Repair of Deep Pitting

PhilOhio · 07-08-2009, 01:40 PM

This is a subject which has intrigued me for a long time, as restoration of basket case firearms is something I enjoy. I don't expect to ever make a dime from it. It's just a good thing to do, in my opinion. A recent thread prompted me to raise the question. So while some may be unwilling to share their knowledge, others, including me, feel differently. I would like to ask the group about their experiences in repairing areas of deep pitting by replacing metal, resurfacing it, and rebluing. I know that some of you do outstanding work in restoring nice guns which have been badly abused.

In a few cases, I have done this by bead blasting, careful welding, and re-machining with lathe, milling machine, or bench grinder. It works, but is tedious and less than ideal for many situations. It's just a matter of how badly you want to do it. Overlapping the welds to get a smooth machined surface in the end is difficult.

For restoring worn or pitted parts on large machines, like bearing surfaces on my 1941 John Deere tractor's steering shaft,

a local automotive specialty shop used high tech equipment to very precisely flame deposit metal where needed. But I don't know enough about that method to know whether it could be applied to much smaller firearms components, and how precisely you can regulate the process. Restorers of very rare and valuable firearms clearly have access to a technique which works well. We see the result often. What are they doing that I don't know about? It must be something predictable, not too difficult, very controllable, and not overly expensive. I would guess the major ingredient is skill and attention to detail.

For what I want, new metal has to be rather permanently fused to the clean pitted steel surface, machineable, and blueable; and it must be a technique within the ability of a normal human being who does not have access to a $50,000,000 factory with state of the art CNC centers.

I'm sure such information is on the Internet, and I have not searched yet; just thought I would ask here first, as some of you obviously know the answer. And I guess it's a good test of how the board sometimes works to broaden our mutual knowledge base to save nice old firearms for future generations.

07-08-2009, 01:40 PM	#1
PhilOhio User Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Ohio Posts: 145 Thanks: 5 Thanked 17 Times in 14 Posts	Repair of Deep Pitting This is a subject which has intrigued me for a long time, as restoration of basket case firearms is something I enjoy. I don't expect to ever make a dime from it. It's just a good thing to do, in my opinion. A recent thread prompted me to raise the question. So while some may be unwilling to share their knowledge, others, including me, feel differently. I would like to ask the group about their experiences in repairing areas of deep pitting by replacing metal, resurfacing it, and rebluing. I know that some of you do outstanding work in restoring nice guns which have been badly abused. In a few cases, I have done this by bead blasting, careful welding, and re-machining with lathe, milling machine, or bench grinder. It works, but is tedious and less than ideal for many situations. It's just a matter of how badly you want to do it. Overlapping the welds to get a smooth machined surface in the end is difficult. For restoring worn or pitted parts on large machines, like bearing surfaces on my 1941 John Deere tractor's steering shaft, a local automotive specialty shop used high tech equipment to very precisely flame deposit metal where needed. But I don't know enough about that method to know whether it could be applied to much smaller firearms components, and how precisely you can regulate the process. Restorers of very rare and valuable firearms clearly have access to a technique which works well. We see the result often. What are they doing that I don't know about? It must be something predictable, not too difficult, very controllable, and not overly expensive. I would guess the major ingredient is skill and attention to detail. For what I want, new metal has to be rather permanently fused to the clean pitted steel surface, machineable, and blueable; and it must be a technique within the ability of a normal human being who does not have access to a $50,000,000 factory with state of the art CNC centers. I'm sure such information is on the Internet, and I have not searched yet; just thought I would ask here first, as some of you obviously know the answer. And I guess it's a good test of how the board sometimes works to broaden our mutual knowledge base to save nice old firearms for future generations.