any advice on engraving naa pistol?

[TFACARVING]

I'm currently working on engraving an old north american arms mini magnum but my graver keeps chipping with in the first half inch or so. I'm using c-max gravers with geometries from 90 to 120 at 1300 strokes per minute. I've used these gravers before on Spyderco stainless and it did just fine as well as on CVA percussion pistol and a Browning 1910 without so much as a single chip. I am wondering if the stainless on the North American arms is harder then what I worked on before and if I maybe need a different graver steel or a different speed. Any advice would be much appreciated as the project is almost done and I've made a relatively large mistake that needs to be corrected

 

[JJ Roberts]

Try a 50 or 55 degree face angle. J.J.

 

[tdelewis]

http://gunengraving.org/engravablity.shtml Check this out. NAA are listed.

 

[TFACARVING]

Well that was about how I felt about them the Spyderco stainless was about the same some are a pleasure to cut and some are harder than the dickens

 

[JJ Roberts]

Try a 116 graver it has a stronger wider face angle with a 50 or 55 degree face angle. J.J.

 

[TFACARVING]

Try a 116 graver it has a stronger wider face angle with a 50 or 55 degree face angle. J.J.

I'm wondering if maybe a has graver might have better luck on the chipping. The face is usually around 50-55 on my 120 and 105 but I know the steel on those guns can be a little inconsistent

 

[Big-Un]

I engraved several "older" NAA revolvers when they first came out and spent more time sharpening than cutting. They are very hard and the cuts must be a little more shallow than normal, requiring re-cutting them sometimes. Since then I've learned that a steeper face angle with a dubbed point and possibly a different steel graver could be used. Carbalt or the harder metals don't hold up as well. Try an M42 graver or even a normal type graver with the proper geometry. and BE PATIENT with them.

 

[cooper]

Good morning I have engraved these and seacamp stainless guns I used a carbide tool 116 and 65 or 70 degree face and a very short heal the naa was hammer the seacamp I used a Lindsey good luck

 

[TFACARVING]

I appreciate the insight. I was also reminded I may be having vibration problems loose collets in a 901 handpiece may be all my issue is. If it is then... oops... Some are really rickety so il look into maybe replacing the innards of the hand piece an as a temporary fix find a tighter collet and see what happens