Bolt jeweling procedure
- Thread starter Robmcleod82
- Start date
Jeweling a bolt can be done in several patterns.
You can even do it with a hand held, electric drill, if you're careful.
The biggest problem, is finding a tip that's soft enough to take up some valve grinding compount and still follow the contour of the bolt.
It doesn't take a lot of pressure to make the impressions so some of the new polymers that are available as various diameter rods at the hobby shops make ideal tips.
Now, embed the flat end of the rod with some grinding compound and as it's turning, press it against a rounded surface. NOT THE BOLT. Use a piece of copper tubing or whatever is in the scrap bin at the hardware store. You will be able to deduce how much pressure you need to apply.
The big thing is to keep every pattern concentric and even.
A drill press with vice works best but if you're handy and careful, you can get by with a hand drill.
The method I've used to make the pattern is to inscribe a line for the first row with a black felt tipped pen. After that, it's fairly simple to line up the next row. I like to offset the swirls to cover the "V" between the swirl edges on each row.
Now, you have to do some measureing to find out how many rows you're going to need to do to keep it all concentric and even.
One of the nicest patterns I've seen, is where a fellow made the swirl patterns appear to wrap around the bolt, like a rope. He had made up a special jig to hold the bolt body and did it on a drill press.
Don't just get frustrated or impatient and fly at it. You will ruin the appearance of the bolt.
If you aren't hand with tools, and some of us aren't, don't attempt it without trying it on something else first.
I recently saw a lovely window that had been done as a decorative plate beside and entry door. The swirls were all a couple of centimeters in diameter. The owner did the whole job in place with an electric hand drill. Lots of time and patience are all that's required.
You can even do it with a hand held, electric drill, if you're careful.
The biggest problem, is finding a tip that's soft enough to take up some valve grinding compount and still follow the contour of the bolt.
It doesn't take a lot of pressure to make the impressions so some of the new polymers that are available as various diameter rods at the hobby shops make ideal tips.
Now, embed the flat end of the rod with some grinding compound and as it's turning, press it against a rounded surface. NOT THE BOLT. Use a piece of copper tubing or whatever is in the scrap bin at the hardware store. You will be able to deduce how much pressure you need to apply.
The big thing is to keep every pattern concentric and even.
A drill press with vice works best but if you're handy and careful, you can get by with a hand drill.
The method I've used to make the pattern is to inscribe a line for the first row with a black felt tipped pen. After that, it's fairly simple to line up the next row. I like to offset the swirls to cover the "V" between the swirl edges on each row.
Now, you have to do some measureing to find out how many rows you're going to need to do to keep it all concentric and even.
One of the nicest patterns I've seen, is where a fellow made the swirl patterns appear to wrap around the bolt, like a rope. He had made up a special jig to hold the bolt body and did it on a drill press.
Don't just get frustrated or impatient and fly at it. You will ruin the appearance of the bolt.
If you aren't hand with tools, and some of us aren't, don't attempt it without trying it on something else first.
I recently saw a lovely window that had been done as a decorative plate beside and entry door. The swirls were all a couple of centimeters in diameter. The owner did the whole job in place with an electric hand drill. Lots of time and patience are all that's required.
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The Cratex tools have the abrasive embedded in them so do not need valve grinding compound.
Some of us older guys have even used pencils in a drill press by cutting them off to length and putting grinding compound on the rubber tips.
One of the beter ways is to make up a fixture out of wood, (a cut to length 2x4 that has a V groove in it to hold the bolt body, along with a way to firmly hold the bolt and index it,) and a base that has a couple of pieces of wood attached to guide the 2x4 block lengthwise will work.
If your tool is 1/4 inch, then you measure out and drill holes in the base as a stop for the 2x4 bolt fixture, every 1/8 inch for close patterns or 3/16 inch for a good overall pattern. Then you put a nail in a hole after aligning the bolt where you want to start, push the bolt fixture block against the nail and make the first circle. Put the nail in the next hole, push the block against it, and make the next circle. When you have made one full row, you loosen the bolt in the fixture, rotate it whatever distance you need, tighten it down, and go back to start the next row.
