Gun Blue finishing old irons.

[RoverRick]

I have been in love with the looks of the Adams MB2 on the KBS Black Nickel shafts since they came out. However, I do not want to pay what they are asking for them and besides, I have never hit these irons so I was just not sure. I have also seen some in Black Chrome and Black Oxide but still not sure I wanted to spend that much money on them. So yesterday in Dallas, I went and bought a hard used Mizuno MP33 pitching wedge.

 

This is my lab rat to test out my refinishing process.

 

 

I will confess that this was sort of a rush job because there were some hard ridden MP32's that were going off auction tonight and I wanted to make my decision to buy these after I did this little test. I will put the steps I took during this process below, but please keep in mind that I only hand sanded these. I plan on spending more time on the face than I did with these. I will also tell that I did not take a good picture of it but there were three hunks of metal gone from hitting rocks with the leading edge of this putter. Which is why they sold it to me for $10. I was able to smooth these areas out to what you see below. BTW. I bought the MP32's without a Pitching Wedge so I will be using this MP33 pitching wedge in the set.

 

 

Step 1. Sand the complete head. Even though it is a chrome head there is oxidation on the head that will keep the acid from acting on the chrome.

 

Step 2. Completely submerge in Muriatic Acid for about an hour. "But first let's take a moment to talk about shop safety." Be sure to use the acid outside and wear appropriate gloves and dispose of it properly. As an aside, some industrial drain cleaners are watered down muriatic acid and you pour those down the sink. Of course, I would never advocate that.

Step 3. As an acid neutralizer, I used water with Alka Selzer in it and then rinsed it with water.

 

Step 4. Sand and buff. As I said, I took a short cut here, and was not sure if the chrome plating was gone or not. The club head was still very shiny even more shiny than when I put it in. So after I used three different sand papers on the back and a file and a grinding rock and 3 sand papers on the bottom and had not done the face yet.

 

Step 5. Add the bluing. I used the gun blue that is in the picture below. This wears off but is easy to apply and reapply. The best thing is that after it is painted, you can apply over the paint and it will have no effect. Also what is great about this stuff is that it only effects raw steel. If you spill it in your wife's kitchen () simply wipe it up with a paper towel before she gets home. Since the color was changing and it was getting so pretty I did not finish sanding the face, but I can go back and redo it.

 

Step 6. Paint fill whatever color you desire. I used white fingernail polish on this one because it is fast drying and it was here. But paint fill is covered on another thread pretty well.

 

Step 7. I will install these on some KBS Tour Black Nickel XS with these red and black ferrules and red and black grips or possibly white ferrules and white grips. I am undecided about that right now. Probably the red and black.

 

[hckymeyer]

Those are some nice looking sticks RR!!

 

+1 on the red ferrules with red grips, that looks sweet. Some red PUREgrips with black writing would be killer.

[RoverRick]

Those are some nice looking sticks RR!!

 

+1 on the red ferrules with red grips, that looks sweet. Some red PUREgrips with black writing would be killer.

 

Thanks HM.

 

I do have red PURE Grips with black writing with my name on them on these shafts.

 

I debated since yesterday on using the red and black ferrules. I used these before and did not really like them but that was chrome and chrome. The picture of the PW is not epoxied. As a matter of fact that is a black graphite driver shaft stuck in there for the picture. Until an hour ago the black shafts were in some chrome MP62's.

 

I also had a set of white ferrules but they simply do not hold up well. But an hour ago, I removed the Hogan heads from the chrome shafts and install them in the MP62 with white grips but standard ferrules. And I put the red and black ferrules on the black shaft with the gun blue heads. Actually head because the MP32's will not be here until Friday at the earliest. But I am happy with the decision to go red ferrules. They really look sharp with the black on black. And the black on black with black ferrules look plain.

[RoverRick]

I got the Mizuno MP32 4-9 in on Monday. I did not think to make any before pictures but they were your basic hard used chrome MP32s with bag chatter and rock marks.

 

Red and black ferrules on the irons with black shafts and red and black grips. I currently have chrome shafts on the wedges with white grips, and a white ferrule on the Titleist 64*. I am considering putting these on black shafts, and with either do the white with white or the red with red.

 

Also, I admit that I did not spend as much time sanding as I had planned. The camera was not very flattering to these because I think they look better in person.

 

[hckymeyer]

Nice work RR, those look more like weapons than clubs now. Ninja style clubs

[apprenti23]

They look fantastic! What did you use to rescore the grooves on the face?

 

Did you use a dremel for sanding or just man power?

 

Congrats on a job well done!

[RoverRick]

I only had to regroove one, the MP33 pitching wedge, and I used a Titleist regrooving tool from eBay. Mostly, all I had to do was a lot of rock chips along the leading edge. I had to use a file for that and then just used sand paper. All man powered.

[RoverRick]

Nice work RR, those look more like weapons than clubs now. Ninja style clubs

My only complaint about my other Mizunos was that they looked to good to hit with. Even now that I have played a couple of hundred rounds with them I do not like to get them dirty. These look like they are meant to be dirty. Ding one up. Who cares? Grind it smooth wipe on more gun blue and looks like it never happened. And if the wife has to rescue me after having run into a fire hydrant at night than the police light will not reflect off of them like say a Nike TW Blade.

[Walkerjames]

They look great RR.

[youngsun kim]

lovely job. roberrick

[MarcKilgore]

That is such a cool idea - thanks for sharing! I'm going to try that on some of my old clubs for practice first.

[Zylem]

Looks great with the paint fill. I have always loved the looks of MP33s, now you've taken them to a whole new level

 

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[Miboy62]

Those look great, nice job.

[Lugz87]

I've been meaning to do the same thing with an old set of Mizuno Pro MS-5's - picked up a pretty beaten up set in 3-P for $50 (AUD). I've already pulled the shafts and cleaned up the heads (re-cut grooves and sanded out scratches and nicks). I plan on getting the chrome (and nickel) professionally stripped so that they are raw, which I think should help with the final result.

Question: was the one 3oz bottle of SuperBlue enough for a whole set of irons? Did you have to use it sparingly, or did you have plenty left over? Also, how often do you have to reapply it?

Cheers, Louie

Edited August 9, 2019 by Lugz87

[Kor.A.Door]

Is there any maintenance that needs to be done. A bit of Rem oil or something to keep them from rusting? 

[therod]

Refinished some heads years ago using a chemical from Caswell plating. Sandblasted them, blew them dry with air, dipped them 2xs, dried them with a towel, and sprayed them with WD-40. Here's what I ended up with.

[Guest Delete]

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Edited June 29, 2020 by Delete
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