blackblade »

I touch up the P-64 with Birchwood Casey. It works out well but I haven't tried the others yet. I did quite a few CZ-82s as the paint is usually chipped and the finish is usually well worn.

I have already parkerized and duracoated, so this time I decided to try "Bluing" as these are steel frame guns. The parkeried are the best but the process is time consuming and involved considering I really don't have the space or time right now. The results were not bad at all.In fact better than I expected considering I was trying for a darker bluing. This result find of reminds me of the old Colt .45 (1911) guns I used to see when I was a mere fingerling. Sorry the lighting wasn't better (damn enviro-lights!).

Image

The upper right and left I added marschal grips which really give the guns a nice look. The lower right is one of my IWB tuckable holsters and the Leatherman case I use to carry a spare magazine.

I essentially disassembled the guns and stripped the old paint with "Zip-Strip", rinsed, cleaned off stray paint with 280 grit sand paper and super fine 0000 steel wool. Then I degreased the gun and used rust/blue remover, rinsed and then repeated with the degreaser. Finally I blued the guns with a liquid blue (Birchwood Casey) and worked the metal with more super fine steel wool to even the bluing over the metal surfaces, rinsing with cold water after each application. I repeated the bluing process a few times until darked. It actually come out close to the bead blasted and parkerized finishes but with a slightly reflective patina finish.

Image

Blued CZ-82 with checkered Wattle with clear shallac red finish Marschal grips.

Image

Blued CZ-82 with Padauk, clear shellac finish, checkered Marschal grips.

Image

Blued CZ-82 with original military plastic grips.
gunneyrabbit
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Re: Restoring

Post by gunneyrabbit »

seaaggielee, Brownell's Oxpho-Blue is very easy to use and gives excellent results. This is the process that I use, hope it works as well for you as it does for me.

If you have access to a lathe and fine wire brush wheel the paint comes off very quickly. Remove the grips from the frame and clean the frame and slide with acetone to remove grease. Wash the frame and slide in very hot soapy water to remove all acetone. Put the frame/slide in a 250 degree oven and heat it to the point that is almost to hot to handle. Using thick rubber gloves apply the Oxpho-Blue and put the frame/slide back in the oven for a minute or two, don't let the bluing dry. Remove the frame/slide from the oven and scrub with
hot soapy water and dry for several minutes in the oven to evaporate the water, polish with fine steel wool.

I do this as many times as necessary to acquire the color that I want, In my opinion it gives a beautiful deep blue finish that is quite durable and does not have that cold blue look. It's very important that you don't over heat the frame/slide for obvious reasons. This process was given to me by the fine people at the Shooters Service Center here in Portland Oregon, "BLATANT ADVERTISEMENT", they really do great work.

Hope this helps.
G.R.
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