Originally Posted by 2152hq

Nice project. Great to see youngsters getting involved in hands on work.
No matter what they end up doing in life, it'll always be of value and the time you'll have spent together is priceless.

Great pics,,we'll be watching!


One trick when you wire wheel finish the surface for bluing,, put a light coat of most any oil on the surface of the metal first, then go over it with the wire wheel. Anything from motor oil to WD40 will work fine.
No need for heavy pressure when doing the wirewheel work, just lightly work it over from all directions.
You can go right over the old & worn bluing on the other parts too and it'll blend it in nicely so the rust bluing will pick it up from there and make a great looking finish.

The oil allows the wire to slide a bit when being done and lightly burnishes the surface leaving it a bit brighter than if not used.
The better part of it is that it blends in polishing lines from different directions and will also show up any really bad marks or scars that may be hiding in the polish.
These latter marks will come back and show through your bluing later if not taken care of now.

Using oil on the surface and a wirewheel was a prep that was popular with many of the custom 'smiths of the pre-war era and makes an excellent surface for rust blue which they used almost exclusively.