I tried my bolt jeweling jig today,with mixed results.I bought the 3/16" Cratex rods and put together the rest.The end of the rod flares out as it works it's way down the bolt. After being cut it's a neat 3/16".I sleeved the rod with a slit copper tube and clamped the sleeve in a 1/4Pipe nipple.How do I get even circles ? thx

I never tried the cratex rods but have had good results using the 3/16" brushes with o rings and abrasive paste. I would suggest practice....practice.....and consistency would go a long ways. You circles should overlap evenly so you obtain a jewel pattern. MtnHtr

I have tried this myself, bought the cratex rod with the little holder, same size as you, from brownells. I have gotten fair results, just not deep enough. You need some way of clamping the bolt down and moving it an exact increment each time you overlap. I bought an x y vice, one with two axis that I can move it along via cranks.

The cratex rod will flare if you put too much pressure. I asked my smith about my problem of the swirls not being deep enough, he said to use a grinding compound, recommended Clover Compound 320grit. Use it in conjunction with the cratex rods. So you would apply the compound to the section of bolt you want to jewel, hold the spinning cratex against it for a few seconds, turn the crank on the indexing vise, do another.

That is how I have been doing it, havn't done another one with the grinding compound yet. The professional smiths will probably have the best way to do it.

hope it helps.

Red

The Cratex rod is not flexable enought to conform to the roundness of the bolt. Hardware stores and hobby shops have little stainless brushes with the Dremil tool accessories. Try those with abrasive paste. Try the 320 grit for starters. I did a M-700 bolt that way and it looks good.

Try using a small piece of tygon or similar tubing in place of the usually recommended "o" rings on the wire brush. It is sold for small engine gas line tubing. It seems to hold the brush better for me. I use a slurry of grinding compound and vaseline. Like most things, trial and error, confidence and a rhythm are important.

Roger

A few notes on bolt jeweling---

Cratex works great with small (fine) jeweling. The secret is to offset the holding fixture off top dead center by half the diameter of the Cratex rod. Then index the rotation of each succesive row by one half diameter, too. That means you turn half circles and one overlaps the other so you never see the half that's missing.

Thanks,Jack.Bill did such a great job of polishing and blueing.I now Know what you were talking about when you speak of proper polishing.I had to redo the finish on the stock and I want the jeweling to fit in.

Thanks very much! I was just getting the center section of the circle, was having a hard time getting the circles and haven't done it recently because was frustrated.

Jack, if you check back on this thread, can you tell me the "ideal" way to jewel a bolt? what materials would you use? I have a small drill press and a vise mounted to it. thanks again!

Red

Dago Red---

I actually quit jeweling from scratch many years ago, but have a jig to restore jeweling after repair/reheat-treat of jeweled bolts.

I good fixture is worth it's weight in gold. The one I have came from a flea market in Denver in the mid-sixties. It's marked "REX" in the base casting. I've never seen another one like it.



The indexing wheel at left has 32 divisions and has a spring detent that hold it in place. The replaceable bushings are turned to fit various bolt and have a locator pin that fits into the cocking cam notch. The front is supported by the firing pin hole.

The center, bottom plate is bolted to the drill press table. The hand crank at the left turns a 16 pitch feed screw that's resting on an inverted "V" on the center plate. The top portion of the fixture that holds the bolt slides along the bar in the back when the hand crank is turned.

In use the fixture is bolted to the table and the bolt inserted between the holding bushing and the firing pin hole center. The bolt is rotated to the starting place an the bottom of the bolt and the bolt moved to the far end. After each application of the brush/lap/Cratex to the bolt the hand wheel is advanced. (Pitch is .062... If using a quarter inch Cratex the hand wheel would be turned two turns to advance the jeweler by half, .125)
At the end of the row the indexing wheel is turned two notches (one notch equals about .068") and the process started over.

The REAL secret to good jeweling is the finish of the bolt before you start. A mirror finish that's then jeweled looks REALLY bright and good. One jeweled over a rough finish looks like a Remington BDL.......muddy and rather cheap looking.

For something that really looks nice try smaller circles (3/16 or so) on a mirror polished bolt. It's BRIGHT, but it takes an afternoon to do.

I MUCH prefer diamond paste on Cratex as a cutting agent. Valve grinding compound works, but takes longer and is not as bright. With diamond compound it only takes one drop per row.

Bottom line?? I like five minutes of hand held wormtracking much better than hours of jeweling. It does exactly the same thing and, to me, looks better.

This one I did in 1983......



This one was done by Hoffman Arms about 1935.....


I call this the "eeeeeeeeeeeeee" pattern.

Jack, How would one go about "worm tracking"
Thanks, Weagle

Weagle--

I posted a full description yesterday Here

Thanks again Jack, I think in fact that any time I write your name in a message it should automatically be taken to mean a giant THANKS.

I bought what was supposed to be a bolt jeweling jig. sure enough, it would hold the bolt, and it had a knob on the side for rotating the bolt, unfortunately this knob couldn't be locked into place, so the bolt could turn as force is applied, and the bottom of the jig is flat stock, how you move it along the table I guess is left to you.

I read with interest your instructions on worm tracks, I had a hard time understanding them the first read through. I think that is due to my not having a lot of experience and no training. I will reread a few times, I think that it looks good and must be loads easier.

Red