I have a question for the experts here:

I plan to have a rifle's receiver fully engraved.

Is the french grey process applied before the engraving, or after?

I would assume it's done after the engraving is complete, but this receiver will have some gold borders, hence my question.

Thanks!

Garrett

After, it's just extra steps in the rust bluing process. Scrollcutter explained it in great detail some time back. Look through his old posts.


Terry

There's many many ways to get a grey finish on metal. Talk to your engraver - he...

(or she [digression] the lovely young lady Merkel brought to the Vintagers 4 years ago to demo engraving had quite a line of curious gents doing the *deep sigh* appreciation of her talents [/digression]

...he will have his favorite method, and that's the one to use.

Here's a restoration of a blued gun, where my greying method was to rust blue the outside, then lightly etch with dilute ferric chloride and then clearcoat. I wanted a 'soft looking' finish.

I've played around tryng to produce the right color. It isn't too hard; you're basically "bleaching" the color out of the blacking.

I think it was Scrollcutter who told me that sometimes people rub printer's ink into the engraving to create contrast against the grey.

quote:

Originally posted by yeti:


(or she [digression] the lovely young lady Merkel brought to the Vintagers 4 years ago to demo engraving had quite a line of curious gents doing the *deep sigh* appreciation of her talents [/digression]

I see someone else remember that finely talented Lady of the Scratching. My what a sight... I was attending with a certain "Guild President" and he had to spend the majority of his time discussing the proper scratching of metal (and I presume) other surfaces to satisfaction.

Thanks for the memories!

There are many methods to achieve a gray finish.

My method is giving the metal a low pressure sand blast with 320 grit SC. Followed by a metal prep I bought from NAPA years ago. I don't remember the name, but it's used to keep auto metal from rusting prior to paiinting. I believe it contains phosphoric acid. I use as many coats as needed to achieve a dove gray. You can rub in printers ink into engraving if desired.

Roger

That would be Metal Conditioner, Dupont # 5717 S. This contains Phosphoric acid.
You can also use Archer's Printer Circuit Board etchant solution or plane old Navel Jelly.

James

Hey James. How's it going?

Yes, your right about the metal prep. I couldn't remember the maker, but the number sounds familiar. Haven't tried the Archer's stuff, but I like the Dupont 5717 way better than naval jelly. Seems to give a more uniform finish.

Radio Shack circuit board etchant is the Ferric Chloride solution I used. Prolly the same as the Archer. I cut it 50% with distilled water.

I used glacial acetic acid to cut a rust blued finish on some mauser parts, ending up with a soft, medium grey non-glare finish. Glacial acetic acid can be found at photography stores (developing agent for B&W) and is probably a little safer than the others.

TG

Hi Roger, Things could be better but thats life.I need to contact you in the future on an engraving project.

I to like the metal conditioner better. It does a better job off producing and retaining a even finish until sealed. I use the PCB echand mostly for lifting a pattern on Damascus.

yeti

Archers is/was the brand name that Radio Shack sold.

James

1. Doh!
2. OK, and thanks! I'll use this metal conditioner next time. I had the PCB etchant on hand from a damascus project, and found if I did the the damascus job wrong it came out greyed, so when I decided to grey this gun....you know the deal.

Always learning,
Brent, aka y

Gang..

What clear coat do you use? I have a 1911 that I used Permalyn(sic) spray finish on.

rich

I have a single shot action I grayed 20 yrs ago with no clear coat at all. Looks the same as when I did it, other than handling marks. The finish was the DuPont 5717.

I have clear coated many color cased actions using various outdoor wood finishes. I usually apply the finish, allow it to go pretty tacky then wipe it off. Three coats does it and it looks good to boot.

Since the thread is riffing a bit, I wanted to ask the AR guys about engraving rifles:

Do you anneal the action before engraving?

Mostly not. Years ago I engraved a Ruger over/under that was unengravable stainless. Had it annealed for engraving then rehardened after completion.

Rich

I used lots of different things to clear coat color case and graying with. I have used True Oil, Chem Saver, clear lacquer, just to name a few. A very thin 100% drying coat is all that is necessary in my opinion.

Yeti

I also did not find the PCB echant satisfactory for Damascus. I use a blend/mixture of Muratic acid. Ihave attached a picture if it comes through.


James

Due to my cave dwelling, I didn't know slides were being made from modern laminated steel . That's fantastic!