Damascus Barrel Etching

[Harry Collins]

Hello all, I've been deposed by work and medications. I'm out of the loop on who does colors on Damascus barrels. Brad Bachelor is in the game and does fantastic work, Doug Turnbull does as well. Craig Smith of Circle Fly Wads once did, but can't find anything on the web for him and Damascus barrels nor for Keith Kearcher. It my understanding that Dale Edmonds has hung up is apron. Any help would be appreciated on who is doing colors on Damascus.

Kindest,
Harry Collins

[Dean Romig]

Harry,

You have named the ones we hear about most often however, there are others that few of us know about.
I would think that Dr. Drew Hause has a list of the more obscure ones.






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[Eric Eis]

Keith Kearcher's barrels come out with an English brown tone to them, not a B/W color and I think he is retired too.

[Dean Romig]

Keith's nephew has taken over the business.





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[Mills Morrison]

I was sorry to hear that Dale Edmonds retired as he did a great job on two sets of barrels for me. Brad B seems to be the other go to guy.

[Harry Collins]

Thanks friends,

The reason I ask is I am going to start doing barrels. Mike Franzen spoke with Dale Edmonds and gathered his method, but is to busy with his enterprise to do barrels. Mike had gone to the trouble of gathering much of what's Dale told him. I have purchased this from Mike and am in the process of collecting the rest of what is needed. I have three sets of barrels at present, but I doubt I will have anything ready to show at the Southern.

Thanks all and keep shooting.
Harry

[Mills Morrison]

Good luck, Harry!

[Drew Hause]

Unfortunate to lose Dale, but there are lots of artists doing beautiful pattern welded restoration today Harry. Scroll down to the bottom here
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EGInyr3CsRadXkmTYRak4TWK-pCB3cN5Wgg51u_SnEM/edit

It is important to note that some do "browning" exclusively, and "black & white" would reproduce the original Parker (and the U.S. maker's) colors.

A nice example of the original D3 colors under the forend

http://pic20.picturetrail.com:80/VOL1373/6511424/17227428/395729637.jpg

Kody Kearcher is Keith's nephew and was at the Vegas show in Jan. He said he hopes to start doing "black & white" but does not as yet.

[Harry Collins]

Thank you Drew,

I am confident I can eventually come very close to Dale's colors. I have thrown all my eggs into one basket on this venture in hopes of having a home business that will keep me off the streets and out of the pool halls.

Kindest,
Harry

[Dean Romig]

Best of Luck Harry!





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[Brian Dudley]

Dale's process is basically the Oscar Gaddy "Parker" process.

Anyone looking to get into Damascus Barrel finishing should first get copies of Oscar's articles and go from there. Any variation from the process would be strictly dependent on individual circumstances from person to person doing them as well as environmental.

Dale told me that he was told many times by people that he should document and write an article on his process, he said there is no need since it all has already been written down by Gaddy.


Dale's retiring has left a hole in this field, from both a quality and reliability standpoint. I intend on eventually trying to do my own in house, but that falls by the wayside in my lack of free time to devote to R&D. And I am still looking for a reliable supplier to get my Dam refinishing done by. I have one hopeful now that is doing some trial work for me. We will see...

[Drew Hause]

Tom Flanigan's tutorial is an adaptation of Dr Gaddy's
https://docs.google.com/document/d/18MIvJwHhLh87zYiUDOQ4RkZKw7b42sUhVKz_9HMDdv4/edit

Dr Gaddy’s Damascus Refinishing Technique
Double Gun Journal , Vol 8, Issues 2 and 3, 1997 and Vol 14, Issue 1, 2003
http://www.doublegunshop.com:80/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=6394&page=1&fpart=2

[Harry Collins]

I spoke with Dale for about an hour and a half's worth of great advice. I do have a math problem for the forum. I am mixing 3.5 liter solution of 10% Ferric Chloride. The ferric Chloride is a 38.4% concentration. The following are my naught naughts:

38.4% X = 10% 3.5 Liters

X = 10% 3.5 L divided by 38.4% (10% 3500 ml = 350)

X = 350/.384

X = 911.458 Milliliters

Almost 1/3 of my 10% ferric chloride solution will be ferric chloride. Its been a long time since I've had to do more the add and subtract. Please let me know if I'm on the right tack or off on a tangent.

Kindest, Harry

[Harry Collins]

Forgot to mention that 912 ml FeCl3 + 2588 ml deionized H2O = 10% FeCl3 3500 ml solution. Or am I crazy?

[Dennis Yager]

Gaddy's article in DDJ states "15 percent dilution of commercial ferric chloride at room temperature" I take that to mean 15% of commercial product at its strength. I could be wrong but 1fc to 6 or 7 water seems to do alot.

[Harry Collins]

Thanks Den. Every time I reread those articles I find something new.

[Bill Graham]

Based on my talk with Dale, one place where he varies a little from Dr. Gaddy is by doing multiple brownings before any boiling. I've found this to work well. Less effort involved to brown multiple times to establish a respectable pattern contrast, and then commit by converting the rust.

