Jeweling

[CommonHighrise]

Got some SS peices Im looking to put some jeweling on. Theyre all flat faces, and I have the jig end of the operation covered. My question is, any reason I cant use an adjustable stop drill press to do the work, as opposed to a mill? Im planning on using a stone bit to do the cutting, but may also pick up one of those swanky looking Menck jeweling tools so I can do bolts and barrels down the road.

[Pa. Patriot]

Depending on the piece/jig I just use the drill press.

The brushes work the best for me on most items. I heat shrink tube the brush up to about 1/16 of the end of the bristles to help it keep it's shape and use differing grit depending on the material and desired look.

[Xringshooter]

I have the set from Brownells and I use it in my drill press and it works fine. Don't know if I would want to use a stone to do it, might do too much too quick.

[SteveWag]

The problem you'll have using a stone and a stop is that the stone will wear away while the stop remains fixed. As above, the brush with little wires, with heat-shrink, wears away much slower. Still, you will need to raise the stop/lower the brush from time to time. if you use the stone, go with feel. The drill press works very well, assuming you have the indexing down pat. Most firearm work is done on the press.

Steve

[Karl/PA]

You may not believe this, but unless the piece is really hard, you can do it by hand. I learned this somewhere around 1947 or so. Get a piece of steel wool, 00 or 000, put it against the piece and just start twisting your thumb while pressing down hard. A half turn each time should do it. Great therapy. Try it on some scrap or the inside until you get the hang of it.

[CommonHighrise]

You may not believe this, but unless the piece is really hard, you can do it by hand. I learned this somewhere around 1947 or so. Get a piece of steel wool, 00 or 000, put it against the piece and just start twisting your thumb while pressing down hard. A half turn each time should do it. Great therapy. Try it on some scrap or the inside until you get the hang of it.

Really? Id have to try that to see what it gets me. One of the things I like about jewel finishing is the way the sharp edges of each circle overlap into a fishscale effect, and Im having a hard time seeing how steel wool would give that.

But then again, Im guessing you fall under the category of people that 'own boots older than me', so Ill take your word.

[deth502]

fyi, and i see no ones mentioned this yet, for best results, the surfaces should be polished to a bright finish first.

[deth502]

oh yeah, and +1 to the wire brushes. they make them for the dremmel, and can be found at nearly any hardware store and most walmarts. an auto parts store should have a supply of valve lapping compound. youll want the "fine"

[P-11 shooter]

WOW! if it's really that easy I have a few rifle bolts that would look pretty sharp after a little work.

Does a gunsmith charge alot for this, as I really wouldn't to mess it up but I'd like to get the exposed area's the outside of my chamber done on the ol' pistol.

[CommonHighrise]

P11, if your talking about your signature pistol, one of the peices I was looking to cut my teeth on is the barrel of my own Keltec, more exactly the area around the chamber thats left exposed by the ejection port. Ill let you know how it turns out.

So I bounced the steel wool technique off a guy at the shop today, and he confirms that itll work. Though he suggested a better way to go about it would be to chuck a regular wood pencil into a very low speed drill eraser down, place a small ball of 000 or 00 steel wool on the piece right under the eraser, and bring it down to create the swirl. We both agreed the more pliable and conformable nature of the steel wool would create a 'flatter' pattern, with less pronounced ridges.

Busy for the weekend, but I plan to grab some 420SS scraps from the shop to try some of these homespun techniques on. Will take pics and see what I can get.