Removing electro-pencil

[antique41]

Picked up a nice S&W Model 10 and the previous owner electro-penciled his name and SSAN on the frame and the cylinder. Can this be removed without doing too much damage to the pistol. I know it will have to be re-blued after any treatment. TIA

 

[blarby]

I guess that'd be like branding your wife.

Horrifying.

Yes.

If you want to home brew it, thats when the damage is most likely to result.

Consult your local gunsmith.

 

[Sunray]

Depends on how deep the marks are. A wee bit of metal needs to be removed. Not enough to cause any safety issues though.
They might polish out. If you're going to have your revolver professionally re-blued, polishing is part of the process.

 

[Hammilton]

I've seen some people get really heavy handed with those things. I doubt it'd be a safety issue as it is, but if he did go very deep, it might be a safety issue to remove enough metal to erase it and make it look good again.

Without a picture it's hard to say, but it's definitely not a job to be done at home. I don't think this sort of thing will be cheap either.

 

[Jim K]

The common electric pencil drives its point into the metal, compressing it. It is VERY hard to remove the markings without going really deep because even when they look like they are gone, they show up under bluing. I will second the advice about consulting a gunsmith about hot tank bluing, but even that won't cover up the marks until a good amount of metal is removed. Cold blue will NOT work, and will make the gun look even worse.

Alternatives:

1) Change your name to what is on the gun.
2) Teach the guy a lesson by leaving the gun at a crime scene.

Jim

 

[Kendal Black]

I wonder... Would coarse bead blasting and Parkerizing obscure the graffiti?

 

[bbuddtec]

yeah my best guess is peening, quite carefully, of course. Followed by a polishing depending on existing finish. But only by experienced gunsmith. Chances are it will at best be reduced to being less than noticable.

Of course, you can "electro-pencil" the entire surface, who knows, could be the next latest thing!

 

[HankC]

Stippling over it.

 

[35 Whelen]

I

wonder... Would coarse bead blasting and Parkerizing obscure the graffiti?

Hard to say. I recently bead blasted and Parkerized an H&R 929. The old girl looked pretty rough, but I blasted it with fine media prior to Parkerizing it. I made no attempt to blast the scratches and gouges out. I think had I done that, it would've turned out even better. Here's how it turned out:









This was a home-brew solution.

35W

 

[Jesse Heywood]

Since the collector value of the gun has gone south, you have a shooter. So you can't lower the value by refinishing. The markings can be sanded out, but unless you can sand the entire surface where the marking is, you will be left with a low spot, which will be visible after bluing. One possibility is to finish with Dura-coat, which can be applied with an airbrush. Pictures would help, showing the location and depth of marking. A visit to a smith can tell you if this is something worth doing. For me, I would keep the gun oiled and shoot it as is.

 

[GLOOB]

If it's over a flat spot, you could use a flat Arkansas stone it to remove the raised edges, then buff out the stone marks you'll leave over the entire flat surface. What's left will be much less noticeable after refinishing. The raised, unfinished burrs are 90% of the ugly.

I did this to the import stamp on a gun that I was refinishing, and now you can barely see it, unless you have the light at the right angle. And just as importantly, you can barely feel it. IMO, it looks a lot better this way, versus what happens when you point-sand over just the lettering.

 

[natman]

Instead of removing the raised edges you can roll them back into the groove with a rod and then you won't have to polish down to the bottom of the groove to get rid of the marks.