Damascus refinishing

[Rick Riddell]

I know this has been discussed, but can't seem to get the search option to work on my tablet, but who would I contact to have a set of barrels refinished? What would be the estimated costs? I have the barrels out right now, but it seems the individual isn't too eager to get to the job and I would like to have them done before October and at the rate its going seems unlikely its going to happen where they are now. Please feel free to PM me with any experience or opinions!
Once thanks guys!

[Steve Huffman]

PM sent

[Robin Lewis]

Check out parkerguns.org faq link. The first faq might give you a pointer or two.

[Keith Sirmans]

Bill Graham does great work in the cooler months

[Bill Graham]

Bill Graham does great work in the cooler months
Thanks Keith. Very kind. Cooler months works out better. The workspace is not climate controlled, and summer in NC is too hot and humid to have good enough control on the process for consistent results. There are other guys around the forums who do better work anyway.

[Tom Flanigan]

I use a damp cabinet to get consistent temperatures and humidity for rusting. It's not necessary but I did it so I could get better control and consistency over the process. I took an old cabinet with doors and stripped out the shelves. I hung a 70 watt bulb at the top and place a hot plate with a coffee carafe on the bottom. When rusting, I turn on the light for heat and keep the hot plate on low and just heat the water enough so some stem comes off. I get about 85% humidity which is perfect for rusting. Higher humidity will cause dark blue spots to form ruining the process.

It takes about four hours to get the degree of rusting I am looking for. I used to rust around the clock, setting my alarm to wake me every four hours during the night. I no longer do that and just rust during the day.

[Bill Graham]

Hi Tom. My issue is not with the rusting process, it’s with my shop (aka garage) not being climate controlled, and the NC humidity and temperatures this time of year.

[Tom Flanigan]

Oh, I see Bill. It's not the barrels but your personal comfort that you are concerned with. I think you pamper yourself too much. :) Always remember, Meridan can get hot and humid in the summer. And, as far as I know, the Parker factory wasn't climate controlled and yet they kept at finishing those Damascus barrels. Men were men back in those days.

I’m counting on you to help me so we can come up with a repeatable consistent process. No slacking off please. The way I see it is you have two choices. Either you can man up or you can move north to the promised land, New England. Every thing is better in New England. You’ll love it. Quaint towns, beautiful mountains filled with grouse, gorgeous trout streams and men who are real men. We Yankees are a hardy bunch. The same bloodlines that beat you guys down in the big war between the states. Come on up Bill. You can get here from there. As far as I know, the wall Trump is talking about is on the Mexican border not on the Mason Dixon line. Yankees are always glad to take in refugees from the South.

[Mills Morrison]

No one ever retired and moved north

[Tom Flanigan]

Heck, I know at least one Mills. I just retired and I am moving north from Maryland to the promised land. I will no longer be a part time resident but a full time citizen of glorious New England. To celebrate the occasion, I plan on firing a 10 shot salute to the north with a lifter 10 bore. I might even load it with black powder to enhance the experience.


Who knows, I might start a trend.

[Mills Morrison]

All kidding aside, I really like the rural parts of New England, particularly Maine

[Bill Graham]

Thanks for rubbing, Tom, and you can count on my partnership in this pursuit, however I am weary of striking, polishing, steaming, etching, carding, and drying barrels during the summer. I don’t know what sweat does to barrels, but I’d bet it’s not ideal.

For the record, I “live” in the south, but was born and raised in Nebraska, back when the Cornhuskers still knew how to play football properly.

New Hampshire sounds lovely. I’ll be happy to visit at least.

[Dean Romig]

Heck, I know at least one Mills. I just retired and I am moving north from Maryland to the promised land. I will no longer be a part time resident but a full time citizen of glorious New England. To celebrate the occasion, I plan on firing a 10 shot salute to the north with a lifter 10 bore. I might even load it with black powder to enhance the experience.


Who knows, I might start a trend.

Where in New England are you headed Tom?





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[Tom Flanigan]

I am moving back to my family home in Pawling, New York. I guess it’s a bit of a stretch calling it New England but it is to me. It’s a small New England type town right in the heart of wonderful grouse and woodduck country. I will continue to hunt the same areas I did as a kid. Things have changed a bit but not all that much. There are now more woodduck and turkeys than there were when I was a boy. The grouse coverts are not as productive but most of it has been kept preserved as a result of selective logging every ten years. In addition, old money and strict zoning have kept most of the areas I hunt free of development.

And I’ll be near my favorite state Vermont. I have deep roots there. My family moved from Andover, Mass. to Wilmington, Vermont in 1826. My ancestors are buried there and I go back to Vermont often. I love it. If I didn’t own the family home in Pawling, I would move to Wilmington.

[Dean Romig]

There's a coincidence Tom - I currently live in Andover MA and spend 98% of my hunting time in Vermont , my own favorite place on Earth... and Wilmington MA is right up against Andover a half mile from my house.

William Harnden Foster lived in Andover and the Harnden farmhouse was right over in Tewksbury, just north of Wilmington. General Harnden was a prominent figure in the American Revolution. Lots of history nearby.





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[Tom Flanigan]

I love the history of the Andover, Mass. area. It is a big part of my family history. My mother was a Farnum. Farnum road in Andover is named for my family. My grandfather (10) Ralph Farnum Sr. and wife Alice came to the colonies in 1635 aboard the brig James. The Farnum family settled in Andover, Mass. and lived there until William Farnum moved the family to Windham county Vermont in 1826.

