Marking a barrel

sbound

sbound

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On station eight, shooting the second low house.
Good day men

I am close to completing my first custom rifle build, and would like to mark the barrel with my name and the calibre (it's a wildcat). The only method I have to do this is with metal stamps. I have researched the recommended practice of using a metal ruler, a line on the work surface, stamping right to left, etc. and have even practiced on an old barrel. In short, I am not overly confident in my abilities with this method to get it right the first time and not screw up my rifle.

Is there anyone in Canada who does this with a CNC or another more dependable method? I believe what would be needed is a CNC 3-axis mill to do the round surface of the barrel, but that's certainly beyond my reach. Any other alternatives?

Any leads or advice is appreciated.

Thanks
 
I have a computerized engraver that works very well, and I know a couple guys that use a new Hermes engraver with great results as well, those are hard to come by these days tho.
 
Engraving would be the ultimate but you can do a half decent job with stamps. Here is one that I did last week. Instead of scribing a line use tape to rest the bottom edge of the characters against. You are stamping on a radius and will have to strike at least twice. Start at the bottom (tape side) and then roll the stamp up a few degrees to strike again. Spacing is actually harder than getting a straight line as all characters are different widths. Also use a big enough hammer that you don't have to swing it. A 24oz hammer can be dropped accurately on the back of the stamp. Also the barrel shank must be held firmly in the vise or things won't go well. You also must stop to consider the shape of the character. For example it is easy to imagine that the "I" will require less force than the "A" in the picture below. It is hard to do a perfect job and in fact if you look at this one the "4" and the "8" are crowded together. Don't forget that on a total disaster you can always take a light cut off the shank and start over. :redface:or so I've heard:redface:

 
The Electro-Etch is probably your best bet for a DIY solution.

All you need is a DC power source (a couple batteries) and a bit of etching solution, and you can make your own stencils or buy them.

An old school engraving shop with a Pantograph engraver would be a pretty good bet, if you can find one that will allow you to bring a gun in, unless you can carry just the barrel.

A custom metal stamp isn't all that expensive. Get one with your name, another with the caliber marking. You will at least get the marking properly spaced and in line, then.

Individual number and letter stamps are great for marking the stuff that just needs to be marked, but not much worth a pinch of poo for anything that needs to look good. It takes different strike pressures for the different letters (varied surface areas) and one mis-strike is all it takes to make a permanent mess of the job.

Cheers
Trev
 
Brownell's also has a jig to line up your metal stamps nice and straight, even spacing. Many guys have made one, a couple u-bolts and some 90 degree angle iron.
 
Another electronic etch vote. Do you have a knifemaker around where you live? A lot of guys have those etching machines so you would need to buy a stencil. The process takes seconds

Edit to add
Stamping something round sucks, its real easy to make a mess. Stamping looks great if done well and lousy if its not
 
Do you have a sheet metal shop around that has a laser cutter? The company I use to get all our machine guards made gave me a demo of their new 5 axis machine a few months back and it was amazing. They can engrave on a barrel profile and even graduate the lettering to make it profiled/give the impression of shadows within the letters. I get all our control panel fascias done that way now.
Worth a few phone calls in your local area?
 
EHG said:
Etching only works for shiny metal. You need to stamp for blued or cerakoted.
Click to expand...

I agree... this was stamped and the customer did his own Cerakote.

picture018-1.jpg
 
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