Restoration/refurbishing.

Pete Ebbink · 01-26-2006, 12:17 PM

Bill,

I am with you...give me a 95% piece to a mint "sock drawer" or "attic" piece anyday...

I am pretty sure Ted started giving folks the option to NOT have the 3-dots added.

I am sure this option has lead Ted's business to grow to his current 6-10 month backlog...seems like the market DOES want refinsihed guns that are not so marked...

Some of the good refinishers have "tell tale" signatures...if one sees enough work by folks like Gale Morgan or Mike Forte or Bill Christenson or Mike Krause...you can sort of see their work when they pop up at gun shows and gun shops.

The folks at Simpson's sell Gale Morgan restoration, as such, all the time and advertise it as such...as Morgan restorations have their own collector neich.

I think Forte has the DWM salt blue recipe very accurate...better than Morgan's work.

And then fellows like John Martz place their name or initials on the restored piece.

I have had the chance to see some of Ted's pieces resold at gun shows as well...his stand out as well.

The honesty comes in to play when a current owner of an expertly refinished piece sells it to the next fellow collector. Either one is honest or not...

Since some of these folks and the follks that came before them have been re-doing guns since the 1960's, these redone pieces will show oxidation and patina and wear in 2006...so the task of deciding original or not is more difficult with time passing...so one needs to look for other things...other than oxidation/patina.

01-26-2006, 12:17 PM	#10
Pete Ebbink User Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: The USA Posts: 5,919 Thanks: 0 Thanked 6 Times in 4 Posts	Bill, I am with you...give me a 95% piece to a mint "sock drawer" or "attic" piece anyday... I am pretty sure Ted started giving folks the option to NOT have the 3-dots added. I am sure this option has lead Ted's business to grow to his current 6-10 month backlog...seems like the market DOES want refinsihed guns that are not so marked... Some of the good refinishers have "tell tale" signatures...if one sees enough work by folks like Gale Morgan or Mike Forte or Bill Christenson or Mike Krause...you can sort of see their work when they pop up at gun shows and gun shops. The folks at Simpson's sell Gale Morgan restoration, as such, all the time and advertise it as such...as Morgan restorations have their own collector neich. I think Forte has the DWM salt blue recipe very accurate...better than Morgan's work. And then fellows like John Martz place their name or initials on the restored piece. I have had the chance to see some of Ted's pieces resold at gun shows as well...his stand out as well. The honesty comes in to play when a current owner of an expertly refinished piece sells it to the next fellow collector. Either one is honest or not... Since some of these folks and the follks that came before them have been re-doing guns since the 1960's, these redone pieces will show oxidation and patina and wear in 2006...so the task of deciding original or not is more difficult with time passing...so one needs to look for other things...other than oxidation/patina.