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Posted: 3/8/2008 4:13:23 PM EDT
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I needed to get my ar-15 lower engraved for a SBR. My wife tried to surprise me and have it done for me, a few days ago. Needless to say it was not the job I had intended. It looks like they basically just scraped thought the anodizing. My question is, can you Engrave over what has already been done, and reblack the whole area to look factory new? It is on the front of the magwell and reads CA & CA Trust Waco, TX HELP!!! Chris |
Its happend on here before, I've seen horrible engraving jobs restored to near perfect. I'm pretty sure it was orion, give them a call. |
IIRC it was HDPS that fixed a scewed up engraving. |
Homeland Defense and Police Supply |
Not 100% sure, but I do beleive you are correct. |
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Could you post the contact info for Orion? I just got my lower back from the local tropy shop after they ensured me that they had engraved numerous firearms. A majority of the lettering looks like it is just a slight scuff into the finish. I held a piece of paper over it and penciled a transfer that looks good and clear, but I highly doubt that it meets the legal requirements about the depth of the engraving. The girl at the shop couldn't understand that the finish is much harder than bare aluminum and told me that there was no way that it was made out of aluminum because her machine can engrave stainless plates for trophies (in her words ..."and stainless steel is way harder than aluminum"). Any help would be appreciated. I'm pretty sure rub-and-buff inlay would make the lettering pronounced enough to read, but I'm not taking any chances with it. hinking.gif |
.003 is a peice of paper, if it has any depth to it, it will be fine. If they do diamond drag engraving (most common) then it will chip to a ceartain degree. They will say it wont but it will at least a little unless they do rotary engraving. AFAIK its the anodizing thats the issue, not the aluminum. |
| I tried explaining anodizing to her, but all she could understand (or be confused by) was that the coating was black and the aluminum was underneath it. The shop does use a diamond engraving process, and it did create some very minor chips in the anodized finish. I guess I'll go hunting for some rub-and-buff to fill the lettering with white contrast. Thanks. |
Yeah, same with mine. They swore up and down that it wouldnt chip and when they gave it back to me they kinda handed me the box and had a "ohhhh shit, its that guy" look on their face. I looked at it really close and figured it was worth the $12 or $15 I paid for it. Next time I'll do my research and find a rotary engraver in town, but for $12 I really cant complain. Well... I probably could have bitched and gotten it free, but it was only $12 and the cashier was pretty hot 
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Well I thought I'd update my last post. I tried finding something that would inlay the letters with a contrasting color and first tried some flat Testors model paint to do the job in OD Green because I thought it would be better to not have bright white letters. I didn't like the way it looked so I tried flat white. I thinned the flat white to a point the the fine tipped brush was more of an applicator that allowed the paint to fill the letters. Because of the small chipping that occurred during the engraving, there were nasty looking marks on the lettering. The white by itself wasn't bad, but it didn't look perfect (or even really good), so I thought I'd try something else. What I ended up doing was to remove the paint and clean the surface with a metal cleaning soap, then using Birchwood Casey Aluminum Black to darken the bare engraved metal. What I like about it is that it hides the imperfections in the lettering, but allows the letters to be easily seen. I tried the pencil rub and the letters transfer though 20lb inkjet paper really well. I believe that this should solve the problem and still be in compliance with the ATF specs for engraving. I don't see why the letters would need to be contrasting since not very much engraved lettering is done that way from manufacturers. The Aluminum Black finish should do the job just fine. If anybody can think of anything that isn't right with this please this let me know. http://home.comcast.net/~tractiongrips/images/Tractiongrips |
Actually, thats what my engraver did for me for free. They used some sort of blackener / darkener thing on it and it looks alot like that. I filled it in with white because I dont mind the white lettering. Looks pretty good btw, well worth the cost. |
Does "SBR" have to be engraved on the reciever as well? |
| I added it so my name wouldn't just appear to be randomly engraved onto the receiver. I did it more for the cosmetics I guess. Since I used a firearm already including a serial number and model number, all I can find is the requirement for the makers name, city, and state be included. Looking at other short barreled rifles and other NFA firearms, I don't see "SBR" or anything else like "machinegun" or "silencer" marked on very many weapons. I know my silencers aren't labeled as such. I did go ahead and list the engraving os "SBR" with my name, city, and state on my Form 1. I wrote it in under Additional Description on the form prior to submitting it. They approved the form, so I guess it was okay with them. |
Not needed but ceartainly wont hurt. Especially if some unexperienced LEO looks at it. Doh, almost IBTK (in before tony_k)
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