Frank G

I am wanting to take a shot at building a custom 1911 from parts. I have not built a firearm yet, but you guys make such a big deal out of it, that it makes me want to take a stab at it. Right now, I am just in the thinking stages. I do have my Kuhnhausen volumes 1 and 2, though.

Right now I am leaning towards going with stainless steel and having a black finish put on it by a professional. Two questions:

1. At what point in the build would I want to have the finish applied?

2. (for moderators) What is the correct forum to ask technical questions concerning hardware assembly/mods for this project?

Thanks,
Frank G

Ken Mays

1) The finish should be applied as late as possible in the build process, preferably after test firing. Since you're working with stainless, there is no reason to apply the finish until you have the gun exactly where you want it.

2) The Home Workshop forum here might be a good choice. You might also want to visit http://www.roderuscustom.tzo.com, there are a lot of helpful home builders over in the forums there.

Frank G

What changes in the process if you want to leave some parts natural, say hammer and trigger?

Also, I would assume that coating of the internal pins would take away some of the smoothness of the action. Am I wrong? Or, would you disasssemble the finished gun and do something to the pins to restore the smooth action?

Ken Mays

Since the gun's going to be disassembled anyway for finishing, just omit the parts you don't want refinished.

For the pins, it depends on the sort of finish you're talking about. I've done spray coating type finishes and bluing. Bluing, chrome plating, etc., tend to take on the characteristics of the underlying metal; i.e. a smooth surface will stay smooth. Other finishes such as Parkerizing and spray coatings usually result in a rougher surface. With spray coatings I sandblast most surfaces but leave the pins alone.

Frank G

Ken, thanks for all your input!

Frank G