New member has a Ithaca Lewis project

[alcaviglia]

No worries Dan, it's my pleasure.

I was on a roll a minute ago in response to your previous post and my computer froze as I clicked "post reply", so I'll try and get back into the groove (a bit of 15 yr. old Redbreast should do), rewrite it, and see if I can thoroughly address your polishing questions. It's a long one so here goes:

First, I would suggest hand polishing. Yes, it is time consuming and quite a strain on the eyes, but unless you have a slew of polishing wheels (materials and shapes) and have mastered them all, I would steer clear of buffing wheels, rotary tools, and any type of power sander.

Files make great backing for the abrasive when used on flat surfaces. Just be sure to round off the corners on the file to avoid any accidents. For a radius, I typically use pieces from a gardener's kneeling pad: they are cheap, work great, and are easy to cut into any shape imaginable. A fresh, out-of-the-package kitchen sponge works well, too. They are stiffer like that than they are when wet, but still pliable. Remember that you are removing material so be sure to overlap your passes a little on every radius to reduce the appearance of flats. Additionally, I would leave the water table and barrel flats alone. Maybe a few quick passes at the end, but that's it. If there is bluing on them, especially in the lettering/numbering, use a chemical rust remover and a stiff nylon or soft brass brush.

Take great care around holes and sharp edges. Keep them sharp, especially on the tubes and fences. Any work on the bottom of the receiver should be done with the trigger plate seated. Wouldn't want this thing to look like "franken-gun" when it's completed. And watch the screws/pins, they should be timed forward (North to South, if you will) and never proud.

On to emery cloth, I would think that the imperfections in your polishing thus far could be at least partially attributed to using a cloth-backed abrasive. The emery granules work their way into the cloth (it is far more porous and elastic than most papers) leaving some granules proud to the metal surface. Try a paper-backed abrasive, that may help. Also, I have never been a fan of aluminum oxide abrasives for this kind of work. I typically use paper-backed silicon carbide and a sparing amount of honing oil on my first passes at a new grit. And wear a mask when using it, despite the oil.

Something to note: if you believe that you are looking at pits/scratches on the receiver that sit 180 grit deep, you may have to accept them. Aluminum oxide granules at 180 grit are about 3.5 thousandths of an inch. Without a very expensive piece of ultrasound equipment, you never really know how thick the martensite layer is on the receiver (especially after over 100 years). I've heard of everything from 2 thou up to 8 thou. Removing 3.5, which is a ridiculous amount of work by hand, may not be the best idea regarding corrosion and abrasion resistance down the line.

To engraving, yes, that is the basic Quality 1/1S engraving pattern which I believe was roll stamped on. This would've been done while the receiver was still in it's annealed state, before the hardening. I am not an engraver, but think that they would prefer to recut engraving while the steel is soft. A lot of sharpening on very expensive gravers would be required to make clean cuts otherwise. If you mask the lettering first, and avoid polishing over it until the end, you can preserve much of what is left. If the original engraving being complete and sharp means that much to you, perhaps a legitimate restoration is in order (color case hardening and all).

To barrel prep, I've seen a rifle barrel that was prepared to about 2000 grit. Quite frankly, I didn't see the reasoning behind it. If you are running into polishing imperfections on the barrel set, cross polish with each subsequent grit.

To barrel finish, bluing - that is all. And trigger guard, as well.

As I understand it, you are looking for some type of coin finish to stand in for bluing on the receiver in the absence of case colors (which again, I very much agree with). Bead blasting can be okay, but you'll probably find yourself in a catch-22 with that, and end up redoing everything by hand. Depending on the desired luster, some chemical treatments can also work, but they'll take at least as much time to prepare, apply, neutralize, and remove as you'd have spent hand polishing. Plus, any unforeseen issues that take you away from tending the chemical process can be devastating.

I think that well defines where I come out on hand polishing, and I hope something from this verbose sermon is of some practical use to you.

Also, keep asking questions, it's how you, me, and many others learn. While mankind's greatest resource for information may be the internet, mankind's most valuable resource for knowledge is still people. Luckily, forums like this combine the two quite well, rendering people far more accessible.

[DMason]

Jolly well stated. I have enjoyed the 12 year Redbreast, I'm sure the 15 year is even finer yet. I'm a highland single malt Scotch man myself, but the Irish is a pleasure as well. I will have to fill you in on fine Japanese whiskey one day, an absolutely amazing culture of distilling over there, some very good stuff. I learned of it through my interest in Japanese blades, the two go hand in hand.

I will continue with my hand finishing of the gun metal. And I agree, a paper backing and silicon carbide provides a predictable scratch pattern, especially if oiled. I am going to drop down in grit but I think you are right, 180 will be too coarse. I will most likely start tomorrow with about 320 grit, just to get rid of at least some of the marks that are bothering me.

