Brian Hochstrat
Elite Cafe Member
Well it is good to be home, and getting back into the routine. Reno and Elko both went very well, but after 10 days in motel rooms, its nice to be back home. I have never met so many nice folks in so short of time and people willing to freely give needed advice. There is more to being an engraver than just engraving, and Scott P., Kenny Majors, Dave Alderson (silverchip), and others all took the time to impart some words of wisdom and warn of the pitfalls that linger, the kind of advice that is priceless, and I thank them for it.
Here is the Colt I took to Reno, its a 3rd Generation 32-20, all ornamental work is done in 24k including my signature which is about 4mm in height. The front sight was pierced and sculpted and has gold shade lines. The bluing I did with Oxinate which gave a matte finish which contrasted well with the gold.
I learned quite a bit on this project and things I will do differently next time, but all in all I was pleased with the end result. I will definitely be doing more of these Colts, they are a great canvas and have some challenging areas that you can really show what you are made of, such as the top of the hammer which has a double contour and the bumps at the front part of the frame that receives the barrel and ejector housing which has a pretty sharp crease at the bottom of the valley.
Also I just found out how difficult it is to photograph these things, looks like I need to make a light box to put it in. The set up I have now works great for the knives but I am getting hot spots when shooting something with contours.
As always atta-boys are nice, but real critique is what is helpful, so if you see something that needs improving please don't hold back, I will not be insulted. Thanks- Brian
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Here is the Colt I took to Reno, its a 3rd Generation 32-20, all ornamental work is done in 24k including my signature which is about 4mm in height. The front sight was pierced and sculpted and has gold shade lines. The bluing I did with Oxinate which gave a matte finish which contrasted well with the gold.
I learned quite a bit on this project and things I will do differently next time, but all in all I was pleased with the end result. I will definitely be doing more of these Colts, they are a great canvas and have some challenging areas that you can really show what you are made of, such as the top of the hammer which has a double contour and the bumps at the front part of the frame that receives the barrel and ejector housing which has a pretty sharp crease at the bottom of the valley.
Also I just found out how difficult it is to photograph these things, looks like I need to make a light box to put it in. The set up I have now works great for the knives but I am getting hot spots when shooting something with contours.
As always atta-boys are nice, but real critique is what is helpful, so if you see something that needs improving please don't hold back, I will not be insulted. Thanks- Brian