My first try(new straw pics)
 

I brought this pistol last week,it was a total loss with no two parts matching and lots of pitting. I welded it up and cut it back down polished it and put on a set of sile grips I got on ebay.This was my first try at redoin a luger. Its a pretty good shooter and my third luger. I dont have a collectable yet but thats next. clint
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5.../thingy006.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5.../thingy007.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5.../thingy008.jpg

...........

Looks good. Can you show more detail where you welded the pits? Would like to see how that works.

Luke

Pat its a 9mm
Luke If you look on the left side pic a little more than half way down the barrell you will see where it looks a little darker the pitting was very deep there,thats how it comes out for the most part, I use a heliarc to weld with a mild steel rod,you have to look to see it but it still looks better than the pitting. If anybody knows of a better way to do it I would like to know. clint

Clint, Did you blue it? Is it rust blued or salt blued? Looks like a pretty good job.

Ron

It looks great to have been in the condition you describe. Enjoy!

Clint,

Looks very nice. Since it is a DWM, for the next step, you might consider strawing the small parts.

--Dwight

Ron It is salt blued I have been doing salt blue for a long time. I would love to straw the small parts Dwight but I have never done it . I am studying up on it and going to give it a go. I wish I had taken before pics but I never think about stuff like that,I was in to much of a hurry to get to work on it. Thanks clint

Clint -

I like the color of your salt blue; it has almost a velvet appearence in your photographs.

Do a search for "strawing" on this LugerForum and on Jan Still's forum. Several members have commented on their methods in past postings.

Luke

Clint, send me you email address, and I will attach my tried and true method for strawing, I have giving it out to perhaps 70/80 member here over the years, and to members all over the world....my instructions will that the mystery out of it, if you can blue, you can do this, and I've been gun smithing for 30 years now.....

Thanks Howard PM Sent

After Dwights suggestion and Howards guidance this is my first attempt at strawing
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...6/luger002.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...6/luger001.jpg

For your first whack at giving a Luger a face lift, you did pretty darned well...looks great. That ought to turn some heads at the range.

Clint just called me a bit ago, asked me to log on and see his work, WOW another star is born!!!.....don't forget Clint, per my instruction you owe me a coke:)

Thanks guys I still have some issues with the sideplate I will address the next time I heat the tanks up,I really wish I had taken pics of this pistol befor I started it was pretty sad. And Howard I look forward to buyin you that coke when we meet in person. Thanks clint

excellent, sow ear to a pigs ear... ;)


Well something like that, just outstanding Clint, heck of a nice job!

:)

Clint,
Nice work , looks good for your first time. Actually it looks good for many times.
The only suggestion I would float is to use some filler metal from a period piece, instead of mild steel rod, of the same type gun i.e. Mauser or DWM and metal from same location on the gun. This would require a donor piece to use and may not be worth it for one piece. I would think this would blend better and reduce color differences. JMHO. Or if someone knows the chemistry of the steel you could come close that way.
Once again, nice job.
Tom

Nice job. You should be proud.

Clint: The little I know about steel and welding tells me the reason for the different colored steels after welding is due to the fact that the molecular structure of the weld and the metal is not the same. To make uniform you must anneal or stress relieve and or thermo stress relieve and temper (controlled air cooling) after welding. This heat treat method makes the molecular structure of the weld match the metal you are mating it too as long as the weld material is of similiar chemistry as the barrel. Once annealed & cooled you can blue and you will not have that blue haze of a different color - everything will match. Knowing the chemistry of a luger is easy, non-destructive and destructive testing can be done for as little as $80.00 at any commerical metal testing laboratory. Take a scrap barrel of the several types available test them, match the welding rod before your procedure and what you have is a perfect job, undetectable to the untrained eye. Hope this helps. SAM

interesting Sam, thanks for the tip for everyone!


ed

Contact ole John Martz, he just might tell you how to do it. He has been cutting up and putting Lugers back together for a whole lot of years and his work is undetectable. He's getting up in his years now and just might be willing to pass on some of his secrets. I got the one of how to make a Luger look like it is stainless steel construction.

Herb -

Are you talking about a Luger taken to the "all white" condition?

Is that "secret" available? I have an old shooter which would be a good candidate for that treatment.

Luke

Luke, exactly, all the bluing removed and then treated to make the exterior look like brushed stainless steel, like the 70's era Mausers. I'll send you a PM on how to do it.

Herb: How would you abate the oxidation process on the metal that is in the white.? Coat with oil? Oil eventually will dry, cake and be of no value as a perservative in time and what you may have is a rusty gun. Even guns blued will rust if not properly cared for - I often wondered about these guns in the white, can you shed some light on this for me. Thanks

I suspect its gonna be some kind of clear poly coating over the bare metal,Ive seen it done it becomes yellow after awhile. clint

In the white
 

Oil is the only thing used, just keep it cleaned and oiled. Mine never got a spot of rust on it for the several years of being in the white.

It takes some good metal to hold up like that !!! The remashed toyotas there makeing guns out of nowadays rust if you look at em wrong. clint

One thing I use that seems to help in the consistancy of the color is a heat sink of a 1/2 inch aluminium plate . I place the parts on the plate and it keeps them very consistance in overall color. Of course you have to watch them to obtain how dark you desire.
neil

Lookin' good! The change to strawed small parts really makes the difference.

I hear you on forgetting to take the before (or in-process ) pictures. I've done a handful of restorations in long gun C&Rs and always get caught up in the work before I remember to take picts.