I know 2000 grit or even finer sounds over the top, but as I have mentioned, I have been exposed to ridiculously highly polished steel with many of my Japanese blades, and thus have become quite fixated on a very smooth finish. I have Katanas that are polished to mind boggling lusters!

Good tip on taping Over current engraving. I would like to think of re-engraving this gun as a distant option and not a necessity. It is a family heirloom but I do have others, besides, I want to leave my mark on this one. I just hope the mark isn't too ugly!

[alcaviglia]

Would love to hear about Japanese whiskeys. My old man used to have tons of it when he worked for IBM, but I never knew what of it was good.

[DMason]

I'll keep this short, this not being a whisky forum...

First thing about Japanese whisky, drop the 'e'. Unlike America and Ireland, Japan shares with the Scotsmen (and the Canadians), the spelling. Even though the etymology of the word is Gaelic (Irish Gaelic not Scot Gaelic), so "whiskey" is probably correct, who cares though, if the Scots spell it without an e, then that spelling gets my vote too!

Next thing is, the Japanese have always pursued the flavour of Scotch. A Japanese chemist came back from years in Scotland and started the whole Japanese Whisky thing about 100 years ago.

The Japanese pride themselves in not selling off their extra stock to "Blenders", thus it is hard to find a Japanese Blend. Single malt rules in Japan.

My current stock:
1. Nikka Miyagikyo, 12 year, 90 proof, slow building lasting flavour, in fact when you first pour it, you can't smell anything. Then ten minutes in the glass and you can smell it from your chair. Really something.
2. Suntory Yamazaki, 12 year, 86 proof, very light and absolutely delicious. Yamazaki is a neighborhood in Kyoto, used to have more distilleries there than all of Japan combined.
3. Suntory Hibiki, 12 year, 86 proof, very full bodied, heavy, smokey, good with a cigar.

There are so many others, but...

There ends my first intro into Japanese Whisky.

Hope the moderators on this forum don't delete this! I promise, my next post will be about double guns!

[alcaviglia]

Japan is on my list of future fishing locations. A couple of years ago I discovered Tenkara and really enjoy it's simplicity.

Very interesting Dan, thanks for the info. Definitely something I will check out.

[DMason]

I hear Tenkara fly rigs are fine indeed.

I have had a rough discovery on my Lewis. I stripped the varnish off the funrniture and am not happy. The varnish was dark, I never suspected any issues, but upon stripping the butt stock I now have a new challenge on my hands. There is a chip at least an inch long right above the right hammer. It had been filled in with glue and sawdust! There are at least three hairline cracks right up by the action in the thin inletted sections on both sides! And, there are scrape marks (almost like random carving marks) all around the last three or four inches of the rear of the stock. Then as icing on the cake, the oil soaking is extensive. No fun.

The front splinter stock seems fine but it too has a bit of oil soaking, but looks to be removable.

This project is growing rather large...

I think I might be in the market for a new stock, we will see. I have epoxied missing chips on to other gun stocks but this missing chip is in such a delicate an thin part of the stock. I have also injected epoxy into hairline cracks always with success, so that part may be OK. I have also drawn oil out of stocks, so that part might be doable but there is a lot of oil! I have already done three or four acetone soaks and the oil is still there... But that missing chip. I think that is a tough nut. I don't know if even a reinforced and epoxied new piece of wood will be strong enough. I will post pictures soon.

Any tips on this would as usual in this thread, be very much appreciated.

[alcaviglia]

If you can upload some good photos, that would be very helpful. The expertise of Mr. Dudley will come in handy, here.

Without seeing the missing wood, I would think of looking into some glass bedding. When done properly, it can work very well in such a case. (I recently saw a 0 frame VH for sale that I believe was glassed by Bob Blake.) Especially if you're worried about there being a very limited amount of contact with the receiver.

As I recall, the wood is extremely thin in areas on the head of that stock. I'm not sure how much success you'll have with epoxy on those areas without some other reinforcement. When you reinstall the butt-stock, you'll find a fair amount of torque is put on it when pinning everything together. That is how these typically are. That force may pop your epoxy with the wood being so thin. Maybe it's worth a shot, but add the additional shock-load of recoil and you may be doing a fair bit of work for nothing, in the end. I think it really depends on how severe and settled you think the cracks are.

[B. Dudley]

Ithaca Lewis buttstocks are a pain in the rear! All that inletting in the face of the head for clearance of the hammers makes them very prone to damage and difficult to repair.

[alcaviglia]

I'm glad to hear that it's properly (and safely) cocking again.

[Bach Melick]

Originally Posted by alcaviglia

I'm glad to hear that it's properly (and safely) cocking again.

it would be nice if I could safely fire it just a few times