Sight for Sore Eyes (or dim ones)

[GW Staar]

I posted this in AR15.com....but I have friends here too. Black engraving on black is only good on gun barrels where you don't want to notice it. On reloading tools, it's not so good, especially for tired eyes like mine. Take the picture below for example. Sure you can see it in the super high resolution picture, carefully focused, but its not so fun identifying tools without the magnification and perfect lighting.

I decided to do something about it. Next picture.....

Ahhh....much better (this is a drop tube for the RCBS Uniflow Powder Measure) Check out the difference between the two RCBS parts below:

These are the new RCBS Military Crimp Reamers for their Trim Mate. And check out the Pro 2000 shell plates below......

I can find the one I need so much easier.
But what about non-blued parts.....well I decided to cold blue them....took about 20 seconds to blue, rinse, and steel wool this shell holder then I added the white....

So what's the process of adding the white contrast? Simple. Sharpie Mean Streak Paint Marker and a Paper towel soaked with mineral spirits. Most any office supply like THIS one will carry it. Mean Streak dries in seconds, is permanent, sticks to dry, wet, dirty, even oily surfaces....I use it to mark stuff on construction job sites. One tube will last me a long time. It doesn't dry out if you cap it. A tube on a loading bench for this application...will last years.


Click on the image below for a short video demo.

 

[hntr59]

I have found that white crayon works well also

 

[nojoke]

That's great!
How about more detail...
What is used to blue? What's the chemical?
White paint and lacquer thinner...paint over entire surface then wipe w/ the thinner to remove from the high areas?

 

[GW Staar]

That's great!
How about more detail...
What is used to blue? What's the chemical?
White paint and lacquer thinner...paint over entire surface then wipe w/ the thinner to remove from the high areas?

The simple how-to is in the video link at the bottom of my post. The cold bluing I used is in the picture of the blued shell holder. Birchwood-Casey Super Blue.

 

[TexasShooter59]

I deal with the tired eyes too. Thanks for posting the video - it was worth the proverbial "thousand words".

 

[788Ham]

Thank you from the bottom of my heart! Have your Mrs. give you a big kiss for this idea. All the years I've reloaded, never gave this a thought.

Thanks again.

 

[GW Staar]

Young people have no idea what they get to experience when they get older. When the eyes start dimming, you need more and more light to see anything, and better lens on the glasses continuously.....I knew a few people could use this....I use that sticky paint marker in the constructions business for marking things that are dry, wet, dirty, oily, whatever, with a wide high opacity bright ID. It just hit me one day when trying to id my Uniflow parts with an extra light and a magnifer, that it just might work....it did....and I figured I wasn't the only one who needed it. You're certainly welcome! Thanks for replying.