doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Recutting engraving

I understand that existing worn engraving may be recut by re-engraving the existing lines. But does the action need to be annealed to soften the metal first, or are there gravers that can cut into previously case hardened metal to restor/add engraving?

Yes and yes, but it would all depend on how much work you want to do,...if it's only a few lines here and there you may want to work on the frame as it is,...on the other hand if I were re-cutting the whole thing I would anneal it first

CJ

As an engraver, I wouldn't accept a re-cut job without annealing action first. In some cases the action can be re-cut BUT, I have found the quality of the cuts to be inferior to those already engraved on the action. FWIW, Ken

mg - note that the case is only a few thou thick. Much of a recut will go through into the base metal below. I don't think that is much of an issue, but would like to hear from some other "metal guys." On the other hand, anneal, recut, and reharden will have full depth case at the bottom of the engraving lines. Is that important?

If an action is annealed for recutting, is there any practical reason to reharden it if color is not a factor? As I understand it, casehardening does protect the metal to some degree from corrosion but does not strengthen the action. In fact, I understand that it weakens it. Any comments?

Joe you and I have discussed this before but I think the casehardening hardens wear points and resists fatigue cracks.

Best,

Mike

It has been my experience that cutting thru a cased finish sometimes leaves a rough edge to the new cuts (burrs). These burrs are normally removed by polishing with wet or dry paper which also removes color. Cutting medium to heavy lines isn't to bad BUT, trying to cut fine shade lines is rough on a graver as the point keeps breaking & skids across the surface of action leaving scratch.

My understanding is that there is extra strength added to action. The tech/engineers at the Colt factory maintained that the color cased action was stronger that a blued or nic. plated action. FWIW, Ken

So the action and parts would need to be disassembled, annealed, recut, rehardened, then reassembled. Probably cleaned somewhere along the process line too.
Correct?

That's the way I handle jobs like this. Ken

Case color is a byproduct of the hardening temperature and is not the indicator of hardening as it can be created at temperatures below those needed for steel heat treating.

If it has an affect, it will be to strengthen. High carbon steel is much less prone to corrosion that is low, color layer aside.