It is best to start off somewhere that is not visible when the bolt is closed, or opposite the side of the closed bolt position, then work around the bolt. Chances are you are going to end up with the last row really overlapped and different than the nice even rows that you have previously done, but if you do it this way, the results are not immediately visible or noticeable as the last row is not visible when the bolt is closed or when being used.
.
The Cratex tools have the abrasive embedded in them so do not need valve grinding compound.
Some of us older guys have even used pencils in a drill press by cutting them off to length and putting grinding compound on the rubber tips.
One of the beter ways is to make up a fixture out of wood, (a cut to length 2x4 that has a V groove in it to hold the bolt body, along with a way to firmly hold the bolt and index it,) and a base that has a couple of pieces of wood attached to guide the 2x4 block lengthwise will work.
If your tool is 1/4 inch, then you measure out and drill holes in the base as a stop for the 2x4 bolt fixture, every 1/8 inch for close patterns or 3/16 inch for a good overall pattern. Then you put a nail in a hole after aligning the bolt where you want to start, push the bolt fixture block against the nail and make the first circle. Put the nail in the next hole, push the block against it, and make the next circle. When you have made one full row, you loosen the bolt in the fixture, rotate it whatever distance you need, tighten it down, and go back to start the next row.
It is best to start off somewhere that is not visible when the bolt is closed, or opposite the side of the closed bolt position, then work around the bolt. Chances are you are going to end up with the last row really overlapped and different than the nice even rows that you have previously done, but if you do it this way, the results are not immediately visible or noticeable as the last row is not visible when the bolt is closed or when being used.
.
A jig and drill press with a cross-slide vise is the way to a professional looking job. I also use the depth limit on the drill press spindle for consistency.
Easy to make, I used an old gear for the indexing part.
Yes to what guntech said.
Easy to make, I used an old gear for the indexing part.
Yes to what guntech said.
fingers284
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I built a jeweling jig a few years ago that worked very well. I removed a typewriter carriage from an old machine I found at a garage sale. Modified it a bit so I could mount the bolt body in it securely ( you don't want it to move on its own). The carriage will allow you to index evenly both radially and longitudinally, leaving a very uniform pattern. Mount the whole thing onto a drill press ( a hand drill will not give you the consistency you will want).
the best results I got were using the pencil & eraser with valve lapping compound method or just using a very stiff, small round dremel stainless steel brush (no need for grinding compound if your bolt is polished enough) .
With the brush a lot of different patterns can be achieved by changing the pressure exerted by the drill press.With more pressure you can widen the swirl to the size you desire. A very nice pattern I've done is to alternate a small swirl on one line and a larger one on the next line. Basically the small swirl nestles into the diamond left by the large swirl.
the best results I got were using the pencil & eraser with valve lapping compound method or just using a very stiff, small round dremel stainless steel brush (no need for grinding compound if your bolt is polished enough) .
With the brush a lot of different patterns can be achieved by changing the pressure exerted by the drill press.With more pressure you can widen the swirl to the size you desire. A very nice pattern I've done is to alternate a small swirl on one line and a larger one on the next line. Basically the small swirl nestles into the diamond left by the large swirl.
If you haven't already, take the time and care to build an awesome jig that has some indexing feature, to use with your lathe or drill press. That's the most important time and effort spent on a jeweling job. Use an old clock face or a small degree wheel for camshaft timing if you don't have an indexing head. After that it's trial and error using abbrasive sticks or grinding compound. I've never done a bolt, but have done shifters and faceplates, and used grinding compound and a brush. I could never get consistent swirls with teflon rods. Mess up some scrap trying different overlapping patterns, varying the ammount, to see what your bolt will look best in.