I've also been having good results from carding the etchant with a very wet slurry of baking soda. This is in Mr. Flanigan's process. It gets the job done, is controllable, and baking soda will neutralize the etchant, which has to be done anyway.

[Brian Dudley]

Multiple brownings before boiling is more like the "Parker process" that Gaddy wrote a separate article on. This process had a boiling in logwood and ferrous sulfate at the end.

[Harry Collins]

I have confirmed that the above calculation for a 10% Ferric Chloride solution is correct.

Harry

[Bill Graham]

Multiple brownings before boiling is more like the "Parker process" that Gaddy wrote a separate article on. This process had a boiling in logwood and ferrous sulfate at the end.
In one of the records of Dr. Gaddy's account of the Parker Process, it states 7-10 rustings before converting the rust. Then the process states to etch for 5 minutes, and then you should be able to rub off with a finger tip what the etchant removes. Does this sound right? That's a lot of bluing done before the etching, so maybe 5 minutes is required.

I've got two sets going now. One I'm doing this way, the other is being done the other way Dr. Gaddy articulated, which is rust, boil, etch, rust, boil, etch, etc. I tried it multiple ways, with different variations here and there, but for these I'm going to be very strict and do a comparison between the two processes.

[Harry Collins]

To paraphrase Thomas Edison, I haven't had any failures, but I've sure found a lot of ways not to refinish Damascus barrels. I have five sets going at present and three are ready for logwood boil to bring out the black/white finish. I will post more pictures when I finish these.

[Harry Collins]

Sorry about the poor photos. The shadows appear as if I did not get the rusting down to the ribs. I'll try and get better pictures after the boil.

[Mike Franzen]

Looking good Harry

[Bill Graham]

Sorry about the poor photos. The shadows appear as if I did not get the rusting down to the ribs. I'll try and get better pictures after the boil.
I hear you, Harry. Tough to get the photos right. I have a sister-in-law in that industry, and she's describing more photography gear than I want to invest in. Good luck sorting it out.

[Tom Flanigan]

It is interesting to see my instructions turn up again. The setter in the picture was Stoney, one of the best gun dogs I have ever owned. He was a true grouse dog and we normally took over 30 birds a year in addition to pheasants, huns and sharptails in Saskatchewan. Experience is the only thing that can make a true grouse dog. I still miss him terribly and think of him often.

[Drew Hause]

TOM: So good to have you posting, and I hope all is well with you and your family. Drew

[Tom Flanigan]

TOM: So good to have you posting, and I hope all is well with you and your family. Drew


Thank you Drew.....much appreciated

[Bill Murphy]

I am also glad to see Tom posting again and in contact with PGCA members. Tom helped me with my Wirehair, Eva, when she was a pup. I lost her at 12 years, 2 months a few weeks ago. Tom and Jeff Mullican shot the first birds over her, while I handled the leads. I can't believe it has been that long.

[Dean Romig]

I well remember those days. Tom did a set of Damascus barrels for me.

What was Jeff's big yellow lab's name? He was a real sweetheart of a dog - he liked everybody. Jeff did some fantastic nitre blueing too.





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[Tom Flanigan]

Dean and Bill.....Jeff's lab was named Luke. I loved that dog as if he were my own. Jeff used to take Luke for retrieving while on hunts with myself and Stoney, my wonderful setter. Luke would stay at heal while Jeff and I walked in for the flush. When Jeff gave him the command, he would rush in for the retrieve. Luke always tried to beat Stoney to the retrieve. One memorable day, Stoney beat Luke to a pheasant Jeff shot. Stoney started back with the bird and Luke, not to be denied, grab a hold of the bird also. They both came back to us holding onto the bird together. Jeff and I still talk about that duel retrieve.

Jeff has bought a farm in NH not that far from my home in Pawling, NY. We will be fly fishing the Housatonic River a lot this spring and hunting grouse in my home coverts in Pawling. The area I have hunted since childhood is still highly productive grouse cover due to the 1400 acres being selectively logged every ten years.

I am back in the game. I suffered severe depression for a number of years due to a family problem. I sold most of my Parkers to pay my son's hospital bills. I only kept a Holland and Holland 28 gauge and three Parkers. I gave a couple of Parkers to friends including a wonderful DHE 34" pigeon gun with high dimensions that I gave to Destry. I hope he is still using that gun.

I am now buying Parkers again and hunting again. I won't get up the eighteen Parkers I owned back in the day but it doesn't matter. I am happy and again doing the things I did as a boy.

Thanks for responding guys. It was great to hear from you.

[Dean Romig]

Tom, I'm so glad you're 'well' again. You used to be a regular here and I hope we hear from you more. Can you say where Jeff lives in NH? Both of my daughters and their families live in NH.

Best, Dean





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[Tom Flanigan]

Jeff lives in Alsteed, NH. He is busy making maple syrup. He has a nice outdoor setup that he built to boil the sap. He tells me it takes about 10 gallons of sap to produce 1 pint of syrup. I will be visiting his beautiful cabin shortly.

This is a picture of Jeff, Luke and Stoney. Stoney is on point waiting for Jeff to flush the birds and Luke is looking to Jeff for approval to retrieve.