1937 S/42 machining marks.

Lugerman1937 · 11-05-2019, 09:10 AM

Hello everyone. First I’d like to say that this site has a lot of smart people with some amazing craftsmanship.
My question that I can’t seem to find, maybe it’s deeply hidden in this forum, how does one obtain that nice machining marks on the surface of the pistol? I want to repair one of my Lugers that the previous owner over polished and re blued. The surface is in good shape, but all the nice machining marks are all gone. I was thinking about using something like 150 grit wrapped around a flat file and lightly sanding in one direction while keeping it perfectly straight.
What you guys think? Or is there a better approach? Seems like all the refinished Lugers I come across have lost that nice “straw grain” from the machining process due to sanding. I’d like to practice on my shooter Luger and see if I can get that nice tooling mark back in to the pistol as my goal is to restore my other numbers matching Luger at a later date. I’m a very patient man and I do own a lot of tools and equipment (made an action wrench as well) as I’m an automotive technician and own my own shop. I also build race car engines so I know all about precision and tolerances, just some background on my knowledge and abilities.
Hopefully someone can chime in and give me some guidance on a proper technique to get the nice straw machining marks back on my pistol. Of course I’ll re hot blue the entire pistol once I can restore the tooling. I’m currently flat sanding everything back down with 1000 grit and working my way up to 3000 as the previous owner did a sloppy job. Sometimes I really wish people would leave things alone if they can’t do it properly, that goes for everything in life. I’ve seen some really crazy things in my industry that should have been left to a professional haha. This goes for myself as well, if I’m unable to get the nice straw tooling marks back in my pistol than I’ll leave it alone and send it to a professional. My only dilemma with that is I’m up in Canada and I can’t ship any firearms states side. Our laws are getting crazy here and now there’s a crazy firearms ban in the works where we might have to surrender all our firearms. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Norme · 11-05-2019, 09:59 AM

Hi Brad,
Welcome to the forum! You may find this photo helpful, it's of an original salt blued 1939 Mauser P08. It appears to me that the barrel was polished on the lathe, whereas the flat surfaces were "sanded" on a perfectly flat surface covered with a very fine abrasive. If you try to duplicate this finish it's vitally important to maintain the flat surfaces and sharp edges. Good luck!
Norm

DonVoigt · 11-05-2019, 10:38 PM

I think you will find that even 1000 grit is going to result in a too smooth/reflective surface.

Lugerman1937 · 11-06-2019, 03:01 PM

Wow that’s exactly the marks I’m trying to duplicate. I guess once I’ve got all that bad spots polished out I just have to play around with coarser sand paper on a flat surface. Thanks.

11-05-2019, 09:10 AM	#1
Lugerman1937 New User Join Date: Oct 2019 Posts: 2 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	1937 S/42 machining marks. Hello everyone. First I’d like to say that this site has a lot of smart people with some amazing craftsmanship. My question that I can’t seem to find, maybe it’s deeply hidden in this forum, how does one obtain that nice machining marks on the surface of the pistol? I want to repair one of my Lugers that the previous owner over polished and re blued. The surface is in good shape, but all the nice machining marks are all gone. I was thinking about using something like 150 grit wrapped around a flat file and lightly sanding in one direction while keeping it perfectly straight. What you guys think? Or is there a better approach? Seems like all the refinished Lugers I come across have lost that nice “straw grain” from the machining process due to sanding. I’d like to practice on my shooter Luger and see if I can get that nice tooling mark back in to the pistol as my goal is to restore my other numbers matching Luger at a later date. I’m a very patient man and I do own a lot of tools and equipment (made an action wrench as well) as I’m an automotive technician and own my own shop. I also build race car engines so I know all about precision and tolerances, just some background on my knowledge and abilities. Hopefully someone can chime in and give me some guidance on a proper technique to get the nice straw machining marks back on my pistol. Of course I’ll re hot blue the entire pistol once I can restore the tooling. I’m currently flat sanding everything back down with 1000 grit and working my way up to 3000 as the previous owner did a sloppy job. Sometimes I really wish people would leave things alone if they can’t do it properly, that goes for everything in life. I’ve seen some really crazy things in my industry that should have been left to a professional haha. This goes for myself as well, if I’m unable to get the nice straw tooling marks back in my pistol than I’ll leave it alone and send it to a professional. My only dilemma with that is I’m up in Canada and I can’t ship any firearms states side. Our laws are getting crazy here and now there’s a crazy firearms ban in the works where we might have to surrender all our firearms. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

11-05-2019, 09:59 AM	#2
Norme Always A Lifetime Forum Patron Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Colorado Posts: 2,417 Thanks: 226 Thanked 2,603 Times in 933 Posts	Hi Brad, Welcome to the forum! You may find this photo helpful, it's of an original salt blued 1939 Mauser P08. It appears to me that the barrel was polished on the lathe, whereas the flat surfaces were "sanded" on a perfectly flat surface covered with a very fine abrasive. If you try to duplicate this finish it's vitally important to maintain the flat surfaces and sharp edges. Good luck! Norm Attached Thumbnails

11-05-2019, 10:38 PM	#3
DonVoigt User Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: near Charlotte NC Posts: 4,681 Thanks: 1,442 Thanked 4,350 Times in 2,040 Posts	I think you will find that even 1000 grit is going to result in a too smooth/reflective surface. __________________ 03man(Don Voigt); Luger student and collector. Looking for DWM side plate: 69 ; Dreyse 1907 pistol K.S. Gendarmerie

11-06-2019, 03:01 PM	#4
Lugerman1937 New User Join Date: Oct 2019 Posts: 2 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Wow that’s exactly the marks I’m trying to duplicate. I guess once I’ve got all that bad spots polished out I just have to play around with coarser sand paper on a flat surface. Thanks.