First time engraving gun advice please

[mcrapo]

I am getting ready to engrave my Ruger SAA Revolver. I have decided to do a fully engrave the gun with some gold inlay. The design is all done, and I am ready to start taking it apart.

I was wondering, when you engrave a pistol, do you have the barrel taken off, or engrave with it on?

Also who would you recommend to do the re-bluing after I am done with the engraving?

I would also love to hear anybody’s advice on what to expect when engraving this gun. Any does/don't with this one?

Thanks
Mike

 

[SamW]

Though not really neccessary to remove the barrel, it sure makes it easier to work on with it removed. Any gunsmith that does bluing should be able to take care of that part and remove the barrel for you. You may find some hard metal there but if you are using a pneumatic hammer and carbide gravers the job can be done. Hopefully someone familiar with that particular pistol will chime in. Just take your time and enjoy. the first cut is the scariest!

Sam

 

[fegarex]

If you are going to fully engrave this I would suggest you remove the barrel. I'm not sure which model you have but most of these have an alloy backstrap and ejector housing. Needless to say these can't be reblued, so inlays are a no-no. I think there are some aftermarket steel backstraps available. The cylinder and barrel can be tough but not impossible. Usually, the frames are decent to cut unless they are stainless.

 

[Yves Halliburton]

If it is a Vaquero or New Vaquero the engraving is not a problem. All the parts are steel. I would strongly advise on removing the barrel, it makes life much easier. Is the frame color case or blue. The color case is acid and not true color case and would suggest when refinishing in having the frame color cased in the true way. Doug Turnbull can do this as there are other shops as well. If it's a blackhawk or old 3 screw some of those ejector houseings and grip frames are alloy as Rex said.

 

[mcrapo]

Thank you for the advice so far.

The gun is a Ruger Vaquero Bisley in 45LC. I will have a friend of mine (a gunsmith) take the barrel off for me.

I have a GRS GaverMax with a QC 901 Hand Piece. I am working on getting the carbide gravers but right now only have the Glensteel gravers. Would they do for the back strap, or do you recommend waiting until the carbide gravers come in?

Thank you all for your help, it really makes me feel less better in doing this for the first time.

Thanks
Mike

 

[Yves Halliburton]

You should be ok with the Glensteel, but you can check by cutting some on an area where it will not show, like the underside of the frame where the backstrap attaches to the frame. I also suggest that you remove the bluing using a chemical. There are commercial ones availiable or you could use toilet bowl cleaner. There was an area on this forum that had the different blue removers. The remover will also remove the case color from the frame. Then polish with a high grit sandpaper or emory cloth. I use 800-1200 emory to bring it to the shine I like. Removing the bluing by sanding alone takes to much time.

 

[monk]

the recoil shield and loading gate can be a real beast for a first timer. get some junk plumbers elbow fittings. clean these up as smooth as you can get them. practice cutting some of your design on these curves. this will give you the feel needed to perform this type cut. working these compound curves is very tricky. remember when cutting these parts, the tool at all times will try to exit the material. you must constantlly readjust your hand position to maintain a consistent cut depth/width. practice this on junk first, not a gun !

 

[mcrapo]

the recoil shield and loading gate can be a real beast for a first timer. get some junk plumbers elbow fittings. clean these up as smooth as you can get them. practice cutting some of your design on these curves. this will give you the feel needed to perform this type cut. working these compound curves is very tricky. remember when cutting these parts, the tool at all times will try to exit the material. you must constantlly readjust your hand position to maintain a consistent cut depth/width. practice this on junk first, not a gun !

Thanks for the Tip Monk. I have not thought of using something like that. I have been doing to practice on a piece of conduit channel tubing using to run wiring through. It has give me some practice doing curves.

I will try the plumbers elbows.

Mike

 

[Andrew Biggs]

Hi Mike

You are in for a big learning curve. Just go for it and you'll soon overcome all the tricky problems that will come your way.

1. After it's de-blued look at the finish very carfully and look out for scratches machine marks etc. Try to get as many out as you can with small die sinker and arkansas stones. Be careful around working parts!!! and parts that interlock with each other. The prep work is the first important step if you are doing it yourself. Be prepared to spend a bit of time doing this but it's well worth the effort.

2. All the tricky areas won't be apparent till you get to them. Be prepared to alter your graver heels to accomodate certain areas.

3. Support your work firmly and take the time to make whatever jigs etc that you need. Holding the work can sometimes be an art in itself.

4. Have fun doing it and don't rush it.............look at each challenge as a learning experience because there are going to be plenty of challenges!!!

5. Show us your progress

Cheers
Andrew

 

[mcrapo]

Hi Mike

You are in for a big learning curve. Just go for it and you'll soon overcome all the tricky problems that will come your way.

