I want to cosmetically restore my father in laws old damascus barreled,exposed hammer,shotgun.
What would be the best way to polish the tarnish off,in order to have it refinished in some way.The barrel is marked"twist" and I would like to know how best to bring out the laminations in the barrel.
I have no designs on trying to fire it,just look nice over the mantle.

Polish it with warmed linseed oil on the barrels.

quote:

Originally posted by jb:
I want to cosmetically restore my father in laws old damascus barreled,exposed hammer,shotgun.
What would be the best way to polish the tarnish off,in order to have it refinished in some way.The barrel is marked"twist" and I would like to know how best to bring out the laminations in the barrel.
I have no designs on trying to fire it,just look nice over the mantle.

First of all find out something about it. Most of these old shotguns have nominal value other than to the family to whom it belongs.

But sometimes a real collector's piece hides in an old closet and like any valuable antique, over-cleaning it will destroy the patina and ruin its value.

quote:

Originally posted by tiggertate:

First of all find out something about it. Most of these old shotguns have nominal value other than to the family to whom it belongs.

But sometimes a real collector's piece hides in an old closet and like any valuable antique, over-cleaning it will destroy the patina and ruin its value.

I found this reference.http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/archive/index.php?t-78330.html

It is marked "stanley arms co." and "belgium" and "twist".It kind of interesting to see that the front trigger was pulled many more times than the rear one.The firing pin is much worn on that side,and the barrel has some pitting on the inside,the other is in much better shape.

quote:

Originally posted by enfieldspares:
Polish it with warmed linseed oil on the barrels.

will that bring out the damascus marks? they are easily visible where the forend covers the barrels.

jb,

In the last couple of years I've gotten into old SxS's, especially those with twist and damascus barrels. I've yet to find anything that will restore or bring back the original/factory finish. I've refinshed more than a few and am very happy with the results. Done right, they can look very close to original examples. I don't want to get into the "leave original or restore?" debate. That's a decision that has to be made by the gun's owner. Check out the link below, lots of great info on twist and damascus.


http://docs.google.com/View?do...dfg2hmx7_186fpmvhzsb

Can they be re-etched (or just etched) with a mild acid?

quote:

Originally posted by tin can:
Can they be re-etched (or just etched) with a mild acid?

When I refinish them part of the process involves etching but it's done during the process. I've never tried etching to see if it would bring back or enhance an old original finish.

Don't know if they used any acid on them when they were originally made; maybe just a polish.

I have etched damscus twist knife using standard swimming pool acid. hydrochloric.

be ready with neutralizing solution. iwas at poolside and quenched in pool. It fizzed and acted REAL fast. do not advise it on a shooter, or otherwise offer advise. I just know that HCL bought for the swimming pool ate away the dark, and left the bright, very fast.

IIRC, traditional Damascus-style blades made in Malaysia are etched with fruit juice. I cut a kumquat (!!) with an Opinel once, and it marked the steel instantly.

quote:

Originally posted by tin can:
IIRC, traditional Damascus-style blades made in Malaysia are etched with fruit juice. I cut a kumquat (!!) with an Opinel once, and it marked the steel instantly.

Citric acid does hell on tooth enamel, too.... (Not of interest to the topic, sorry)

quote:

Originally posted by Jameister:
I have etched damscus twist knife using standard swimming pool acid. hydrochloric.

Do you mean muratic acid?
I didnt know they put hydrocloric acid in pools!!???

The warm linseed if used with care will clean any dirt off the barrels without affecting the steel. And should leave what "figure" there is intact. Some people use it with newspaper.

Some suggest using a wipe of normal household vinegar on the barrels before the linseed oil stage. Hmm! The smell lingers rather a long time.

I am a bladesmith and make lots of damascus for my knives. Etching can be scary if you don't do it often. You can use vinegar, but you have to leave it in there a long time as it is very weak.

I use ferric chloride. You can find it online (ebay) in powder form. It is safer to use than any other acid and will only stain your fingers if you get it on you, no burn. Mix it with distilled water to look like iced tea ( about 1 tbls to 1/2 gallon) in a PVC tube. It reacts quickly, but not so fast that you can't control it. My knife blades take about 10 to 15 min to etch deep enough to expose the layers and make them shimmer ( like etched Rigby barrels). I would put the barrels in for about 10 seconds and see how they react. Neutralize the ferric with amonia ( windex with amonia works good).

Muriatic acid is dilute hydrochloric acid. To simplify - yes almost any acid can be used to "etch" the barrels. The etchant attacks the iron to a greater degree than the steel,take care as this step can be overdone very quickly. Rusting (bluing) should be done with a solution containing chlorine ,bleach for instance, the rust formed, when boiled turns black. The rust is buffed off the steel, which is "higher" and stays on the iron, which is "lower" to give the pattern. Like I said "simplified". --- John303.

There is a discussion on the LC Smith collectors site for cleaning up damascus barrels.

http://www.lcsmith.org/faq/surfacerust.html

There is a lot of good info on that site, even if she isn't an Elsie.
bfy

Stanley Arms, made by Dumoulin of Belgium and listed in the 1895 Montgomery wards catalog.

Dumoulin was one of the better Belgian gunmakers to import guns to the US (most were low end clunkers).

Try this link for more info.

Littlegun

You might try to find an old MW catalog and see if you can identify the model you have.

As far as refinishing the barrels, the only way to bring back the pattern is to have them re-browned by someone that specializes in twist and damascus barrels, it usually runs about $300 or thereabouts.