Jump to content

damascus re finishing


archiebald
 Share

Recommended Posts

Very few, probably less than 10% of the old hammerguns were Damascus, the top 10% effectively, the rest were laminate. This is significant because with a Damascus barrel the pattern really is within the fabric of the metal, all the way through.

 

With laminate barrels they look the same but the pattern is a surface etch applied by acid. They were very good at it and its hard to tell the difference.

 

Lots of guns (especially those for sale with inflated prices) are described as Damascus these days when they are not. If the barrels have been blued they may have taken some or all of the surface etch off to do it if they do turn out to be laminate. Just so you are aware

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nope! Damascus and Laminated Steel gun barrels are made broadly by the same process, and the pattern of both goes all the way through! You cannot remove it by rubbing/filing it down!

There were in the past some acid surface etched barrels around, but they are not true Laminated Steel!

Tolley the Birmingham big bore specialist gunmaker of the late 19th early 20th century utilised both Damascus and Laminated Steel for their barrels, I have examples of both!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you. There's nothing applied afterwards, the top pic barrel has been oiled awaiting collection. It's all in the preparation, bottom line the end result will mirror your starting point. So barrels are struck off back to silver and highly polished before the browning process begins.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have a nice set of Damascus barrels to be done in the near future-daft question time.....if the colour difference and hence the crispness of the pattern is the result of rusting then cleaning the metals and the different effects of the "corrosion" - does putting oil on the end result not start to remove some of the colouration? :sad1:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No, not at all! When you mention the colour difference are you referring to the two photos. If so they look different as one was taken under the bright lights of the workshop and the darker one was taken indoors under no lights! Applying oil makes no difference in terms of affecting the brown!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...