Back to an earlier aspect of my Lewis restoration, I am looking for input into getting a proper polish onto gun metal. Since I am now on hold until new mainsprings can be found and installed, I have some time to get back to the gun's appearance. Al, I hope you are reading this post, I agree with you that since I have taken the barrels and receiver down to the metal and discovered almost no trace of pitting, that maybe rust bluing is not the only option. I also very much like the idea of a polished finished product. I collect Japanese blades and have grown very found of a highly polished piece of metal.
The steel on both the barrels and the receiver have been at 400 grit for a while. If I am not going to rust blue (barrels) and case harden color (receiver), then I am looking for tips on getting gun metal down to as perfect a finish as I can get. I would be looking to go down to at least 2000 grit and possibly finer. However going this route means that the metal will have to be re sanded at a coarser grit to eliminate some existing tiny pits and tiny scratches that look to be as deep as about 180 grit. If I just continue from my current 400 grit stage, these marks will not go away and will only get more pronounced.
The nice thing about rust bluing and or case coloring is that I could have ignored the imperfections and they would have gone unnoticed.
Are there power sanders that gunsmiths use? Maybe a 'Dremmel tool' sanding attachment or something else a little more robust? I am currently sanding by hand with wet emery cloth. Emery cloth is available to even finer grits than 2000. However hand sanding tends to leave irregular swirls, j hooks, in line scratches and other blemishes.
Another challenge in going back down to a coarse grit is that I will risk removing all engraving, then my "optional" plan to "maybe" look for an engraver, will turn into a necessity and thus added cost. Hmm, what to do? Are there any engravers reading this that are available to do a basic engraving job, this gun is only field grade with minimum engraving, at a price that my limited budget allows? The likes of Mr. Turnbull and his sub contractors are out of my league! Where is that trust fund that never showed up in my life?
Any input will be greatly appreciated.
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