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Updated... bead-blasted OP proto... more accurate pics added to op...


projectologist

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Well I'd been thinking about doing something like this for a long time. Then I got inspired when member Tanya sent me an old-school 111H rep from yesteryear to play with. Lots of faults but solid enough to experiment with.

So it was off to the studio today to use my wife's sand/bead blasting equipment.

Infinite possibilities for what could be bead-blasted, brushed and left polished. I came up with this combo and am considering going all blasted for my 390 (think Ennebi's case sets).

Ready for cleaning and masking...

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First part done and the cg looks good...

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Next up was the buckle's tang... I like the contrast...

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Ready for movement tabs...

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The following pics were taken under a variety of lighting conditions. Indoor, outdoor... you can see how the lightness and darkness, as well as shades of gray, are all over the place.

Excuse the fingerprints, should have washed my hands after pizza :(

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I'll take some more pics tomorrow morning so you can see how nice the finish really looks :)

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EDIT... Pics taken this morning in daylight outside and inside. This is how the finish looks most of the time in terms of color and lightness.

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R-

Great stuff. Finally got my AP case re-blasted and although my smith did a great job he said he isn't doing it again anytime soon so I have a sense of the amount of time, trial and error involved. Wear it well. :)

Thanks! I can relate to your smith's response, it's taken me several months of experimenting just to find the right size blast media.

That is awesome. Was that originally a standard SS case? I'm surprised at how dark it has come out, looks just as good as Tantalum. Have to ask, Why has your Misses got a sand blasting machine?

Yes ss, see my op. Only looks dark in some lighting situations, medium to light gray in most.

Glass artist. She has several blasting cabinets. Here's the largest one, getting ready to move into a larger studio.

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That is very nice its like the 172

Thanks, see post #8 above for a pic.

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Very impressive set-up. Now that is a whole different level of sophistication. My smith used a modestly priced kit usually used for auto repair and then experimented a lot in the garage. If you have the skills and a compressor the whole set-up is probably $200-300. It is the skills that are the issue for me. :)

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Marvelous

I did the heavy lifting here

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What did you lift? A pint? :)

I shipped him the donor 111 and barked encouragement from my couch

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You might put out a want to buy for a mixed metal bracelet. Years ago there was a SS/TI rep bracelet made. They must have gone somewhere. :)

I actually used to sell them. I even had some 26mm made up. But yea I haven't seen the mixed metal ones in a ver long time either.

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