While some use the excuse of lubrication as the reason to jewel bolts I think the appearance is what most gun nuts are after.....some like it and some do not.

For those that do I have started this thread.

I built my own jig and damascening tool but I'm using the cratex from Brownells.....I wish I could find a harder durometer stick but for now we use what we have.

One of the keys is a good bolt polish to begin with it seems as one can swirl forever and not have a good looking jewel.....

I used my mill as the turning tool for this one as I wanted to get certain indexes known and have scribed them into the dovetailed fixture so future ones can be done in a drill press.

Lets hear some opinions and yes, constructive criticism is welcome.

looks good.... about 30 yrs ago, as a high school project, i jeweled a '93 mauser bolt.... i clamped it in a vise, stuck it under a drill press... i used a first grader's pencil.. the eraser, that is, and valve lapping compound....for an extreme amateur, it turned out pretty good....

try it today and they'd lock the school down, arrest your parents, and put you in a foster home after thought realignment classes in an alternative education environment.

-I did a Zippo lighter.

question:

how is the indexing arrived at?

Looks good, Vapo!

quote:

Originally posted by tin can:
question:

how is the indexing arrived at?

frankly that's why it's in the mill right now so I can dial any amount of advance......it's arrived at by trial and error somewhat.

... so i guess you don't want to hear about re-stocking a .410.... or bedding a .243.... but my question.... how much pressure is needed to make the jeweling????

quote:

Originally posted by jimatcat: but my question.... how much pressure is needed to make the jeweling????

Like all things....it's a matter of "getting the feel" and it takes a bit but the pressure is quite light.....maybe three pounds or so.....the material removed is almost nothing....it's a swirl pattern that;'s desired and it don't take much to do it if the bolt is polished well first.

I think it'll get easier in the drill press as I can turn 3,000 RPMs there and only a bit over 2,000 RPMs in the mill.....the drill press is also easier to "feel" in the hands than the mill!

I will admit that I can't do it so I suppose I have no business saying anything about anyone else that does it.

Nevertheless, my worthless opinion is that the swirls are too big and don't overlap enough.

By the way, in the David Miller book Tom Turpin states that David Miller uses a combination of silicon carbide powder mixed with grease and a wooden dowel rather than brushes. Also, there are some photos of the jeweling fixture that Miller built. A good engineer would have no difficulty in copying it from the looks of it.

quote:

Originally posted by 22WRF:
I will admit that I can't do it so I suppose I have no business saying anything about anyone else that does it.

Nevertheless, my worthless opinion is that the swirls are too big and don't overlap enough.

By the way, in the David Miller book Tom Turpin states that David Miller uses a combination of silicon carbide powder mixed with grease and a wooden dowel rather than brushes. Also, there are some photos of the jeweling fixture that Miller built. A good engineer would have no difficulty in copying it from the looks of it.

22,
I appreciate the critique and the tip.....among the things I'd like to try is a balsa wood stick

quote:

frankly that's why it's in the mill right now so I can dial any amount of advance......it's arrived at by trial and error somewhat.

so could you just set the fixture to index a certain number of degrees, and let the last row be what it is, or is the trial and error looking for a perfect match at the beginning/end row?

thanks.

I don't particularly like jeweled bolts but do jewel most of my followers. I use a the sticks from Brownells in a holder I made of brass over 50 years ago in gunsmith school. I polish the follower then coat it with clover valve grinding compound and then jewel. Looks good. I do it in the drill press. I more or less do them freehand. I clamp a straight edge to the table and just move the vise along by hand then move the straight edge for the next row. I have an index wheel we were required to make in Gunsmith school for doing bolts. Not fancy but it works. I do so few bolts I just looked for the device and can't find it. It's not with the rest of the jeweling stuff.

quote:

Originally posted by tin can:so could you just set the fixture to index a certain number of degrees, and let the last row be what it is, or is the trial and error looking for a perfect match at the beginning/end row?

thanks.

There's two indexes or advances.....one is the advance horizontally and that I can adjust by cranking the mill a set amount.....the other is the amount of roataion of the bolt when one starts a new row......I think I'm a bit too much of rotation right now....probably add a few more rows as 22 WRF suggests.

I can also use a smaller swirl as well, and I have the cratex for that. Maybe I'll just try it with smaller circles.

As far as matching when the bolt is complete.....I'll cross that bridge when I get there.

I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned using small wire brushes. That has been mentioned in several articles that I've read on jewelling.
I've done it with Cratex®, pencil erasers and wood dowels but only on the sides of revolver hammers and small places like that. Too much of it or used on large surfaces turns me off.

quote:

so could you just set the fixture to index a certain number of degrees, and let the last row be what it is, or is the trial and error looking for a perfect match at the beginning/end row?

Or you could rotate a multiple of 360 degrees and come out exactly on the row you started. With smaller diamter abrasive's, you could try more rows. I rotate 30 degrees and start 1/2 a "swirl" diameter back alternate rows

I tried brushes, but even with "o" rings they splayed out too much. I used crayex, but they broke up. I now use a 1/8 inch hardwood dowel, I think they are birch. The softer wood dowels from home depot "smear" more and break up.

Roger

quote:

Originally posted by 22WRF:
I will admit that I can't do it so I suppose I have no business saying anything about anyone else that does it.

Nevertheless, my worthless opinion is that the swirls are too big and don't overlap enough.

Actually it looks good to me and I suspect that the critique is one man's opinion.

Vapo, I have two mauser bolts and would send them to you for that treatment. PM sent

I have a jig that an old gunsmith friend built years ago, I have never used it but he did all the time. It was made from an old typewriter carriage and you hit the lever, it moves horizontally one "letter" at a time, when you reach the end of a row, you turn the round wheel that you feed the paper in with(can't remember the nomenclature for typewriters anymore!) You could probably find an old junk typewriter cheap and try it.

When you advance the bolt forward, the new swirl's outer radius should just hit the center of the last one and lateraly, it should hit the center of the previous line. It is off in both areas somewhat. Not much adjustment to do it correctly and not hard to do.

It looks very nice!

I am with 22 although I prefer the smaller swirls. But it is just my preference and not a critique of your work.

I got both 1/4 and 3/16 Cratex from Brownells and that was done with 1/4.....so I think I'll do another turning tool using the 3/16 and adjust the indexes and start over.

Thanks folks for the replies
Vapo

I go the cupped wire brush and valve lapping route. I prefer the cupped wire brush because it follows the curve of the bolt real well and the pattern stays in tact rather than dropping off. I use 1-2 "O" rings to adjust the size of the pattern. I set my quill stop which helps keep the diameter of the pattern uniform, and each time I bring the brush in contact with the bolt, I will count from 1-6 so the swirls are consistent in contrast. Pretty simple actually.

I do pretty much as Westpac does only I mix about 220 grit and some finer grit(about 400) together with STP. Coat the bolt , don't run the drill press too fast unless you want to coat you and the walls. I use a fixture I bought 35 or 40 years ago with a brand name of Rex something. I think I bought it from C.R. Pederson up Michigan or Wisconsin. I has a square threaded rod with a crank to move it horizonally and a small gear with a spring loaded plunger for the rotation. Works slick. Bill

The brush works well, but try using a couple of heat-shrink tubings that have been shrunk over the wire and on top of one another.

Slip one on......shrink it over...Slip the next one on and do the same...

As you use the wire brush, it will start to wear down the end of the tubing and expose more brush, but it doesn't let the brush expand out excessively......works real slick.

Now that's a heck of an idea!

I used maple dowels the last time I tried it, but I wasn't happy with the results, and wasn't all that interested in figuring out what went wrong so I just dropped it.