a weird one for ya

[TFACARVING]

I've been really eyeballing a little pietta snub nose 1860 as a personal piece to engrave and maybe slap in a kirst konversion kit in but they have case hardened frames. Now I know I can anneal the frame cut what I want and re case harden it again but my question is can I french grey on a case hardened piece of material. I've seen engraved case hardened frames before but never french greyed after. I feel like the contrast of the french grey over a beautiful case hardening would really pop. So I guess the question is has anyone done this before? Can it be done? And if you have done it or know someone who has please please please post some pictures The pic is for reference on the firearm in question

 

[SamW]

Selective polish with a green polishing pin from Rio Grande works well for me. Takes very little effort and you have very good control. I put the pin holder into the end of a wood dowel and use the pin like a pencil eraser.

 

[SamW]

Example of selective color removal...

 

[TFACARVING]

Example of selective color removal...

View attachment 48965

Man that looks gorgeous

 

[quickcut07]

Sam how many rabbits do you have in that hat ! Another beautiful outstanding job and a great reply and answer to a question .
Eric

 

[John B.]

Very nice Sam.
If you don't mind my question, was the case color original or applied after the flush gold inlay?

 

[monk]

Selective polish with a green polishing pin from Rio Grande works well for me. Takes very little effort and you have very good control. I put the pin holder into the end of a wood dowel and use the pin like a pencil eraser. View attachment 48964

i think there was a bit of coverage on that in the meeks book.

 

[TFACARVING]

Very nice Sam.
If you don't mind my question, was the case color original or applied after the flush gold inlay?

That is something I would be interested in finding out as well

 

[SamW]

The case color hardening was very recently done and the polishing for detail accomplished prior to final assembly which was maybe three weeks ago. The parts were annealed prior to engraving and a lot of somewhat crude original engraving removed, mostly by mild steel inlay. The gold you refer to John is a bit wider than I normally inlay but I did it to correct very poorly cut border lines that varied in depth and width (as well as direction). I have found that mild steel inlay does not normally show through case color or rust bluing but likely will have a slightly off shade when hot dip blued.
making it stand out under some lighting.

PS...to answer the question...the gold was done prior to case hardening,,,case color by Turnbull.

 

[SamW]

As an added bit of info...I use the same green pin setup to clean gold lines when they get darkened by rust bluing. Just a light going over usually does the trick. The dulling of the gold is due to very fine particles of oxide embedding in the surface of the gold during the carding process of the rust blue.

 

[John B.]

Thanks for your complete answer Sam. Very helpful.

 

[papart1]

nice stuff right here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[cropduster]

Example of selective color removal...

View attachment 48965

Looks fantastic.