Question: French Grey

[Doc Mark]

Maybe I'm remembering incorrectly (Always a possibility!), but I thought that we were supposed to use Phosphoric Acid to French Grey. And, I thought that many mentioned a product called "Sno-Bowl" toilet bowl cleaner as a good product for this process. Well, I went to the store to get this Sno-Bowl and read the label and it says that the active ingredient is HCL or Hydrochloric Acid. Does it matter which acid you use?

 

[mitch]

traditionally, phosphoric acid has been the common acid for de-bluing & french greying, but any number of acids will work. hydrochloric (aka: muriatic) is often found in toilet bowl cleaner & other household products. i've also seen dilute nitric used for greying.

personally, i usually use naval jelly, which is gelled phosphoric. whatever you try, getting an even finish can be a trick depending on steel alloy, etc. lots & lots of tricks to successful greying, especially doing it selectively around engraving & blued areas- maybe check the tutorials.

 

[Sam]

I've used all of the above and they all worked equally well for my projects.

 

[BrianPowley]

Brownell's sells their RUST & BLUE remover and it is phosphoric acid and a bit pricey. Farm & Fleet/Tractor Supply sold this stuff called RUST BUSTER---same thing, much cheaper. Naval Jelly is really nice because it's easier to keep from oozing all over the work.
Never tried the toilet bowl cleaner but there's no doubt it would work just fine.

 

[Dulltool]

I bought a jug of Phosphoric acid a Home Depot in the paint department. It's used for etching/priming metal before painting... It was about $6 and will last a lifetime.

 

[DKanger]

Phosphoric acid leaves a gray deposit of iron phosphate on the metal. It is not an aggressive acid. Other acids give their matte finish by etching the steel and are more aggressive. I always had problems with after rusting when using muriatic acid. If I remember correctly, Parkerizing is done with phosphates.

 

[capece rocco]

for the best result on french grey you use phosphoric acid but you have to saturate with brass

 

[Dulltool]

saturate with brass?

 

[Doc Mark]

Thanks for the info guys! I'm with you Dennis. Capece Rocco, what did you mean by "saturate with brass"?

 

[capece rocco]

you put inside the bottle of acid little part of brass until the acid don't made bubbles,
and the particule of brass when you put on the gun protect it

 

[mitch]

you put inside the bottle of acid little part of brass until the acid don't made bubbles,
and the particule of brass when you put on the gun protect it

never heard that before. you learn something new every day...

 

[Ed Westerly]

Intriguing!

 

[dlilazteca]

you put inside the bottle of acid little part of brass until the acid don't made bubbles,
and the particule of brass when you put on the gun protect it

Can someone elaborate I don't understand

Carlos De La O III