I needed a break from the monotony of sanding the frame and decided to work the cylinder over. I used the wire wheel on my grinder to burnish the flutes and cylinder stop notches.
The bolt, washers and sleeve are a tool I made up to polish these S&W cylinders
I assemble the tool, then cover the threads with tape to protect them
Then I sand length wise with 150 grit paper, removing the small pits and nicks
I then put the cylinder in my drill press and spin it at high speed while sanding with 150, 220, 280, 320, 400, 600, 1200 then 2000 grit
I did the same with the ejector rod.
Back to the frame, once I had the dings and pits out I sanded the entire gun to 400 grit
After getting it to 600 grit, I then spent some time working over every surface with Crocus cloth.
Then I taped off the polished areas and bead blasted the top.
I was able to get the gun parts blued, here they are fresh from a bath in oil
The only part that didn't turn out well was the cylinder release, I'll have to strip it and blue it again
In the mean time the owner purchased a set of these Altamont walnut service grips
The gun is finished, but I have an issue with the rear sight I still need to fix
Before and after pics
On to the next project!
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