Adding bling to firearms

T

tcjones

Guest
(Bait) Over about a dozen or so years I've been wanting to personalize a few of the firearms I'm custodian of.
I've wanted a few of them to be laser engraved with local art or land scape to give them a permanent place of were I live.
Do any of you have any laser art on your firearms to display as an example?
Thanks, Tom J.
 
I hear you on that. I have a couple of bracelets made local of silver for the wife. You have to appreceate the hand work.
On the other hand, a laser cut can put out a lot of detail I have in mind. I have a look thats been a bug in my mind for a few years now.
 
Oh i understand that. Im just after the old world scroll work. You may try some trophy shops locally. Some of the bigger ones have very nice machines youd be surprised at. A trophy man in my town has a laser engraver in his garage thats so big you cant hardly tell what it even is. You could put a car on it. So you never know!
 
Saw a laser engraver guy at a local flea market, with samples of stuff he did from photos, etc. Nice work. I asked him if he ever did copies of stock cartouche stamping on gunstocks, he said oh yeah, I got a couple of repeat customers. So buyer beware!!!:mad:
 
I can't help but wonder what could be done with laying down ground work with a laser and then going old fashioned engraving over top to bring it all together.

Then again some of the extras put into benchrest tools kind of worries me.

When you remove metal you relieve stress and change the shape of the metal that is left behind. I'll try and give an example.

While machining large disk if you watch your work this is something you might see. I used to make something called a valve but what it was, was a large disk like a coin. The first steps were to skim the outside and the two faces. This material was cut out of a large plate with something like a cutting torch or plasma cutter. Anyway the faces were cast and very rough. Skimming these surfaces removed a layer of very stressed material.

Even after it was removed, or in any blank of metal, stresses remain pulling on each other.

After cleaning up the blank of the crusted material I could face down the face, or like the flat side of a coin, and check it and it would be pretty flat.

The next step would be to face the other side and try and get a little closer to the finished thickness.

Now if I would go back and check the previous side that was once flat, it no longer is. Two of the opposite edges would now be bent down and the other two bent up. Just like a potato chip.

I think the material I just took off also had stresses in it pulling on it making it want to be in the shape of a potato chip. They were just pulling in the opposite direction allowing the first side to be flat. Once it was removed the flat side warped.

Anyway that is the way it goes facing large disk. You have to keep flipping them back and forth until you are just removing a minimal about as to keep the other side from taking the shape of a potato chip.

That leads me to sort of freak out when I see some work like barrel fluting. If it is for weight and carefully done I suppose it could be worth the risk. If some of it to just be fancy may be giving up to much ground to functionality.

Some work can look nice though.
 
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xs hedspace said:
Saw a laser engraver guy at a local flea market, with samples of stuff he did from photos, etc. Nice work. I asked him if he ever did copies of stock cartouche stamping on gunstocks, he said oh yeah, I got a couple of repeat customers. So buyer beware!!!:mad:
Click to expand...

If somebody is fooled into thinking a laser engraved cartouche is a stamping they need to be got. All my m14 examples look like they were stamped with a 16lb hammer. A laser cant reproduce that.
 
I've fooled around quite a bit with a laser and I'm not good enough to think I can engrave a gunstock...few are. The problem is that you only get one chance. With a key ring you simply throw the material away and do something different. Can't do that with a gunstock. Certainly, there are folks that do this kind of work and it looks pretty good but as Dusty said, it's unlike work done by hand.
 
I came across a shinning knife make by Sharade Old Timer years ago that I use on otter in the winter. The engraving is a sow and cub by a river. Ever winter that knife puts a bug in my ear.
Just a look that strikes my fancy.
 
hand engraved

When this was done 20 plus years ago in Arizona, the labor cost 10 bucks per hour for hand engraving. Vern would engrave one side and flip the gun over then use a mirror to copy the image on the other side while using a hammer and chisel.

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bling bling

Happy New Year would love to fire this one off tonight!
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Vern ?

I think Vern sold himself a little too cheap!!!!! Looks to me like he was very talented.
 
carving

If carving interests you, google PARAGRAVE. I have one of the machines and is is really fun to play with.
 
That's nice stuff Hammer.
It makes me wonder if a tattoo artist would be any good with that. Me? I could mess up stick people. Also, the laser things I've seen have been of the flea market variety and I wouldn't want it on my stock(s).
 
These are really quality and the only limiting factor is your fear of making a mistake. They are a bit pricy when it is all said and done. I'll bet I haven't used mine in 5 years. Just don't get the time. Prolly should sell it.
 
I may have put this idea out in a wrong way? I saw some laser art that got me thinking. Any Idea on that? I'm at a loss for what to call it.
 
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