finish's

[papart1]

Is some form of blasting, either bead (glass) or perhaps another medium the preferred method to strip gun finish's please? The reason I ask is because I stripped a 38 special wheel gun and thought...........man there has got to be a better way? paps

 

[gil rudolph]

gil rudolph here....I engrave rifles & pistols, but have a super competent gunsmith do all the prep...barrels, action bodies, screws take down and reassembling, etc, down to a 2000 finish. There's lots of hand work to this process and i've seen stuff that's been buffed, and that's not the way to get a good prep job. Work with a competent gunsmith, exchanging engraving for prep work. My man , is Larry Amrine, Ojai, Ca

 

[SamW]

It depends on the finish. Plated guns can be stripped chemically but best done by a business that offers the service. Blued guns can be stripped with rust remover. I use Naval Jelly. Blasting is not good as it really messes up any lettering and also edges of the surface. There are other finishes such as Parkerizing which I suppose have their ways of removing but I have always avoided such projects.

 

[papart1]

Thanks TOS, Navel Jelly does not rapidly pit does it?

 

[JJ Roberts]

I like Lysol Power toilet bowl cleaner easier and safer to use,also ware rubber gloves. J.J.

 

[SamW]

I have never tried the tb cleaner though I know of other engravers who also use it.

The Naval Jelly does not pit the metal...if there are pits it is because the rust has pitted the metal. A rust blue finish does cause some pitting, the amount depends on the aggressiveness of the formula used. You will need to do some polishing of the metal no mater what method you use to remove bluing. I have found that perhaps 3 or 4 applications of the Jelly will give a much cleaner looking steel.

 

[papart1]

I have never tried the tb cleaner though I know of other engravers who also use it.

The Naval Jelly does not pit the metal...if there are pits it is because the rust has pitted the metal. A rust blue finish does cause some pitting, the amount depends on the aggressiveness of the formula used. You will need to do some polishing of the metal no mater what method you use to remove bluing. I have found that perhaps 3 or 4 applications of the Jelly will give a much cleaner looking steel.

Thanks Sam, there is always hand work to do, I just found that after leaving a cylinder in the vise.I thought I had completely covered it with trans fluid.........then the scaffold broke and down came all that stuff. about 2.75 hours today, but I also took out some oopzies too

 

[JJ Roberts]

Sam, I tried Naval Jelly years ago it etched the metal and I had a heck of a time polishing the gun parts. J.J.

 

[SamW]

Never had that problem JJ. Here is a sculpted scene grayed with Naval Jelly. No damage to the details.

 

[JJ Roberts]

Sam,Looks great,I slow rust the parts and remove with Lysol toilet bowl cleaner to get the French gray,do you ad anything to the Naval Jelly? J.J.

 

[SamW]

No additions JJ just straight out of the bottle. Wipe it on (with a q-tip) keeping it moist until the blue fades out then rinse under hot water. Repeat until satisfied. Rubbing with a non abrasive (Pink Pearl type) eraser if needed then two coats of Renaissance wax blackened with lamp black followed with two coats of plain wax for good protection. The lamp black helps bring out the detail.

 

[papart1]

nice job on the butt plate Sam?

 

[Big-Un]

I also use Lysol toilet bowl cleaner, rinse with plenty of warm water, dry or blow off the water then apply a liberal dose of a water displacement fluid such as WD-40. Then use Renaissance Wax for protection if it will be a while before working on it. Be careful of Chinese White for laying out, it will do some damage if left on too long. Tom White's layout fluid doesn't seem to hurt the metal if left on. Of course, the idea is to get the work done quickly anyway, so nothing should be "semipermanent."

 

[papart1]

thanks for the reply and addition to my inquiry, I am familiar with what china white does.......it not pretty. Is it not true that any paste wax ,solution/block will protect bare metal. When I painted cars we used a standard mix of hydraulic and trany fluid and sprays it from a pump bottle, wiped it lightly and let it set. 2-5 days it was ode kade, proceed with paint prep and final finish, it also works GREAT for despat protection when welding panels. paps

 

[Dave London]

The Works Toilet Bowl cleaner, Home Depot $2.00
Degrease and use it instantly removes blueing MTC YMMV

 

[papart1]

thanks Dave sounds pretty good

 

[quickcut07]

Great plate Sam. Love the engraving and the finish really sets off the work. Never tried a two tone finish.

Eric