LOOK WHAT I DID!!!!!!!!!!

[BluewaterTactical]

Well this is my "do anything to gun". I actually traded for it from a fellow TGO'er Springfield XD Tactical 9mm. I stripped it down to the bare minimum and polished the feed ramp, barrel, guide rod and palm safety, then cerokoted the parts and slide then stippled the grip. What say you. Don't hate.

BluewaterTacticalDefense

[nightrunner]

Wow, i love that stippling, looks amazing

[Caster]

Not bad at all. Never been brave enough to try.

[LI0NSFAN]

Really like the stippling. Looks great

[Guest bkelm18]

I like that. Kind of a chainmail pattern.

[BluewaterTactical]

Bkelm it's suppose to be "snake"ish, lol. Caster come on man just do it, doesn't take long, just be careful and precise. Send the frame to me and I will do it for you that way you don't have to watch, lol.

I was checking out all the sites that charge for this and saw how much it was, wow they are expensive. Took 20 minutes of my time, but this isn't the first one I've done.

BluewaterTacticalDefense

[Guest Lester Weevils]

Very tidy stippling. I would imagine it requiring great skill to do such a regular pattern.

[MarkInNashville]

Nice! So when you say you polished the parts how did you polish them?

[Trekbike]

Very nice job indeed.

[LagerHead]

I guess I like it OK, but I don't think I would have done the part where the thumb rests. I just think it would get annoying on my thumb after a while. What is your experience?

[TNWNGR]

I like the way the finish turned out on the slide and am curious as to how the polished guide rod has worked out. The stippiling is aggressive, my first though was fish scale then chain link. Now that you've done this project it's time for another one.

[BluewaterTactical]

I polished the parts with a dremel and flitz polishing compound and a ton of patience. First I had to take the original finish off with 1000 grit sandpaper.

As far as the thumb rest part of the frame, I don't lay my thumb there, it really helps in assisting with working the slide, while pulling back on the slide and pushing forward on the frame it gives you more grip for that action.

BluewaterTacticalDefense

[BluewaterTactical]

Very tidy stippling. I would imagine it requiring great skill to do such a regular pattern.

Lester what do you mean? I think any of y'all on here could do it, just patience and a steady hand.

BluewaterTacticalDefense

[Guest Lester Weevils]

Lester what do you mean? I think any of y'all on here could do it, just patience and a steady hand.

BluewaterTacticalDefense

Hi Blue

That may be true. On the other hand, you may be over-estimating the number of people in the population who have patience and a steady hand.

Artists and craftsmen of the "old school kind" work in ways where they make many strokes or cuts to finish a piece, and any single bad stroke or cut might ruin it, requiring either acceptance of a flawed finished piece, or ditching the piece and starting from scratch. Few people can operate for extended times without making a few serious errors. Which is why good craftsmen have always been relatively rare.

Since the advent of computers and automation, people with patience can sometimes do as good a job, because the automation substitutes for the steady hand. But doing it the old fashioned way, I don't think the good eye and steady hand has ever been especially common. But could be wrong.

[graycrait]

Unless it is proprietary or you are making a living at - in which case I completely understand - What type woodburning or soldering iron tip are you using?

If any of you are looking to get yourself in trouble and already haven't done it - you can polish up most any gun part using these: http://www.amazon.com/10pc-Diamond-Rubber-Emery-Polishing/dp/B005UD5D36

When doing a feedramp I prefer a Dremel paper cone bit with some jewelers rouge, but when doing stamped Glock parts I like to speed through the process with rubber bits impregnated with diamond or silicon carbide.

[BluewaterTactical]

I forgot to mention that the stippling was done with a $5 soldering iron from wal mart. I took it and cut the tip off a bit so it wasn't so pointed. Then rounded the tip with a file.

[-boatman-]

I'm not a big fan of stippling but most don't look that good. This one looks great!

[Parrothead]

very nice. Do you carry this? I wonder how it would feel in a IWB holster for 8-12+ hrs? Don't get me wrong, i'm not knocking it, just curious if you can carry it with some level of comfort?

Edited February 20, 2012 by Parrothead

[BluewaterTactical]

I never wear only one shirt, so I can't really answer that. I have carried one in a Galco King Tuk with no problem but again I wear 2 shirts.

There is one more thing that I did to this gun. Can anyone figure it out? I actually forgot to tell it in the original post. Look at pic # 2!!!

Thanks for all the kind words.

BluewaterTacticalDefense

Edited February 20, 2012 by BluewaterTactical

[jtmaze]

You polished the grip safety. I noticed this at first but thought it just might be the difference vs the xd service model I have.

[Guest TNdad]

Looks great! I like the look of the stipling. It's kind of like the Pirahna sides from Pachmyr that I have been thinking about getting for my Sig.

Good job!

[BluewaterTactical]

I actually rounded the trigger guard!! Can y'all tell?

BluewaterTacticalDefense

[Guest GregK]

Looks good!! What exactly is cerokote and where can I get it. Could I use it on my Px4 barrel? Its not stainless like the subcompact so I cant polish it.

[MiddTennTaco]

It looks great but I'd imagine that stipling hurts!

[BluewaterTactical]

Greg, cerokote is what I used to paint the slide, it's a bake on paint, once it is sprayed it then goes in the oven for the curing process. I polished the barrel with the Dremel tool and flitz polishing.

BluewaterTacticalDefense