Question: finishing banknote engraving

When a fine bolino or banknote style engraving is finished and the surface is not case hardened or blued, what can be done to preserve the finish so that it will not rust or become tarnished??
It cannot be sanded back because of the fineness. A good example would be the nile gun locks that Phil Coggan has done

Jerry,I like the French Gray finish when it comes to game scene's and scrolls,simple blue and strip with Lysol Power toilet bowl cleaner. J.J.

As Phil stated somewhere inked and lacquer

Phil's work is inked and lacquered but I think also case hardened prior to inking.

Either case hardening or perhaps electroless nickel plating will very much help preserve the detail from wear otherwise the detail is subject to wear and marring. If the item will not be handled it does not matter but for an item that will be used either the above processes or extreme care will be needed.

Being sometimes know as clumsy I opt for a hard surface when possible.

Thanks Sam. I think I will try the Baked on lacquer from Brownell.

I have done many pieces over the years for myself and all have been left in the white. The most I do is a few have been varnished, but manly just wipe them down with oil after a days outing and they have been in all types of weather over the years.
I have never had anything wear off and If they would show any type of corrosion I use a little Flitz Polish which is non abrasive.
I can't stress enough that letting such pieces in the white is not a problem if you take a little care to maintain them. I would think that if someone is spending a lot of money to have a banknote scene done that they could take a little time to maintain the engraved piece.
But if you feel you would need a protective finish I have used Spar vanish with good success. I thin it a little and wipe on and don't touch it for 24 hours.
I did this to one of my duck guns years ago and still looking good.
I might add that I own a few high grade bank note guns of Italian manufacture that are in the white from the factory and never had anything more than some varnish over them. as anything else on them would have hidden the work done.
I guess what I am saying is don't fear the white. I just wanted to share some of my experiences with this Engraving Process.
Good luck and I sure you will find a process that works for you. ZZ

jerrywh said:

When a fine bolino or banknote style engraving is finished and the surface is not case hardened or blued, what can be done to preserve the finish so that it will not rust or become tarnished??
It cannot be sanded back because of the fineness. A good example would be the nile gun locks that Phil Coggan has done

Click to expand...

Jerry, if you have issue 83 of The Engraver magazine you will see a picture of the Nile gun being lacquered after polishing off the hardening colours.

I have found that hardening takes a small percent away from the work, I think it's to do with burning off the tiny burrs of the cuts, cutting the sharpness, as a hardened scene never looks exactly the same, hence some gunmakers not hardening their finely engraved guns.

I remember many years ago a gun company hardening a finely engraved scroll and scene gun by a very well known American engraver, when it returned after hardening, nobody knew what to do with it as the result left much to be desired, and further removal of the colours would make it worse!

Anyway...If you intend just keeping your engraving for yourself, I would just give it a wipe over everytime you handle it and keep it stored safely away from any moisture etc.

Phil

Thanks for the info Phil. I like to use Renaissance wax with a tiny dab of lamp black to "ink" and protect the bare metal. Seems to hold up really well and so easy to apply/re-apply. Just wipe it on and then wipe with a paper towel. If left for a time before wiping off it will be hard to wipe off.

I keep all the gun parts on my bench coated with Rig's Universal gun grease and will continue to hot blue & slow rust blue,browing color case and French Gray,never had a client request a restored or engraved gun in the white. J.J.

Phil.
Thanks a lot for the info. I have every issue of the engraver. I will look that one up. I almost always build and engrave spec guns. This one will go up for sale when I am done. All but the gold framed bank note scene will be browned. I can't case harden it because it is on the barrel. I will probably do a bake on lacquer on it. I have to protect it from the browning process. What I like about the lacquer is you can coat it and then if it doesn't look right it can just be washed off before baking.
I made a couple of graver like you described and they work really great for hand push work. Your a jewel. Thanks again. Sam as well.