Metal Preparation and Finishing Seminar

[SDH]

Metal Prep and Bluing Seminar
I've been teaching small group private Custom Gunmaking Seminars in my workshop in Livingston, MT for eight years. Stockmaking is the most popular but a few years back I added a Metal Finishing Seminar that I recently realized might be of great benefit to professional engravers.

I've worked with several FEGA Master Engravers over the years and they can attest to my professionalism and competence of my results. See examples at: www.finegunmaking.com

In the Seminar we cover hand polishing the best way to polish gun metal, (no machine polishing) with techniques developed that result in scratch-free, 600 grit, ready to engrave surface. We cover: Grit cloth polishing, polishing with stones, draw filing, re-establishing surfaces, directional polishing, cross-polishing, grit progression and blending. The emphasis is always on keeping flats truly flat, uniform curved surfaces and sharp edges that define and enhance the original metalwork contours.

We discuss and accomplish proper surfaces for color case hardening, rust bluing, bright metal, and nitre bluing. We examine engraved custom guns and rifles and how the surfaces and metal finishes have held up with decades of usage shooting and hunting. The example guns are my own custom guns finished with these techniques and used for decades.

Both Express and Slow rust bluing are accomplished in the shop. We will prepare and complete a batch of screws with Nitre bluing. The five day, approx. 45 hour of class time will include daily discussions and about 8 hours of bench work each day. Tuesday and Thursday evenings we meet back in the shop for a couple hours of "show and tell" inviting students to bring firearms example to discuss.

The Seminar cost is $1650, it runs Monday though Friday June 24-28, 2019 for a maximum of four students with lunch provided. I have one workbench open for 2019 and invite prospective student to get on my list for notification next year. I request a 50% deposit a with balance 30 prior to class.
I can be contacted at: 406-222-9377 or be email: sdh@finegunmaking.com
Thanks,
Steven Dodd Hughes
Gunmaker, Writer, Photographer

 

[JJ Roberts]

Fellow engravers take advantage of Steve's metal preparation class he will guide you in the right direction.Great stock maker & metal smith. J.J.

 

[John B.]

Steven, that sounds like a wonderful opportunity to learn from a Master.

 

[SDH]

Thanks for the kind words JJ and John. This is one phase of custom gunwork and engraving that is under appreciated. I cringe when I see a fine gun with lovely engraving that has scratches in the bare metal.

Many folks seems to think that it is easy to polish metalwork but it takes a systematic approach with the proper tools and supplies. Developing techniques with proper tools makes it easier to achieve the superior result that your engraving jobs deserve. The engravers that I've worked with seem to appreciate the metalwork I provide them as there is no polishing required.

I'm relatively sure this is not the universal experience and knowing how and what to do to rectify problems and efficiently complete poorly prepared metalwork will save time and elevate the quality of the finished project.


Hand Polished And Ready To Engrave

 

[diane b]

Dear Steven,
Thank you for posting this information - diane b

 

[JJ Roberts]

Metal Preparation was the first thing I taught myself it's very important to get a fine finish on the metal before engraving and must be done by hand with wet & dry automotive paper no buffing, you don't want to dish out the screw & pin holes or round the sharp edges on the gun parts.I found that Doug Turnbull's video on metal preparation was very helpful. J.J.

 

[SDH]

Great to speak with you yesterday, Diane~~ Looking forward to the next project!

Hand Polishing is a dirty, gritty and tedious task that will transform virtually any factory firearm into something special. If it is then engraved, it becomes exceptional.

With specific techniques and selective materials much of the tedium can be turned into production. Folks seem to think that they can learn to master this quite easily, and some can. When you charge by the hour the special techniques and tools pay for themselves in a hurry. I've got hundreds of hours of experience and students can pick up this knowledge in a couple of days.

Rust bluing is one of the finest finishes for gun metals. It can also absolutely ruin a professional engraving job. Learning to accomplish the highest quality without deteriorating artistic engraving in a productive and profitable manner is possible in a short seminar.
I have just one workbench open for this June 24-28, 2019 Seminar.

 

[SDH]

The last workstation for the Metal Finishing Seminar has been taken. Please do contact me about next year, several of this year's Stockmaking and Metal Finishing student were on the list from last year.
Thanks to all that contacted me, and for the attention of this forum.
Steven Dodd Hughes