Ken Hurst
Elite Cafe Member
Just Beautiful Ray !! This and one just finished by Marty R. are the best to surface in a long time ---- congrats. Ken
Colt SAA in progress
- Thread starter Ray Cover
- Start date
Andrew Biggs
Moderator
Wow to the engraving
Wow to the photography
Both are stunning
Cheers
Andrew
Wow to the photography
Both are stunning
Cheers
Andrew
Strikingly pleasing Ray. Nice job!! The gray and blue combination is very elegant. Impressive photos too, which brings home the value of quality projection and/or presentation. First class all the way. Right on Ray, ride on! ......Ron S
jlseymour
Elite Cafe Member
Ray that is fantastic, that's one of the reasons I chose your school...
You are a great teacher and I learned so much and it has improved my engraving so much and I can't wait until we retire and I can spend much more time with the graver...
Hey do you or will you put a 50 amp (30 will do) RV hookup at your place or at your new property for your shop???...
Hope to seeyal soon
Jerry and joan
You are a great teacher and I learned so much and it has improved my engraving so much and I can't wait until we retire and I can spend much more time with the graver...
Hey do you or will you put a 50 amp (30 will do) RV hookup at your place or at your new property for your shop???...
Hope to seeyal soon
Jerry and joan
ddushane
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
Awesome Job on the gun Ray & great job on the photo too Rob! Thanks for posting, Dwayne
cover, i had to come back again today to take another look ! this reminds me of a popsicle on a hot, humid august evening !
Brian Hochstrat
Elite Cafe Member
Ray,
That is an awesome job, I would imagine that masking off all that scrollwork before removing the blue, took some time and a steady hand. I have wondered if electroplating first, then bluing would work, if so, it would definitely take away the risk of messing up the blueing and speed things up. I have not tested this yet, has this ever been tried? Again, nicely done. -Brian
That is an awesome job, I would imagine that masking off all that scrollwork before removing the blue, took some time and a steady hand. I have wondered if electroplating first, then bluing would work, if so, it would definitely take away the risk of messing up the blueing and speed things up. I have not tested this yet, has this ever been tried? Again, nicely done. -Brian
Oh crap!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I did not notice Rob had posted pics until I read Dwayne's post. I've been working too hard.
Dang Rob, Those pics do look good.
If you don't mind, send me a copy of those so I can put it on my website.
Thanks,
Ray
I did not notice Rob had posted pics until I read Dwayne's post. I've been working too hard.
Dang Rob, Those pics do look good.
If you don't mind, send me a copy of those so I can put it on my website.
Thanks,
Ray
Barry,
Here is basically what I did on the graying/plating.
I had bought a pen plater for doing selective plating so I already had one here.
First I painted Dykem layout fluid as a mask on the areas that needed to be protected. I like the dykem because it is easy to see where you have and have not painted, it is lacquer based so it makes a good resist for acidic chemicals, and is it at a good viscosity to be easily painted in tiny areas with a 0000 detail brush.
Previously when I had done selective french gray it was a very slow process waiting for the acid to remove the blue. This one was charcoal blued and was taking even longer. So I scratched my head and decided I had to figure out a way to speed up the chemical process.
My first thought was, since heat speeds up chemical processes, "How can I heat the metal without messing up or softening the lacquer?" WHile I was trying to figure this out I spotted the pen plater out of the corner of my eye and realized that electrical current ALSO speeds up chemical processes.
So............. I dipped a clean electro-pen in some of of the phosphoric acid based bluing stripper and tried it. The electrical current stripped the bluing a whole lot faster and more evenly than just letting the acid set on the metal and brushing it.
Then everything was electrochemically cleaned in brownell's dicroclean solution with current running through it.
I wanted a pen plating solution that I could plate directly onto steel without an underplate and had a softer gray color. I did not want a bright nickel because it would be too bold and brash for the look I wanted. I will have to go back and look it up because I can't remember who it was, but one of the guys on here pointed me to a place that had what I was looking for.
Then I plated the soft nickel based plating on with the normal pen plating process.
Here is basically what I did on the graying/plating.
I had bought a pen plater for doing selective plating so I already had one here.
First I painted Dykem layout fluid as a mask on the areas that needed to be protected. I like the dykem because it is easy to see where you have and have not painted, it is lacquer based so it makes a good resist for acidic chemicals, and is it at a good viscosity to be easily painted in tiny areas with a 0000 detail brush.
Previously when I had done selective french gray it was a very slow process waiting for the acid to remove the blue. This one was charcoal blued and was taking even longer. So I scratched my head and decided I had to figure out a way to speed up the chemical process.
My first thought was, since heat speeds up chemical processes, "How can I heat the metal without messing up or softening the lacquer?" WHile I was trying to figure this out I spotted the pen plater out of the corner of my eye and realized that electrical current ALSO speeds up chemical processes.
So............. I dipped a clean electro-pen in some of of the phosphoric acid based bluing stripper and tried it. The electrical current stripped the bluing a whole lot faster and more evenly than just letting the acid set on the metal and brushing it.
Then everything was electrochemically cleaned in brownell's dicroclean solution with current running through it.
