Rodeo refinish #2

Kent Shootwell · April 09, 2015, 05:08:37 PM

I've started on my next Rodeo and thought some may find the torn down pistol of interest. I've done the color case hardening before I thought of snapping a photo. My basement isn't much of a photo lab so the colors don't look as good in this shot as it is in sun light. I'll post again when done and will take it out side for that.

Monsai52 · April 25, 2015, 08:36:09 PM

That's beautiful work Kent. I hope you'll post more images (and some of your techniques) as the project continues. I have a Rodeo that I picked up last year and this is the direction that I'd really like to go with it.

Best regards,

Kent Shootwell · May 13, 2015, 11:22:49 AM

Finished it finally.

yahoody · May 13, 2015, 12:41:45 PM

Nicely done! Beautiful gun. Looks more like a 1st Gen Colt than Turnbull's work to me. And you still have beautiful case colors.

Monsai52 · May 13, 2015, 06:58:08 PM

Wow, that is really nice work!

Best regards,

Professor Marvel · May 13, 2015, 07:24:37 PM

My Dear Kent -
It is hard to imagine that one could turn that bead-blasted workhorse into such a object of beauty and envy!
Fine work, sir

yhs
prof (envious) marvel

Monsai52 · May 14, 2015, 02:42:18 PM

Quote from: Kent Shootwell on May 13, 2015, 11:22:49 AM
Finished it finally.

Kent,

The more I look at the amazing metamorphosis you performed on your Rodeo, the more I'm drawn to doing something similar to my mine. Would you be willing to share any of your surface preparation techniques?

Best regards,

Kent Shootwell · May 14, 2015, 03:11:45 PM

Monsai52, Yes I'll share. Just take it all apart like in the first photo then anneal the frame then do any stone work inside that may have a burr. Polish each part with wet or dry sand paper starting with 320 grit. I use kerosene to soak the paper and clear the grit. Work with blocks and dowels to keep the flats flat and round areas smooth. Use each grit at an angle to the last to help show and spot what needs more work down to 1200 grit. For me that takes about 5 hours, your time may vary. If it looks good enough for you then the (polish) prep work is done. Oh and use a vice with padded jaws to hold the work and a tight dowel in the barrel helps too.

yahoody · May 14, 2015, 03:49:10 PM

Info I hope might help anyone wanting to enhance a Rodeo's matte blue finish.
If you have not done much with steel or a revolver in particular it is a little more difficult and time consuming to do right than one would think. And easier to wreck a nice gun when done wrong or in a hurry. Five hours work when someone knows what they are doing.

If not and you are new to metal and you have a Rodeo a good place to start with little risk of harm is a Birchwood Casey Lead Remover & Polishing Cloth. Taking your gun back down to polished steel will be some effort and time. But the mild abrasives in the cloth won't hurt any thing if the polishing is done by hand.

I used the B-C cloth to first antique one of my Rodeos not concerned about polishing for a nice reblue or refinish. Remember blue and color case will hide/cover a multiple of sins in metal work, matte nickel less and bright nickel even less.

first antiqued

then engraved

another pair I antiqued to a lesser extent, leaving some blue, but not the "black gun" Rodeo look. Again done with a B-C cloth, taking about an hour or so per gun, starting with the gun in pieces but always with the barrel still attached to the frame. I am hoping to eventually have these engraved as well.

And the end result of that amount of polishing....and a "antique blue finish"? I intentionally used a antique blue finish to mast the lack of metal prep/polish on this pair of Rodeos I shoot almost daily. What I didn't do on the metal polish the blueing and engraving cover the majority of it up.

Monsai52 · May 14, 2015, 04:45:01 PM

Quote from: Kent Shootwell on May 14, 2015, 03:11:45 PM
Monsai52, Yes I'll share. Just take it all apart like in the first photo then anneal the frame then do any stone work inside that may have a burr. Polish each part with wet or dry sand paper starting with 320 grit. I use kerosene to soak the paper and clear the grit. Work with blocks and dowels to keep the flats flat and round areas smooth. Use each grit at an angle to the last to help show and spot what needs more work down to 1200 grit. For me that takes about 5 hours, your time may vary. If it looks good enough for you then the (polish) prep work is done. Oh and use a vice with padded jaws to hold the work and a tight dowel in the barrel helps too.

Thanks for the information. Did you polish the frame with the backstrap and trigger guard attached? It seems like that would be the easiest way to avoid any rounded edges to the joints where they meet. I don't think that I'd go for quite as high polish as you did, I kind of prefer the somewhat lower luster finish of the later 1st gen/2nd gen SAAs.

I feel pretty confident attempting a project like this (not the colour case hardening part), I've got good hands on skills and plenty of patience for this kind of work; I've done a good bit of optical fabrication for amateur telescopes (mirrors and lenses), so I know how to take it slow and allow the material to tell me the speed and direction to take. I've also got a couple of low value beaters to practice on first. I hope you're open to a few more questions if I move forward on this project.

As to the CCH, I had a conversation with Dave Lanara last year, and he quoted some good prices for doing it.

Best regards,

Oldtrader3 · February 05, 2017, 01:56:33 PM

I guess that I could try the Birchwood Casey Polishing Cloth on the grip frame of my USFA Rodeo and see what level of polish it will attain. The blued surfaces on the Rodeo grips are already damaged and I will not hurt them any more by experimenting just in that area?

yahoody · February 05, 2017, 04:10:20 PM

The mild abrasives in the BC cloth won't hurt anything. And easy enough to do. You might be surprised at just how good of a finish the cloth will give you on a rodeo. You can always go back and do an even better job cosmetically after the BC cloth with some cold blue for an antique look.

Takes little time and elbow grease to get a Rodeo to this level of "no finish". I like the look way better than the black gun Rodeo. So I have shot guns like this a lot. I actually like the well worn silver gun look. My 1st Gen Colts look just about like it

Cholla Hill Tirador · February 05, 2017, 06:13:42 PM

Man I am just in awe at how that Rode turned out! I'm currently on the prowl for a USFA 45 Colt to use for a working gun. The Rodeo seems like a natural choice, but there's just something about CCH and blue, even though I know it's going to take a lot of wearing because of the way I use revolvers. So, now there's the decision of buying a Rodeo and doing what Mr. Shootwell has done, or just buy one that's already CCH/blue.

CHT

Coffinmaker · February 05, 2017, 07:02:11 PM

One thing to remember. Mr. Shootwell took his guns to bare metal and then brought them back to what you currently see, all by himself.
There is an enormous amount of pride in a job well done, when it's done by your own hands. Well done Sir!!!!

Coffinmaker

LonesomePigeon · February 05, 2017, 09:01:36 PM

That Rodeo looks amazing, the work of a true craftsman. I lack the tools(not to mention skills) to remove a barrel, anneal a frame and heat in a kiln. I am wondering if it's feasible to polish without removing the barrel and get good results with one of those do it yourself nickel plating kits?

yahoody · October 31, 2017, 10:02:19 PM

More Rodeo guns. These are antique nickel.

Dave T · November 01, 2017, 02:17:41 PM

For the unwashed & ignorant, what is the "B-C" cloth referred to a couple times.

Dave

yahoody · November 01, 2017, 02:35:27 PM

Birchwood Casey Lead Remover & Polishing Cloth