Hi Thomas bet it rubs of with your finger , oh yes it did rub off to reveal the pattern ,
yours may be like putting a blue solution out of a bottle never anygood only
good if you never touch of course , it was a rub Thomas
.As i said rust blueing is not hot blueing , hot blueing is a caustic solution and the item is held in the solution thats around 270 or more . untill colour is attained there is no rust to convert on the item put in the hot caustic solution shiny no rust .
The old black powder firearms were not boiled they were left that colour including there damascus barrels ,
the boiling of rust was used to quicken the blackening .
How good it was was how much it was rusted or etched and what was used as a etch .
Chris