SharpGraver
Elite Cafe Member
Does anyone have any experience engraving a springfield arms 1911 pistol? also is it possible to remove a parkerized finish and replace it with a blued finish?
Springfield Arms 1911
- Thread starter SharpGraver
- Start date
ron p. nott
Elite Cafe Member
- Joined
- Nov 9, 2006
- Messages
- 329
hi Dave .. yes to your questions . i have engraved and gold inlayed many 1911 , they are one of my favorite guns to engrave , to remove that finish you must sand it until it gets smooth and then do your engraving and then Finnish it .. ron p.
SharpGraver
Elite Cafe Member
Thank-You Ron. I will go buy the gun tomorrow. That gun in your picture is really beautiful
Last edited:
ron p. nott
Elite Cafe Member
- Joined
- Nov 9, 2006
- Messages
- 329
thanks Dave .. that 1911 was parkerized before I engraved it .. it can be done and it will take some sanding of the old finish to get it smooth for engraving , but it can be done .. ron p.
yes , these babies are quite easy to engrave. when doing the top of the slide be sure to place a close fitting block of wood inside. if you clamp the slide without a wood block inside, you will possibly cause the slide to deform. this will cause the owner to place a specially filled and lighted paper bag on your front porch !
SharpGraver
Elite Cafe Member
Thanks Monk. That's very good to know. I am the owner but I would be kicking myself for the rest of my days if I screwed up my gun.
pilkguns
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
I don't know about recent production Springfields, the ones I have expereince with go back about 8 years. I was involved with a mass purchase from Springfeild for the All-Guard pistol team, and got conned into putting intitials on about 5 of them. I bought two myself and have tried to cut the background away from the crossed cannon logo, I finally gave it up and it is a carry gun with some funny " rough" places on it. *They were all HARD, just on the verge of being too hard to do anything to. I suffered through the initials on them cause I had to. These were the Brazilian made slides, but I am quite sure Springfield still has their slides and frames made there still and would bet they are still hard.
FWIW, any Colt or military 1911 I have ever cut have been relative soft, with an occassional spot hardening around the slidestop notch or the hammers on them, but other than that, those guns are really pleasant to engrave.
*This gun has become my reference piece to compare cutting ability in hard metal. If I get some new wizard graver material and want to see if it will stand up to somethign hard, I cut some new background on the gun. A few years ago I tried a new handpiece on it because I had heard from another engraver that the very high stroke rate was making cutting through hard metal much easier. I could'nt tell any diffrence. It's good to have a reference peice like this hanging around, just so you can compare new stuff and outrageous claims.
FWIW, any Colt or military 1911 I have ever cut have been relative soft, with an occassional spot hardening around the slidestop notch or the hammers on them, but other than that, those guns are really pleasant to engrave.
*This gun has become my reference piece to compare cutting ability in hard metal. If I get some new wizard graver material and want to see if it will stand up to somethign hard, I cut some new background on the gun. A few years ago I tried a new handpiece on it because I had heard from another engraver that the very high stroke rate was making cutting through hard metal much easier. I could'nt tell any diffrence. It's good to have a reference peice like this hanging around, just so you can compare new stuff and outrageous claims.
SharpGraver
Elite Cafe Member
Thank-You Scott that is good to know. I think I will pass on buying the gun I was looking at.
Mike Cirelli
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
I did a pakerized Springfield 1911 once It wasn't worth it. It took as long to get off the parkerizing as it did to engrave. There were some hard spots as Scott stated.
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