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#33 | ||||||
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I have the frame almost all polished out. Not too much. Some of the more aggressive dings are still there. It's new only once. I'm not trying to change that. So now we are at a crossroads. I need some help deciding how to finish it. My options seem to be
1. Matte polish and leave in the white. 2. Rust blue, or do a "weathered" rust blue. 3. Faux color case hardening. I would likely weather this a bit too so it doesn't look overly "new". I've seen some good results with https://steelfxpatinas.com/product/g...-complete-set/ (don't need the whole set to do it) Thoughts? |
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#34 | ||||||
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Sam,
Everyone likes what they like, but, I would either give it a matte French gray finish or possible toned down case color. Blued is just incorrect and new case colors just look gawdy. Stan |
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The Following User Says Thank You to Stan Hoover For Your Post: |
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#35 | ||||||
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I think you're spot on in agreement with my desires, Stan. I'm going to give the gel a try. I don't think the colors will be too vibrant. I want it to look like it's been there a long time - an uneven mottle of greys with maybe a touch of color left in it. If I can't get that, I can always scrub it off and rust blue a couple iterations to get a nice grey that looks faded over the decades.
Next thing to think about is the toplever. It had a hook on it. I've seen some Ithaca lewis' without a hook. Do I put one back on? I was thinking of making one with threads at the base, say 8-32, to screw into the toplever, fit the end of the hook to the eyelet in the top rib, then harden the hook and braze it on. By the jagged edges and rough center, it looks like someone tried to weld one back on and it failed. Suppose I could try that method too. Getting it to stay in the right place while I get the stick on it would be tough unless I drill a hole in the lever to hold it. 20240704_193436.jpg20240704_193448.jpg The only thing I would have to go off of is alcaviglia's picture inventory of a 1901 lewis, here https://parkerguns.org/forums/album....pictureid=5739 EDIT: a bit more research. 3rd variant crass is very similar frame...no hook on the toplever, same barrel extension recess cut in the frame. Pictures here https://www.shotgunworld.com/threads...ection.432835/ I'm not sure if I need to mess with it. Last edited by Samuel Gross; 07-04-2024 at 10:35 PM.. |
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#36 | ||||||
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Over my long 4th of July weekend, I polished up a piece a bar stock and gave the gel patinas (linked above) a whirl. Pro's and cons: It looks absolutely stunning. I started with the blue-halo gel, moving it around with my finger. It produced a nice variety of vibrant colors. I then used the blue-black gel, moving it around with my finger. It dulled some of the previous colors, but left the variation. Perfect, just what I was looking for.
Next test for durability. I expected at least as good as any off-the-shelf cold blue. No go. It starts to rub right off with even a single light pass of a clean cotton cloth when trying to dry the part. A few passes with a finger takes it off equally well. Tried oiling it after, doesn't help. Tried renaissance wax after, no help either. I tried re-polishing with courser grit, down to 320, to see if the added surface area would help. No dice. The only thing that will keep this on is a good professional clear coat, which I'm not doing. I don't what the thing to look like its under water. So, I rust blued the frame, bottom plate, trigger guard, and forend metal on Saturday, and now we have a nice even matte finish on everything. I only did 2-3 iterations. It's not too dark - a nice dull grey but even hue. I'll wait till everything else is done to see if I want to weather it back at all. Spent the afternoon Sunday cleaning up all the screw heads and bluing those, so it's really coming together now I also 3D printed a .7980 diameter cylinder to check the chamber length. 2-3/4 + 10-20thous. what a relief that was. I wasn't looking forward to finding short ammo. I do reload, but I'm not setup for shotgun. Next up...checkering and refinishing the stock, then raise the dents in the right barrel. |
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The Following User Says Thank You to Samuel Gross For Your Post: |
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#37 | ||||||
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I'm glad to hear of your initial trial with the gel. I bought four different colors from them a few months ago to try, but haven't gotten around to it yet. Farming got in the way.
I got the same two you did plus a couple of burnt copper ones, as I recall. Haven't even opened them yet as I'm afraid the shelf life might begin to half-life when i do. Sure would like to see some pics of the gel results when you get the time. There is a flat finish (no gloss) clear coat available. I used some on my duck boat a few years ago. Might want to check with Steel F/X to see what they recommend for durability. |
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#38 | |||||||
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I didn't take any pictures of my test piece. I can do another. The results are as randomly distributed as you want it to be. It looked great until I rattle-can-clear coated it. then it looked like it was underwater. A professional clear coat would go on a lot thinner and likely work. Steel FX's site confirms what everyone knows (and I easily found out on my test piece)...rattle can clear coat is pretty crap for this job. In my reading, most report good results with an airbrush and a 2 part automotive clear coat. I have good airbrush, but no automative paints on hand. I am thinking that an even better option is to. use the clear version of Norrell's molyresin https://www.norrells.com. I have used a couple of their grey/gray-black shades to do some faux govt. ar-15 lowers to match surplus A2 uppers that were in various shades of the original gray/gray-black/greenish-grey anodizing. After spraying on your degreased part, you bake it (I think 300F was the spec? for an hour?). It does require some underlying texture to hold - in my case the lowers were bead blasted before hard-coat anodized (jet black). The residual texture on top of the anodizing was plenty for the Norrells. Just have to degrease really well - (which I use a brownells 909 in a tin pan on a hot plate to do.) Like now, I tried the Norrells on a test piece first as an experiment. only a very thin coat is necessary. With an airbrush and no dilution, I think I measured barely 1-2thous. dimmensional difference before and after. After it cooled down overnight, I hit it every solvent I had in the shop - including some very nasty caustic stripper. Their advertising is truthful. nothing touched it (I think they have a $10,000 prize for anyone who can chemically remove it). I then rubbed in a layer of grease (rig I think), and beat it with a hammer a many times to simulate normal drops, dings and, well, hitting it with a hammer. It scuffed with only the most severe glancing blows, but didn't crack or wear. I've been very happy with the stuff. It's a little expensive, and I don't have any clear on hand. If my re-checkering job comes out worthy, and my stock repairs fully disappear to where wood out-pretty's my bluing job, I may go back to the gels and and the proper clear coat. Right now, durability is more important to me than looks, and I'm trying hard not to put too much lipstick on this pig. |
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