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Military Firearm Restoration Corner

Etching Or Engraving Designs Onto Receivers


RifleMan

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Probably a dumb question, and possibly not worth the hassle, but, I'm wondering if anyone has ever put their own crest back onto a scrubbed receiver. I've got a design that I'd like to put onto a receiver that I stoned the crest from. The steel is nice and soft at this point, and I figure I could hand engrave the design, but I'd rather etch it or something more sure, since I'm not so steady with engraving myself.

 

I've seen the electrolyte energized method of etching steel, but that seems like it only goes down 0.01" - less than a 64th of an inch. It also seems like fine lines don't generally work so well with that method. I'd like something that would be deep and fine enough to fill in with pain or crayon to really make the design pop out.

 

Anyone have any good ideas? Should I just try to find a shop that will laser engrave it? Or is there a garage-shop method I'm not finding?

 

Thanks,

Nathan

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That's one idea. Does it go deep enough to allow for filling the lettering/numbering with paint or similar, like some people like to do to make the text stand out? Not saying that's a requirement, but it'd be nice to know it's that deep, and won't just wear off easily.

 

Also, would glass bead be the best media? I would think aluminum oxide would be the best stuff. And what kind of mask material did you use? Would it even stand up to alum. oxide?

 

Thanks for the reply. Nice looking lettering!

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Thanks lemski4. I may try that. I was already thinking about getting a benchtop blast cabinet. No room for anything bigger at this point, but for a receiver, it should work. Also, I imagine that I could always mask, blast, clean up, mask again, and paint if I wanted the etching to really stand out (the etching would probably be good for some tooth to set up for Duracoat or something similar).

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