I wanted a pen plating solution that I could plate directly onto steel without an underplate and had a softer gray color. I did not want a bright nickel because it would be too bold and brash for the look I wanted. I will have to go back and look it up because I can't remember who it was, but one of the guys on here pointed me to a place that had what I was looking for.
Then I plated the soft nickel based plating on with the normal pen plating process.
BrianPowley
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
Ray. Fabulous job! Thanks for sharing the experience.
It's amazing how the basic Colt SAA can look so different every time it's engraved.
Great stuff!
It's amazing how the basic Colt SAA can look so different every time it's engraved.
Great stuff!
Hi Brian H.
Your question about plating before bluing is an interesting one.
Nickel plating does not stand up well in the blueing tanks and tends to get cloudy.
Under some conditions this may be an interesting finish????
I'm not sure how it would react to rust blue though, haven't tried that.
Gold and silver are fine before bluing as you know. If well plated, no problem.
Copper plating can be a problem in that it can "poision" the bluing salts.
Best regards and congratulations on your magnificent Colt from Reno.
John B.
Your question about plating before bluing is an interesting one.
Nickel plating does not stand up well in the blueing tanks and tends to get cloudy.
Under some conditions this may be an interesting finish????
I'm not sure how it would react to rust blue though, haven't tried that.
Gold and silver are fine before bluing as you know. If well plated, no problem.
Copper plating can be a problem in that it can "poision" the bluing salts.
Best regards and congratulations on your magnificent Colt from Reno.
John B.
Last edited:
Biorka
Member
Thanks for the reply Ray. Quite the process but obviously well worth the effort. Hey, any word on when your advanced inlay video might be available?
Barry
Barry
We killed that.
I was so disappointed in the video quality of the first centercross dvd (and so were many others) that the second set won't be made.
I have pretty much told myself that if I won't be part of anything like that again unless I have total and absolute control over the entire process to ensure the quality.
I am toying with the idea of putting together a cd myself which would contain scans of my sketchbooks from over the years, smoke pulls, photos of finished works, and a Powerpoint tutorial on how I use Poser7 3d animation software to create and layout scenes. That project my daughter and I can do ourselves.
Ray
I was so disappointed in the video quality of the first centercross dvd (and so were many others) that the second set won't be made.
I have pretty much told myself that if I won't be part of anything like that again unless I have total and absolute control over the entire process to ensure the quality.
I am toying with the idea of putting together a cd myself which would contain scans of my sketchbooks from over the years, smoke pulls, photos of finished works, and a Powerpoint tutorial on how I use Poser7 3d animation software to create and layout scenes. That project my daughter and I can do ourselves.
Ray
pappy
Elite Cafe Member
Colt SAA questions
Hi Ray,
First I'd like to say that the SAA is just fantastic!!! I was also very interested in the french gray/ soft nickle plating process. The results are fantastic.
When you did the gold bands on the barrell and the cylinder, did you cut the grooves for the gold in a lathe? I guess you had to cut the grooves in the ejector rod housing by hand, though.
It is too bad that you had to cancel the inlay video. I have the knife engraving video, and in spite of being a little blurry it still is my favorite engraving video. If you do another video, put me down for one!
Thanks,
pappy
Hi Ray,
First I'd like to say that the SAA is just fantastic!!! I was also very interested in the french gray/ soft nickle plating process. The results are fantastic.
When you did the gold bands on the barrell and the cylinder, did you cut the grooves for the gold in a lathe? I guess you had to cut the grooves in the ejector rod housing by hand, though.
It is too bad that you had to cancel the inlay video. I have the knife engraving video, and in spite of being a little blurry it still is my favorite engraving video. If you do another video, put me down for one!
Thanks,
pappy
Steve,
Thanks for the compliments.
I had considered cutting the barrel bands on a lathe but after talking to Ron Nott about it I decided to do them his way and cut them by hand. The type of barrel holding fixture Ron recommended to me for this allows you to turn the barrel on centers while the fixture is in the vise. THat makes it fairly easy to get nice clean bands.
Ray
Thanks for the compliments.
I had considered cutting the barrel bands on a lathe but after talking to Ron Nott about it I decided to do them his way and cut them by hand. The type of barrel holding fixture Ron recommended to me for this allows you to turn the barrel on centers while the fixture is in the vise. THat makes it fairly easy to get nice clean bands.
Ray
sdcoxx
Elite Cafe Member
Ray,
I found your knife engraving DVD to be VERY helpful.
I ONLY wished that I had a casting of the knife bolster in my hand as I viewed the DVD.
You can put me down for your next DVD, as well.
Your work is INSPIRING!!!!
Thanks,
Stephen
I found your knife engraving DVD to be VERY helpful.
I ONLY wished that I had a casting of the knife bolster in my hand as I viewed the DVD.
You can put me down for your next DVD, as well.
Your work is INSPIRING!!!!
Thanks,
Stephen
Dave London
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
Ray
Thanks for posting the great photos and info, Dittos to all other comments
Thanks for posting the great photos and info, Dittos to all other comments
smays
Member
I just want to hold it!!!! but if it were mine... I wouldnt let anyone put there greezy old hands anywhere close to it!!! thanks for sharing....simply stunning!
shawn
shawn
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