Remove engraving/refinishing?

H

Huntergirl

New member
I have a beautiful 581 Nickel revolver that I got very cheap from the original owner. However it has his initials engraved in large scrolled capitals. Can these be removed, or engraved with a pattern over, or will it need to be completely refinished? If refinishing is in order, will it have to be nickel... expensive?
 
Engraved ? You would have to grind off the engraving or it would be possible to fill the engraving with nickel plating but this would require a very knowledgeable plater .Then you would end up with a nickel plated gun.
 
About the only good option is to disguise the engraving.
While the engraving MIGHT be able to be removed by polishing it out, this depends on how deep it is.

If it's machine engraving, this is usually really "scratched" into the metal with a diamond point, and isn't that deep.

True hand engraving is actually cut into the metal with engraving tools and this IS deep.
While it might be possible to remove, the gun will likely have a noticeable thinning of the area, or a "dished out" look from the amount of metal that'll need to be removed.

One good option, is to have a good engraver disguise the initials by adding more engraving that "camouflages" the initials into a fancy design.
This is the method usually used for engraved guns where a new owner wants someone else's initials eliminated.

Since it's usually not possible to actually remove the initials, a good engraver simply engraves a new design around and in the original that actually makes the initials "disappear" into the new design.

In your case, instead of someones initials you'd have a fancy design on the gun, with the initials unrecognizable as part of the new design.
 
Any way you go about it, you will need the Nickel redone. A newly egraved spot will be missing that.

On the other hand, if you ever turn to crime you now have a throw-away gun that will tend to lead to anyone but you, since you apparently don't share those initials.;)

Nick
 
If the initials are engraved on a flat surface, you can have a silver, (nickel silver, gold,) plate made with your initials on it. It can be lead soldered over the existing initials. I would suggest you have an engraver or jeweler do this.
Engraving over old engraving to disguise it is not a good option. Theoretically, an engraver could remove the engraving and inlay a gold plate into the recess, but this is not advisable on a plated gun.
Bill
 
where is it engraved?
if its a electric engraving pen, some can be silver plated over to fill it in, I have done it before with fairly good results
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top