Color Engraving on Metal Gun Slide

Here's an easy way to color the engravings on your blued steel gun slide. It's cheap and easily removed. The wax from melted crayons will fill in the engravings and add some 'pop' to you gun. If you don't like it, you can heat up the slide and remove the wax with a cloth or paper towel.

I like this method over enamel or nail polish because it's fool-proof.
If you get sloppy, no problem - just heat it up and wipe it clean.
If you want to sell the gun - just heat and wipe.
If you want a new color - heat and wipe and re-apply.

Step 1 Required materials

The materials required are:
Crayon(s) - you can experiment with different colors, I chose white and grey
Lighter
Stiff paper (I like playing cards)
Notebook or newspaper

Comments

[predestyned]

ive done this before and found that a hair dryer set to high HEAT works very well and no danger of overheating or soot. gray looks really good .

[statikpunk]

also you shouldn't be taking pictures of a loaded gun (safety first)

[tyeo098]

A gun is always loaded.
His finger isnt on the trigger
Its (assumed to be) pointed in a safe direction.

None of the 3 rules are broken, he's fine.

[statikpunk]

This is a bad idea, I gunsmith on an apprentice basis, and the rapid heating and cooling of the slide could possibly alter the metallurgy of the slide, even small amounts of heat that is not uniform could warp the action,(especially when rapidly cooling it in a freezer) if you want to add some color to your gun i recommend chalk, i have used that several times to highlight iron sights and it could work in this application without the heat, just rub it across the grooves and it will stick. i guess you could also use nail polish too, Ive seen that used to highlight iron sights also ,just make sure you wipe off the excess before it dries.

[kcatto]

Well as a professional gunsmith, and a metallurgist that specializes in firearms.. The slide is exposed to more heat during the normal use.... I do agree that heating the slide to an extreme heat then placing in a freezer is not advised.... The small amount of heat added to the slide is harmless.... Since a gunsmith uses torches all the time to release stubborn adhesives from sights etc..... I would suggest very minimal heat, where the slide is just slightly warm to the touch... then after the wax is in place, allow the slide to cool normally on your bench and do not expose it to the rapid cooling....

[JettaKnight]

Noted. Consider this before you try this on your Kimber Custom or other expensive, accurate gun. My XD shown here, is for self defense only. The heat is applied to a small area of the slide and only enough to melt wax. You can generate that much heat with a couple of magazines of rapid fire. And my freezer won't rapidly cool anything. As for nail polish and other enamels, I've seen it done but is much less forgiving to error.

[PKM]

Personally I'd suggest melting the wax on its own (takes less than 100°C so can be done with boiling water) and applying a small amount of melted wax to the engraving, than let it cool naturally. Not sure how to replicate the last step without directly heating the slide, perhaps use a hair dryer or hold the slide above (not directly above) a gas ring to get hot air with less localised heating and a lower temperature. The wax doesn't have to be completely liquid, just softened, so you only really need warm temperatures. On a personal note I'd like to see the effect with other colours than white to see how vivid it gets, but I can use my imagination.

[JettaKnight]

I did actually use two colors. Maybe the new pictures show this better. As for pouring in molten wax, I don't think it would adhere and well. I could run enough rounds through that gun to burn my hand without doing noticeable damage so I don't think a small amount of localize heat would do any harm.

[knexfan9182]

wait is that a 3 inch barrel or a four?

[knexfan9182]

nvm

[fantacmet]

SWEET! Someone showing an XD instead of the same old inferior(to the XD anyway) glocks.

[adfman1986]

very cool, I have the 45 xd compact and i'm gonna try red on it. thanks for the idea.

[Scott_Tx]

Here's a product made for this if anyone needs it: http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/store/ProductDetail.aspx?p=7778&title=LACQUER-STIK~

[Scott_Tx]

Oh yeah, I also hear testors enamel paint is good for this too

[chuckr44]

If you fire a lot of shots in a row, will the slide heat up enough to soften the wax so the wax falls out?

[JettaKnight]

Rapid fire, like IPDA competition, will heat up the slide enough to soften the wax and with the rapid action of the slide, it could potentially 'flick' it out. Since my local range doesn't allow rapid fire, I haven't had this occur.

[agdollison]

that is cool