Vaquero upgrade

[Bill Brockway]

Hi, everybody -

Herewith a Ruger Vaquero in .45 cal., which I just finished engraving for my son. The scrollwork is cut with hammer and chisel, with a home-brewed French gray finish.

Hope you like it.







Bill

[ron p. nott]

hi bill .. let me be the first to say that looks great, you did a good job engraving that ruger (not my favorite gun to engraver ) and using hammer and chisel method i must say you did great .. ron p.

[Ray Cover Jr]

Bill,

That finish looks great! Do you mind sharing how you did it?

If it is a family secret I understand, but boy did it make a nice color on that steel.

Ray

[gravertom]

very nice!

Love the layout, very classic look.

Congrats!

Tom

[biggles]

Hi Bill

Simply stunning

Cheers
Andrew Biggs

[Tim W]

Like it? Hell, adopt me Daddy... That turned out great!

[paintor]

That's a great looking job. I know what Ron means about Rugers not being fun to cut, but I just got done putting a cattle brand on the backstrap of the frame in the large area behind the hammer. It was fairly soft. Was the cylinder, barrel and rest of the frame tolerable to cut? Thanks for the info.
Otto

[Bill Brockway]

Thanks for all the kind words, guys. I very much appreciate them.

Ray - the French gray recipe is not a secret. I rust blued the gun, using Laurel Mountain Forge browner and degreaser, rusted it in a sweat box, boiled the parts to turn them black, and carded with steel wool under water. After the blue is dark enough (5 or 6 cycles), it should be a deep black color. After the final carding, the blackened parts are dipped in Brownell's "Steel-White" for 15 to 30 minutes, which fades the black, leaving a slightly matte surface. The only tricky part is timing the "Steel-white" dip. You may have to experiment with the time. The "Steel-White" loosens the black oxide coating, after which you can rub the finish down with a nubby cloth, like a bath towel, or old blue jeans, to get a uniform gray color. Oil it, and you're in business.

Otto - I didn't find the Vaquero to be too hard. In fact, the parts were pretty soft, except the hammer, which was really hard. I have since started a Ruger Single-Six, in .22 cal., and the parts are considerably harder. Same manufacturer, different steels. Go figure.

Bill

[Ray Cover Jr]

Thank you bill,

The last time I rust blued a revolver the cylindar came out a different color than the rest of the gun. I suspect a tempering or alloy difference. But I'm thinking the steel white did would probably even it all out.

Ray

[BrianPowley]

Bill,
In the words of TV's Marshall McCloud ( Dennis Weaver):
"THERE YA' GO!"


(Nice stuff, man...............really nice stuff)
Brian

[Darren]

That looks great ! Very nice job, thanks for the look see.
Darren

[peterinct]

WOW...Beautiful work. As Ray mentioned, the coloring is superb. It does sound like a complicated process, but the results are obviously worth it.

Peter

[JJ Roberts]

Bill,

Excellent use of design just beautiful. These Rugers are hard steel, you almost have to use a hammer and chisel to successfully engrave them. Keep up the good work. Bill are you the Bill Brockway who wrote and illustrated a beautiful book on muzzle loading guns?

Yours truly,
JJ Roberts
School of Artiistic Engraving
Manasas, VA

[Bill Brockway]

JJ - Guilty as charged, although that book was a long time ago. 1985, but who's counting? Thanks again for the kind comments.

Bill

[ksnyder]

Bill, classic style, great caliber, should be a joy for your son. Love them .45's.
Btw, I've been at the ml game for almost 30 yrs., have built fowlers but mostly do scratch flint rifles.
Gonna check out your book.
thanks for showing,
Kent