gun blue

I've been thinking about finishes for the cafe bike. After talking with Charles and Michael and then Eric, I had something patina related in mind. I wanted to keep the feel and look of metal intact rather than sealing it up with "plastic-looking paint". I decided to run a small test with a dribble of gun blue that I had. It's not super even, but it gives me an idea about what it would look like. I know I would have to keep the bike oiled well to prevent rust, but it's a thought seeing as how this bike will be a fair weather bike anyway (due to the large air/"water" holes in the brake drum).

I did a little research on gun bluing and found the warm gun bluing process is better than cold. Also ran across this interesting article on making gun bluing salts from an easy to find materials. Definitely worth a read to all of you metal patina folks.