Question: Metal wire for inlay

Idaho Flint · Jan 4, 2015

I have a old colt woodsman, that was blued, which has had a past owner who used metal letter punches to punch in his name and city into the slide. I would like to inlay some steel wire into the punches and restore the slide back to what it should be.

My question is what steel wire should I use, and where can I get it. I will be engraving it after the fix, and will have it re-blues, so I need the metal to match when blued.

Thank for your help. I am just not positive on the wire to use.

Mike

Beladran · Jan 4, 2015

Inlay steel into steel?

SamW · Jan 4, 2015

I have used soft iron wire often for what you are wanting to do. Brownells used to and may still sell soft iron wire for hanging parts in bluing tanks. Also, ship modeling supply hobby shops may still sell iron wire spools (like thread spools) in various gauges. If you intend to engrave over the area after the inlaying be sure the undercuts for the iron wire are deeper than what you intend to engrave over it.

If you are planning to reblue the part hot dip bluing will likely show a slightly different hue on the soft iron in good light but I have never had that happen when the parts were rust blued.

These days, a number of engravers are relying on micro-welding to fill such cuts or even pits. I don't know any near me so have never tried to use that.

PS...soft iron wire can be run through a carbide draw plate to get the size you need but it takes an effort, annealing often and plenty of lube.

Idaho Flint · Jan 4, 2015

Thanks Sam, that was exactly what I needed.

DKanger · Jan 4, 2015

Mike,
PM me your address and I will send you five feet of wire.

dlilazteca · Jan 4, 2015

is it me, I think I remeber someone using paper clips, could be wrong.....

Now I remeber.... trash bags tie downs. .. that's it!

Saludos,
Carlos

Idaho Flint · Jan 4, 2015

Thanks for the offer Dave, I really appreciate it. But I just ordered some in a couple of different gauges.

Mike

DakotaDocMartin · Jan 4, 2015

dlilazteca said:
is it me, I think I remeber someone using paper clips, could be wrong.....

Now I remeber.... trash bags tie downs. .. that's it!

Saludos,
Carlos

Roger Henrichs has a jeweler buddy he gets to fill that sort of thing. He uses the wire from inside garbage bag twist ties and a laser welder.

SamW · Jan 4, 2015

Another thought on the process Mike...like platinum, the soft iron will work harden with the first hit so be sure the wire fits OK and be sure to set it with the first blow...and each place along the wire. Once set it can be worked over with the punch to get some smoothing done.

Sam · Jan 4, 2015

I've inlaid iron wire to hide things. Per McKenzie's instructions I built a small campfire and put the coil of wire in the fire and then got it out the next day after it died out and was cold. It was dead soft.
As Sam W said you'll see evidence when you reblue the gun.

Tim Wells · Jan 4, 2015

Those little bread sack ties are soft iron and they're free. Well, ya gotta eat the bread first or feed it to the birds and catfish.

Idaho Flint · Jan 4, 2015

Thanks everyone. The information is priceless. I really appreciate it.

Lee · Jan 4, 2015

Mike, hobby lobby or michaels has wire florists use. It is soft but sometimes painted so you would have to sand off the paint. Also if you are engraving a piece save the long curl from cutting a line or border and inlay the curl in place of wire. It will blue the same color.

Idaho Flint · Jan 5, 2015

Thank Lee, good idea about saving the long curls.

silverchip · Jan 5, 2015

John B. Taught us how to use iron wire to repair booboos on steel with binding wire.Also inlaying on a stainless piece and then bluing that for contrasting colors.

John P. Anderson · Jan 5, 2015

Are you all talking about using mild steel wire versus wire made of actual "iron"? Most hardware and steel suppliers carry mild steel wire and refer to it as "mechanics wire" or "tie wire". It's a malleable mild steel wire that's used tie together steel reinforcing rod in cement. It's meant for twisting.

Paper clips and coat hangers can vary greatly in alloy content. I use them in a pinch and often run into some rather hard stuff especially with coat hangers and paper clips. Bread tie is meant for twisting so they are usually malleable.

Till the big round hay balers that use nylon twine came along baling wire was the farmer's duct tape.

John

silverchip · Jan 5, 2015

I don't know specifically the alloys of what is in either one but you can buy binding wire for soldering that is very soft and comes in different sizes.It also come in a soft stainless steel, I wonder if you couldn't inlay it into steel and then blue the steel and have a very durable inlay. Not that I am volunteering to try it just right now.I believe coat hangers are a work hardened low carbon alloy that could be annealed but might not be as practical as just having a spool of soft iron binding wire laying around.

Ed Westerly · Jan 5, 2015

The wire I use is the wire you can get at hardware stores for tying rebar. It comes in a spool that has lasted 20+ years now, and when I have rebelled, you cannot see it. It has worked with hot bluing and rust bluing. I don't know how it would do with Carbona bluing.

Big-Un · Jan 5, 2015

Yep, ironworker's tie wire is really soft and good to use. If any construction is going on in your area, just check with the workers and you should be able to get a lifetimes worth of wire for nothing.

dlilazteca · Jan 5, 2015

Ed Westerly said:
The wire I use is the wire you can get at hardware stores for tying rebar. It comes in a spool that has lasted 20+ years now, and when I have rebelled, you cannot see it. It has worked with hot bluing and rust bluing. I don't know how it would do with Carbona bluing.

Ed,

what have you inlaid? I'm curious especially for firearms, want to know what it will blend with after bluing.

Saludos,
Carlos

Question: Metal wire for inlay

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