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Post by TBT on Mar 11, 2006 21:41:46 GMT -5
I'm getting nervous now ... the thought of taking a sander to my gun lol.
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Post by TA on Mar 14, 2006 0:35:47 GMT -5
TBT, you should be nervous!  That is a good sign. I would not try to use a hand held belt sander. You want and need the stability of a bench sander, even one of the inexpensive ones. The one I use has a 4"x36" belt. I prefer to use a well worn med. to fine grit belt. The idea is to remove as little metal as possible to get the desired look. You can fade or remove rollmarks and serial nimbers pretty easily. Make sure you lower the frame or slide down onto the belt evenly and pay attention to the relation of the belt to the frame/slide. You only want to get the flats and you want the direction of the brushing effect to be in line from front to back. Think about all of that before you put metal to the belt. If you are not completely comfortable with this, I wouldn't do it. You really don't want to bugger up a nice pistol. |
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Post by 5ontarget on Mar 14, 2006 12:38:04 GMT -5
If you've never done it before, practice with a couple pieces of scrap metal. Preferably of similar metal. No scrap metal, go steal a road sign. Just kidding, of course. Call a couple local machine shops, they'll often have some scrap for free, or nearly free. If that's not an option you can buy some new material from the hardware store. It sounds kind of silly to sand down new material for no good reason but practice. But a chunk of square tube, or angle iron is a whole lot cheaper than a slide. Besides, it is a great way to break in a new belt. Go slow, and be patient are about the only other words I have for you. Good luck and enjoy!!
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Post by TBT on Mar 15, 2006 11:42:39 GMT -5
Yoi. I might wait a bit. It really is a nice pistol and I'm not sure now that I want to "learn on it". I mean, maybe I should pick up an RIA or something to experiment with and not a Smith and Wesson.
What if I would do this and screw it up? Would I be able to send it out to be refinished or something still?
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Post by "DoubleAction" on Mar 16, 2006 1:39:04 GMT -5
TBT; Giving thought to the functional beauty of a new pistol is far more important than the flawless finish it already has. Personnalizing a pistol can be done by methods other than changing it's original finish. One thing is some nice wood, with S&W medallions set between the grip screws like the Colts.
I like the idea of swapping out the blue grip safety, thumb safety, and slide stop with some that match the pistol's finish. These items will not change the factory condition, and you can always swap back to the originals at anytime.
Doing away with the larger SW 1911 lettering on the slide is like trying to hide the fact that it is a S&W. it might well affect the resell value on the pistol if you decide later to trade it in or sell it for something else.
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Post by TA on Mar 16, 2006 20:24:49 GMT -5
Well said DA. As far as fixing a refinish gone bad would depend on how badly it is botched. If not too much material has been removed, it should be able to be fixed up. Getting it rebrushed or even hard chromed and then brushed should be able to be accomplished by Virgil Tripp or Accurate Plating and Weaponry.
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Post by TBT on Mar 23, 2006 9:43:54 GMT -5
TBT; Giving thought to the functional beauty of a new pistol is far more important than the flawless finish it already has. Personnalizing a pistol can be done by methods other than changing it's original finish. One thing is some nice wood, with S&W medallions set between the grip screws like the Colts. I like the idea of swapping out the blue grip safety, thumb safety, and slide stop with some that match the pistol's finish. These items will not change the factory condition, and you can always swap back to the originals at anytime. Doing away with the larger SW 1911 lettering on the slide is like trying to hide the fact that it is a S&W. it might well affect the resell value on the pistol if you decide later to trade it in or sell it for something else. Excellent points DA. I've actually grown slightly fond of the lettering on the slide though and thats not really even my reasoning for wanting to do this. When I was taking the gun apart and putting it back together I had the gun setting on a screw that I didn't see and I have a nice big scratch on the frame that I wanted to remove (if truth be told). What I've decided to do is basically what you mentioned. I'm going to get some nice wood on it and convert the controls to stainless. I just have to figure out now whether I want to get new controls or hard chrome the ones that I have. |
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Post by TBT on Mar 23, 2006 9:44:34 GMT -5
Well said DA. As far as fixing a refinish gone bad would depend on how badly it is botched. If not too much material has been removed, it should be able to be fixed up. Getting it rebrushed or even hard chromed and then brushed should be able to be accomplished by Virgil Tripp or Accurate Plating and Weaponry. I would most like go with Tripp. I've already had emails exchanged with them and I like what I hear from them. |
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Post by "DoubleAction" on Sept 16, 2009 13:23:33 GMT -5
1911 AUTO PLUNGER TUBE CRIMPER
This was the very first item that I purchased from Brownell's, which I found advertised in the back section of a handgun periodical. |
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That is a good sign.
