Engine Turning/ Jewelling?

[Larry Fernandez]

I know this was posted on the other board so bare with me.

I am not sure what the process is called, but you might recognize it on the front of Lindberg's Spirit of St. Louis.
Is there anybody out there that can replicate this effect on an aluminum landing gear for my Thunderbird.(for a small fee of coarse).

Larry, Buttafucco Stunt Team

[Bill Little]

I know this was posted on the other board so bare with me.

I am not sure what the process is called, but you might recognize it on the front of Lindberg's Spirit of St. Louis.
Is there anybody out there that can replicate this effect on an aluminum landing gear for my Thunderbird.(for a small fee of coarse).

Larry, Buttafucco Stunt Team

Hi Larry!

Strange, but you are going to do the same thing I did for MY T-Bird!

I used a dowel in my drill press the end coated with some polishing compound.  Just take it real slowly at first to get the pattern right.  I used the corse, black compound.

BIG Bear
RNMM/AMM

[jim ivey]

pencil eracer.    try it

[Dick Pacini]

It is called burnishing.  The dowel in the drill press is effective.

[James Mills]

pencil eracer.    try it

DITTO, a guy who used to live in our area used the pencil eraser in his drill press, nice effect.

James

[Lauri Malila]

Hi.

It's not called engine turning, engine turning is one kind of engraving (Guilloche) made with a very complicated machine dedicated to this kind of work. The correct word is spotting, pérlage in French. It's an abrasive method. It used to be made with a revolving tool made of wood or ivory, charged with abrasive paste or powder, nowadays we make it with abrasive-impregnated rubber sticks. If you need the tools, I can help. L

[Joe Messinger]

Well, it is correctly referred to as engine turning and/or jeweling in the gun world.  It's used mainly on bolt bodies but also on other surfaces on guns.  Jeweling isn't just for appearance sake.  It helps reduce surface friction making the action smoother.

Different tools are used.  Some have a rubber tip (like a pencil eraser) and some are round, wire brushes.  An abrasive such as valve grinding compound is used on steel surfaces.  A mixture of heavy grease and pumice works well.  Jeweling on aluminum wouldn't require much, if any added abrasive.

The swirls should overlap each other by one-third and should be in a straight line.  Hard to do by hand (electric drill).  A drill press with a vice to hold the workpiece that can be indexed is best.

Joe

[jim ivey]

Its a lot of work and wears off easy. use a fine "cratex stick for thr best results . sorry i didn;nt remember sooner,  oldtimers jim

[Rollin Keszler]

This instructional video explains the process:http://www.eaavideo.org/video.aspx?v=595068183001
Hope this helps.

[Dallas Hanna]

Hi.

It's not called engine turning, engine turning is one kind of engraving (Guilloche) made with a very complicated machine dedicated to this kind of work. The correct word is spotting, pérlage in French. It's an abrasive method. It used to be made with a revolving tool made of wood or ivory, charged with abrasive paste or powder, nowadays we make it with abrasive-impregnated rubber sticks. If you need the tools, I can help. L

Yep!  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guilloch%C3%A9    But it was someone over your way who called the simplified way we do it also as "engine turned" finish.

When I was shown how to get the finish back around 1962 it seemed to be known as "mottling" or "spotting".

Regardless of terminology, the piece of dowel in the drill press combined with some sort of abrasive paste works very well.

HH

[Lauri Malila]

 Ok, it seems to be commonly called engine turning. But still, I think it's wrong:) Our company is one of the few left who still master the art of real engine turning, and having seen and tried that I cannot remain quiet with this. L

[jim ivey]

heres what ya need.   jim  Cratex - Rubberized Abrasives Catalog - Blocks & Sticks
Cratex Blocks & Sticks Posessing the same superior qualities as other Cratex products, Cratex Blocks and Sticks are excellent hand tools for cleaning and …

www.cratex.com/rubblock.htmAbrasives - MX Abrasives - Cotton Abrasives - Abrasives Cratex ...
Abrasives MX Abrasives and Cotton Abrasives manufactured by Cratex Manufacturing - Great Quality and competitive pricing

www.cratex.com/index.htmShop for cratex sticks
Cratex 3/16 Round Coar…$12.90Cratex 5/16 Round Coar…$12.90Cratex 6x1/4xtra F…$12.90Cratex Medium 6x…$19.95Cratex 3/16 Round Med…$12.90More ▲bing.com/shopping
.Cratex Sticks - Round :: Cratex Sticks :: CRATEX Points, Wheels ...
More on this pageThese Cratex Sticks are sold by the piece. When a variety is desired, see the Cratex Kits.
Please note: Craytex Sticks are available in other sizes, please call for price and availability.
Please select size code and grit listed belowPopular linksCustomer ServiceOrder InfoCatalog RequestPdf DocumentsAbrasivesCached page
Cratex Round Sticks American Rotary Tools Company carries a wide range of rotary tools including spindles, grinders, and polishers from NSK, Foredom, Boride, …

www.artcotools.com/cratex-sticks-round-pr-17553.html

[Larry Fernandez]

heres what ya need.   jim 

Thanks a bunch Jim.
Now I just need to fab up a jig, indexed to properly space each pass.
Thanks to all for your help and info.

Larry, Buttafucco Stunt Team

[jim ivey]

actually you can hold it in your hand snd eyeball it Iv'e done a few times. "cratex"  works fast, watch out!!

[Bill Little]

I did mine by eyeball on the drill press.  Take a scrap of aluminum and do a wee bit of practice and you will see how easy it is.  It just takes a long time to do a LG.

From looking at Bob Palmer's WC model hanging in Muncie, I am very sure he did his by "hand".

BIG Bear
RNMM/AMM