Members of my family had a role in the Salem witch trials. Despite being generally known as the Salem witch trials, the preliminary hearings in 1692 were conducted in a variety of towns across the province: Salem Village, Ipswich, Andover and Salem town.

Ralph Farnum Jr., was a grand juryman for the beginning of the hearings in 1692, but died before rendering service. Ralph III and his brother John were summoned on July 30, 1692 to appear as witnesses against Martha Carrier of Andover who was tried for witchcraft and who was hanged August 19, 1692.

My family kept a lot of records and even some artifacts from the Andover days. I have the text of a letter written by one of the Farnum’s who experienced the family trouble during the witch trial period. It was difficult on some of the accusers also. Ralph and his brother were “forced” to testify at two witchcraft trials according to the family letter…….“In 1692, our Farnum’s cup adds Martha Carrier's tragic death, and Eunice Frye late awhile in jail with he, Elizabeth's cousins, Ralph and John Farnum, being dragged forward as accusers. Uncle Ralph dies in all this trouble, and Elizabeth, at thirty-two, takes young James Johnson of twenty, while Mehitabel, only fifteen, unites his brother Peters' strong arms in a long pull together.”

Ralph Farnum V was born on June 20, 1756 in Andover. The Rev. Amos Main baptized him on September 5th. He enlisted May 15, 1775, in Capt. Philip Hubbard's Co. of Col. James Scammon's Reg't. This regiment was stationed on Bunker Hill on the ever memorable June 17, 1775. In 1860 he visited Boston after Senator Charles Sumner, in a speech delivered in Boston, said that the last survivor of the Battle of Bunker Hill was dead. Ralph showed up on his door to prove him wrong. But the statement of Senator Sumner was soon literally true. Ralph Farnum died Dec 9, 1860, aged 104 years. He was the last living survivor of the Battle of Bunker Hill.


This is a family picture of Ralph V. He was quite a man and had a great sense of humor according to passed down family history.

[Mills Morrison]

The last person tried for witchcraft in New England is one of my ancestors. She was found not guilty but died as a result of the trial

[Dean Romig]

More people in Andover were accused of witchcraft than in Salem.

Funny thing about those trials, if a person survived the 'trial by water' (prolonged dunking) he or she was a witch according to the law of the time. If the person drowned he or she obviously had no powers of witchcraft and therefor was innocent.






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[Tom Flanigan]

I have no doubt that your ancestor died as a result of being imprisoned before trial. The jails where they kept those poor people were horrible. Some died even before reaching trial. And they were forced to pay for their own keep in the jails. Accused children were kept in those jails also. Horrible. It was a difficult time for some of the accusers also, hard as that may be to believe. Not all testified of their own free will. There was a lot of pressure put on some of them. Luckily my family kept records of everything that went on at that time which were passed down. I know the story behind the story and have the testimony that my grandfather (8) and his brother gave at the trials.

The only thing good about that period in Andover was that the woods were filled with Heath Hens. I wonder if #9's would have worked on them.

[Dean Romig]

Andover is over 18 miles from Salem where the accused were jailed. As Tom said, they were made to pay for their own internment - not only that but the jailed person's family was responsible for their feeding and clothing. Family members would walk that 18 miles every other day and back to care for their imprisoned family member.






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[Rick Riddell]

Hey you guys hijacked my thread! Just messin! Its great to read, but enough about MA, let's talk Maine the greatest place in the states!

[Tom Flanigan]

Sorry about the hijack. I agree Maine is great. I'd like to spend more time there now that I've retired. I like Vermont but Main is wonderful also.

[Mills Morrison]

Sorry from me too. Damascus refinishing is one of the great topics on here too

[Rick Riddell]

I was just messin with you guys! I love reading everyones stories, keep it going! I lived all over the states and Maine, at least for me just feels like home!

[Dean Romig]

Apologies to all.





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[Tom Flanigan]

I sure got off track Rick...sorry. Dean living in Andover sparked me to go way off. I tend to jump to the next shiney object sometimes. I hope in all this your question got answered.

[Denise Parks]

Hi Tom Falnigan, With regard to post #16. Is it possible to see the Farnum letters regarding the Andover trials? Ralph Farnum is my husband's 8th Great-grandfather. Your post is all new information we did not have and would love to add to our files. Denise

[Tom Flanigan]

I don't have the originals, just excerpts from them. I have a ton of information on the Farnums with the complete lineage going back to when the family came over on the brig James in 1635 after a harrowing journey from England. The direct lineage is complete right up to my grandfather who gave me my first Parkers and taught me to hunt grouse.

Ralph Farnum II was a grand journeyman at the beginning of the trials but died before giving service. His sons testified first against Martha Carrier. The story behind why they thought Martha Carrier was a witch is fascinating. They truly believed she was a witch but did not want to testify against her although they also testified against the wife of Hopestill Tyler later. Martha Carrier was hung and Hopestill Tyler's wife was aquitted.

I'll send all the information to you private email.

[George Davis]

Tom Flanigan, we Arizonians beg of you to start a massive trend and lead thousands of people north!! Keep them out of the south and west, PLEASE!!!!!

[Tom Flanigan]

Sorry, can't do that Scott. I don't want them in my coverts and fields. Yankee that I am, I hunt in the West also, but its north of the border in Saskatchewan, a truly enchanted land for ducks, huns and sharptails. I'll make sure to stay out of Arizona to please you though.

[Gary Carmichael Sr]

Tom, who in the world started those witch hunts any ways, sounds like some of it is still going on in DC, gary