Making a stippling punch for steel

[MRogersII]

I came across a picture of a 98 Mauser with very nice stippling on the top of the receiver. Wondering if anyone had any experience with making a stippling punch? More specifically, making a punch with the very, very fine points shown in the attached pic. Or do you think this was done with a single point punch?
Thank you in advance
Michael

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Find a good centerpunch

 

[Twdmar]

Find a good centerpunch

This is what you want. Its already hard and durable and unless you have some kind of powered hammer, you are gonna have a tough time making more than one dimple at a time with any good results.

 

[shoobe01]

Could also be etched. Not much used now because we just cast things or make them out of plastic (also casting, molding) but was how some of these intricate textures were made AFAIK.

I happen to have bottles of nitric in the basement and years of experience etching things, so I know a bit of a climb for many folks, but it's a way to get subtle matting and texturing without whacking the gun with a pointed stick 600 times

 

[MRogersII]

Could also be etched. Not much used now because we just cast things or make them out of plastic (also casting, molding) but was how some of these intricate textures were made AFAIK.

I happen to have bottles of nitric in the basement and years of experience etching things, so I know a bit of a climb for many folks, but it's a way to get subtle matting and texturing without whacking the gun with a pointed stick 600 times

I gotta be honest, that was a concern of mine.

The good thing is that it's on top of the receiver where no one will see it....

 

[troupe]

That was done one strike at a time.

 

[Ggmac]

I use to use a US military 30 cal armor piercing bullet . I made a holder out of a 22 cal barrel and countersunk the end to hold the bullet . It gave a nice small prick .

 

[matthias]

The other route is an electric pencil engraver. The vibratory type with interchangeable tips. Practice to get the finish you want.

 

[DickE]

Grind 3 corner punch at 30 degrees angle point, random sequence. One punch at a time.

 

[MRogersII]

Grind 3 corner punch at 30 degrees angle point, random sequence. One punch at a time.

So, the consensus is....single point. Is there not a way to make a multi-tip? Even if it only had 3 or 4 points, that's still 3x or 4x per stroke. Also, does the tip have to be sharp. I thought perhaps a small radius, leaving small rounded indentations, vs sharp. Just thinking out loud really. Not sure how I would make the rounded points on a multi tip punch, and for all to bear at the same time?

 

[MRogersII]

Maybe not

 

[matthias]

BROWNELLS WOOD STIPPLING PUNCHES | Brownells

Create a no-slip gripping surface on a stock, forend or handgun grip in far less time than it takes to lay out and checker an area. Sharply pointed cutting diamonds in 12, 16 or 20 lines per inch let you choose from coarse, medium or fine patterns...

www.brownells.com

One of these could be surface hardened with casinite?

 

[MRogersII]

I hope metal stippling is something that is done POST-rust bluing. I'm on my 3rd cycle now. Yes, i probably should have thought to ask that before.

 

[shoobe01]

Multiple points will leave you a pattern, and you'll spend a lot of time rotating it etc to have it fit the space and not look repetitive. It also reduces the force for each point, so you have much shallower impressions or have to hit it a lot harder.

Steel is plentiful. Grab some scrap something and try out your punches, hammers, and see how it goes with a few things.

 

[shortine]

Find a good centerpunch

Starrett makes an excellent spring loaded center punch....no hammer involved. You can get several different bit sizes.

Gerry

 

[Twdmar]

The advice about practice is a good idea. Stippling goes surprisingly fast (on wood anyway, ive done only a bit on steel). I never got a multi-point tool to work well on wood either.
If you look into stippling on browning hi-powers you may find some good advice. A firm grip on the chisel and a whippy wrist action with the hammer allows you to move the punch almost continuously but you do have to whack it a little harder on steel. Wear your safety glasses and if it's a really hard part, the etching like someone mentioned might be a good option.

 

[MRogersII]

BROWNELLS WOOD STIPPLING PUNCHES | Brownells

Create a no-slip gripping surface on a stock, forend or handgun grip in far less time than it takes to lay out and checker an area. Sharply pointed cutting diamonds in 12, 16 or 20 lines per inch let you choose from coarse, medium or fine patterns...

www.brownells.com

One of these could be surface hardened with casinite?

I'll have to research casinite, that's a new one

 

[MRogersII]

Thank you, Gentlemen. I'll do some practice this weekend on some scrap and post pics.
Michael

 

[Aero]

I don't think the original Kasenit is available anymore as it had some nasty stuff in it, maybe arsenic? Can't remember, but the modern equivalent is Cherry Red or Brownells sells what they call "surface hardening compound"which is probably just Cherry Red repackaged and doubled in price.

 

[Aero]

As said above, I think the stippling on the pictured Mauser was done one strike at a time. Making a center punch type tool with a rounded point out of O-1 and hardened and tempered appropriately would be fairly easy.

The technique described above of a firm grip on the tool and a quick wimpy hammer tapping is probably what was used and as said it is surprisingly quick by someone good at it.

Pre rust blue would be best . The "peaks" could maybe be "softened" with a wire wheel for a different look.

Of course, all this would required a fairly soft surface of the action being worked on and I'm not sure how they achieved the nice clean edge of the stippling on the front ring of the action. Maybe another lost art in the world of custom gunmaking.