1. After it's de-blued look at the finish very carfully and look out for scratches machine marks etc. Try to get as many out as you can with small die sinker and arkansas stones. Be careful around working parts!!! and parts that interlock with each other. The prep work is the first important step if you are doing it yourself. Be prepared to spend a bit of time doing this but it's well worth the effort.

2. All the tricky areas won't be apparent till you get to them. Be prepared to alter your graver heels to accomodate certain areas.

3. Support your work firmly and take the time to make whatever jigs etc that you need. Holding the work can sometimes be an art in itself.

4. Have fun doing it and don't rush it.............look at each challenge as a learning experience because there are going to be plenty of challenges!!!

5. Show us your progress

Cheers
Andrew

Andrew

Thanks for the advice. It is well appreciated and enjoyed.

Could you please elaborate on what you meant when you said 'Be prepared to alter your graver heels to accommodate certain areas'. What alterations are you talking about. What do degrees do you alter you heels from/to.

Thanks again
Mike

 

[Tim Wells]

He's talking about when you have to turn the work while cutting a scroll next to the hammer and cheek area behind the cylinder on the left side for instance.

Your graver will hit that as you swing around and it will make you cuss; did me! You'll have a nice elbow in your work ruining the job. If you change the heel angle to give you more clearance causing the tool to be in a higher handed position when it cuts it will come in handy for at least that portion of the job. Holler if you need guidance on this, someone here will help.

As for the blue removal I use Sno Bol toilet bowl cleaner. Just wipe it on wearing gloves and it'll take it right off. Then neutralize it with some soda water, either buy a can or just mix baking soda and water and use it to kill the acid. Oil it lightly when you're done to prevent rust until it is ready to cut then you can get the oil off with acetone or alcohol. Good luck.

 

[Andrew Biggs]

Hi Mike

Yip, It's pretty much as Tim has said.

One thing that you may notice is that parts of the gun will start getting in the way of your hand movement and keep bumping you.

If you use a 15 degree heel on flat work you may find that you have to raise it to 17 degrees to get the clearance you need. On concave areas this can go as high as 35 degrees or higher to get the clearance.

You also may find that face angles may need to change depending on the harness of the steel. Most of mine sit around 55 degrees which gives the graver tip more strength.

There's no "set in stone" angles as it's just something that you will figure out as you go.

In some areas you may have to attack the scroll from different directions to be able to complete it.

I guess what I'm saying is.....................Don't be afraid to play with your tools/graver angles/direction of approach, to get whatever you need done. Take your time and think about each problem as it arises and how to solve it and you'll be fine.

Cheers
Andrew

 

[SamW]

Mike, draw your design very carefully on the steel and this will help you when you have to cut from different directions as Andrew mentioned above. Also, after removing the blue give the parts a quick polish with some 600 or 800 wet-or-dry paper and this will help highlight all the tool marks and scratches in the metal so you can see how much polishing you are in for.

 

[Tim Wells]

One thing I forgot to mention: To help in design as well as execution you can take a q tip stem with one end broke off or toothpick, whatever to use as a pretend graver and imagine going over your lines on the gun to see where you'll hit stuff.

Actually make a "dry run" with that fake graver since it is your first time doing this, it may help. It also helps you discover where you have designed something in areas that may be hard to cut what you've drawn that you can re-design out so you avoid painting yourself into a corner.

That real tricky detailed scroll or pattern may look good right up against that cylinder cheek hump but do you really want to try to cut something with that inherent difficulty on your first job? Once you have more practice you can jump into these types of problems with more bravado but I found out on my first revolver (my only one that no one will ever see) that I should have designed my layout with that in mind and I didn't. I hit that damned cheek and put a dog leg in an otherwise perfect scroll. Just something to think about.

Cutting or should I say, the ability to cut from both directions without it looking like you did will solve a lot of these instances where you can't make a full swing to complete a scroll or whatever. Happy trails...

 

[mcrapo]

Everyone

Thanks so much for all your help. This has been the greatest place I have found in a long time. The advice is great, along with everyone here. I really appreciate what everyone has give me.

Thanks again
Mike

 

[monk]

when cutting conduit, you get good experience with the simple curve that goes from round out to flat .this is like doing the barrel or extractor housing. the plumbers elbows are continuous curves, requiring a whole new feel for what you're doing. i think it wise to get the feel of this on some practice junk before doing the real thing ! just my 5 cents worth. good luck, let us all see how it comes along.

 

[Andrew Biggs]

I have to take the contrary line of thinking to Tim. Nature just made me that way

Get in there, get your feet wet and go hard on the design. Don't let the tricky bits get in the way of the design..............just go for it!!!!

You'll recognise the problems as you come to them and then think of ways to overcome them. You'll probabley make some mistakes, some of which you will be able to fix and others that you will have to live with. Either way it dosn't matter...................at the end of the exercise your understanding, knowledge and engraving skills will be that much better.

Then it will be on to the next one ....................which should be better than the last.

Cheers
Andrew