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Finish options needed for tricky 1911 project


Carmoney

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OK, I have a Commander-sized carry gun that I put together for myself from various parts I had acquired. Everything turned out well, and now it's time to have the gun finished.

I generally use hard chrome (from Metalife, Ford's, AP&W, etc.) but would consider a black finish also, particularly since it's a carry gun.

Here are the challenges:

(1) The finish must be compatible with the aluminum alloy frame (which eliminates Freedom's Atranite black finish and similar processes).

(2) In the area where the serial number is, the frame has been sanded or polished down to the point that the serial number is getting pretty thin. The numbers are readable, but barely. This means the finish needs to be really super thin, or better yet I need to find a finisher that is capable of re-etching the serial number before applying the finish. (Ford's used to do that sort of thing, but I can't get their website to work and I have a feeling they might be out of business.)

Anybody know who can do this work for me?

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couldn't you just take it, or at least the frame, to your local trophy engraver and have them do some work on it for ya? Get the numbers in a little better or even put them in a different place (If legal, I'm not sure!) and then re finish with product of your choice?

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Yeah, that might be an option, but it would sure be easier to find a plater that could take care of deepening the serial number while it's there. Like I said, Ford's used to do this sort of thing, but I can't confirm that they are still around. Gun finishers don't live long, you know.... ;)

Edited by Carmoney
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I was able to get Ford's price list to pull up (although the home page of the website seems to be non-functional, at least at the moment), and it looks like they must still be around after all.

I emailed them for a dealer price list. If they're still in business, they should be able to take care of the project for me.

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