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I'll play. What are you talking about?

 

I notice that when veggies are cooked in some of our stainless steel pots, a nice patina forms on the insides of the pot. Try putting your S&W in a pot full of vegetable soup and bring it to a boil for about 15 minutes.

Seriously, leave well enough alone!

 

Stainless by definition doesn't get patina, which by definition is a stain.

 

Nitpicking but stainless doesn't mean stain free, it means stain LESS. Neglect a stainless steel gun and it'll rust. Just takes a bit more serious neglect

 

Staining a stainless, I'd be interested in seeing before and after photos of that.

 

I looked at this company's website. Interested forum members can see it by clicking here. I'd never heard of 'em until now.

The pre-lock S&W 686 is a fine revolver, and usually commands premium prices. Finish-wise, I think it's fine just the way it comes from the factory. So I don't understand why anyone would want to apply what's basically a fake finish to the gun. Does FX Patina's process penetrate the metal or is it simply a coating? I couldn't work up enough interest to pursue an answer to that, but I doubt it. I doubt it's going to offer more "protection" to a gun, especially one in stainless.

To me, this is different than the process used by some really custom smiths to accelerate the rusting/pitting process to actually "antique" a single action revolver for cowboy shoot purposes. This is a coating. The owner of the site even talks about using automotive clear coat on the finish once it cures.

To me, this patina process is better suited for more artistic purposes such as metal sculpture and laser-cut signs and stuff. I have a friend who's a metal sculptor, but he uses a torch to create the colors, not a hard-to-control chemical process or some kind of coating from a can. And custom knife-making might be something that could take advantage of this process and its variety of finishes.

I note that the company offers a case hardening patina! C'mon now. Who's gonna put some phony finish on a gun instead of doing it the real way?

Bottom line? I don't see the point. Or any point other than decoration, something to say "Hey, lookit what I got. How cool am I?"

Like another forum member says, leave well enough alone. Or else buy a el cheapo gun to try it out on, maybe an old Rohm or something...just not a really nice gun. I don't see this as anything other than something a hobbyist would try. Not for serious gun folks.

All this is just an opinion from a guy (me) who favors traditional and time-tested ways of finishing firearms, by the way. It's the OP's gun to do with as he pleases. If he has a patina applied to a stainless gun, I'd like to see the results. I'll also mention I think their website sucks. Big time. It's slow, cluttered, and poorly designed.

 

...Bottom line? I don't see the point. Or any point other than decoration, something to say "Hey, lookit what I got. How cool am I?"

Like another forum member says, leave well enough alone. Or else buy a el cheapo gun to try it out on, maybe an old Rohm or something...just not a really nice gun. I don't see this as anything other than something a hobbyist would try. Not for serious gun folks.

All this is just an opinion from a guy (me) who favors traditional and time-tested ways of finishing firearms, by the way. It's the OP's gun to do with as he pleases. If he has a patina applied to a stainless gun, I'd like to see the results. I'll also mention I think their website sucks. Big time. It's slow, cluttered, and poorly designed.

I agree. I understand restoration of a neglected gun, but this is just... strange. I wonder if the OP is planning on shooting this gun, or just wanting a safe queen.

 

Yep, it is possible, but depends on the alloy. I've seen stainless turnbuckles on ships that never rust, and aren't maintained, even though the ship goes to sea and has salt water spray on it all the time. Regardless....Stainless Patina seems to be an oxymoron.

 

I took a quick tour of the company's website and there isn't much that I saw on what it is, how it's done or how it works.
It might be interesting on some guns or even some parts of some guns but doing an entire gun would be overkill in my opinion. Patina or case-hardening looks really good on some guns but completely out of place on other guns. I thing a no-lock 686 falls into the latter category.

 

 

When Aluminum metal is coated/treated with a strong caustic, hydrogen gas is given off. At NASA we used NaOH solution to totally etch away the aluminum in aluminum composites which were reinforced with ceramic fibers. That was the technique used to verify aluminum and ceramic fiber content.

 

 

I never did get the hang of balancing equations

 

I like the idea. Maybe similar to the "coin finish" on nickeled guns.

 

Old post, but I just purchased the Blue-Black gel from Steel F/X. I was trying to add a patina look to the receiver of a Winchester Model 370 shotgun. The results looked good, but it rubs off really easily. I'm wondering if it needs to be sprayed with a clear coat or something.

Did you have any luck with the Gun Smith special solution?

 

Old post, but I just purchased the Blue-Black gel from Steel F/X. I was trying to add a patina look to the receiver of a Winchester Model 370 shotgun. The results looked good, but it rubs off really easily. I'm wondering if it needs to be sprayed with a clear coat or something.

Did you have any luck with the Gun Smith special solution?

A clear coat will help durability, but any clear coat available is going to be delicate and will not stand up to much handling or actual use.
"Probably" the toughest clear coat is from Lauer Duracote, but even that won't last long when a gun is used.

 

Patina on a stainless gun equals scratches.