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It reminds of an old saying:Looking forward to seeing the results. (Good = inspiring! Bad = lesson for the rest of us.)
I actually corrected 98% of what I started, and the rest is under grip tape. I liked the Dawson “sandpaper” honestly, and this thing is going to end up getting shot and beat up way more before it’s over. I just wanted to see if I could do this.Bring it over. We'll buff it out, polish it smooth and then bead blast it. Only person who will know is you.
It was as if the guide I had secured was moving. What started as a very finely cut group of lines very quickly got sloppy and wide. I figure if it was this sloppy this early on that it would get worse quickly due to how this job is done, and exponentially.What were you unhappy with? From what I can see in the pic, it doesn't look like a bad start.
Always something, even before the frame is stripped...
Two of the grip bushings are softer than whatever Springer used to glue them in. Nothing a vise grip couldn’t resolve. New bushings are ordered.
View attachment 177060
Next up, Brownells says I have to properly prepare the checkering file for actual use. They say I have to knock off the row of partial teeth along the outside edges with a belt sander before I can start actually checkering. What a PITA.
I think I’m going to take a stone to that row on the bottom left and just use that side of the file.
View attachment 177062
Wait... So you order a special tool to do a special job and it has to be modified to do the job? That's enough to put me off a job...
One of the custom smiths over on a 1911 forum concurred that it should done. I was more than a little annoyed.Wait... So you order a special tool to do a special job and it has to be modified to do the job? That's enough to put me off a job...
Is your file made by Grobet?Well....that explains why one side of my file works better than the other...Amazon file did not come with instructions.......
I talked to Grobet about having to prep the file and they told me to talk to Brownells where I bought it. Of course there is no other discussion anywhere about it except for the Brownells instructions which I’m pretty sure was a well kept secret till the file arrived.yes, Grobet file. OO, 20 LPI and it does have the half tooth on one side. I have just been using the other side for the whole thing
I talked to Grobet about having to prep the file and they told me to talk to Brownells where I bought it. Of course there is no other discussion anywhere about it except for the Brownells instructions which I’m pretty sure was a well kept secret till the file arrived.
That looks good!Of course. The one I got from Amazon came with zero documentation, so I started hacking the frame with it as is. The side with the grobet logo works fine, but the other side caught and jumped around.
One thing I know is next time I will pay someone to do this. It has come out looking pretty decent, but I have about 12 hours tied up in it and I can't feel my fingers anymore. Also went through two pairs of gloves.
I’d be real interested to see what the top of your front strap looks right under the trigger guard once you take that wire stop off. A friend undercut his trigger guard which cleaned up those lines, but I’ve shot this pistol so much without a trigger guard undercut that I would leave mine alone if the checkering did not need cleaning up.Of course. The one I got from Amazon came with zero documentation, so I started hacking the frame with it as is. The side with the grobet logo works fine, but the other side caught and jumped around.
One thing I know is next time I will pay someone to do this. It has come out looking pretty decent, but I have about 12 hours tied up in it and I can't feel my fingers anymore. Also went through two pairs of gloves.
I’d be real interested to see what the top of your front strap looks right under the trigger guard once you take that wire stop off. A friend undercut his trigger guard which cleaned up those lines, but I’ve shot this pistol so much without a trigger guard undercut that I would leave mine alone if the checkering did not need cleaning up.
Isn't this sort of thing the reason CNC machines were invented/built? Just buzz it in at the factory? Why in 2020 are we still doing this by hand?
Ya' know if you would have gotten a Glock you could have claimed the mess was a 'kustum' stippling job worth $300 when you give up and try to unload it.
For me, it would just be the satisfaction that I did something, by hand. Nothing to do with trying to save money or any other reason. I look at it as trying to keep alive some of the lost arts.
I started collecting ( accumulating ) hammers in the past year or so. Old, rusty, $1-$2 stuff from yard and estate sales, pretty much anything but claw hammers. I truly enjoy spending the time with each one trying to bring it back to life, more in the way of conservation than restoration.
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Why in 2020 are we still doing this by hand?
Isn't this sort of thing the reason CNC machines were invented/built? Just buzz it in at the factory? Why in 2020 are we still doing this by hand?
Ya' know if you would have gotten a Glock you could have claimed the mess was a 'kustum' stippling job worth $300 when you give up and try to unload it.
I would fade it out to where you have it out now. Trying to go around the trigger guard radius is a compound surface, not great for that wide file unless you have a smaller round file that would let you get 2 lines in per pass. If I'm mistaking in that radius, my apologizes in advance.So, here is the start of the blend.... not sure if I like one large cut at the top or for it to blend into the curve of the trigger guard
Some of the high end CNC mills only come with 0.5mb of memory. Yes, 0.5mb. If you want to be able to store programs, you have to buy a server at the tune of 5k. Can't be any server, has to be their server.
While I love working with my hands, I love the tech side of things as CNC equipment that has landing me some pretty awesome gigs. Such like prototyping for firearm manufacture in NC, starts with "R"
I would fade it out to where you have it out now. Trying to go around the trigger guard radius is a compound surface, not great for that wide file unless you have a smaller round file that would let you get 2 lines in per pass. If I'm mistaking in that radius, my apologizes in advance.
I like the thick relief cut, it's different.I initially cut down at the top of the checkering to clean up some spots where I went to far with the vertical lines, but once I have them all cleaned up, I kinda like the one wide line at the top instead of blending it.... waffling back and forth on leaving it or blending on up
And if you can bead blast it it will look like it was always that way from the factory.
Whose frame is that?It’s a bare carbon steel frame, so I plan to bead blast and send it out for pvd or a coating of some sort when I get everything else done....I am tempted to send it to trumbul for color case hardening, but they are extremely spendy. I still have a magwell to blend and the back strap to checker, so I am in for a lot of hours before this thing is ready for finishing !
Colt does something similar on some of their front strap checkering jobs.
And if you can bead blast it it will look like it was always that way from the factory.
Whose frame is that?