Restoring the Stainless on my K9

[JohnR]

I bought my dearly beloved K9 used two years ago, and the slide and frame have a lot of wear marks. What is the best way to clean those up and make it look like new again?

I don't own a Dremel tool, by the way. :o

[CJB]

Personally, I'd leave it... or else you're chasing an endless job.

But if you're determined - you can take everything apart, remove the sights too.

Go down to Harbor Freight - they sell a little self contained sand blaster. Looks like a shrimp bucket for fisihin', except it has a hose on it, and a little blaster gun. Get some GROUND GLASS media or SODA media when you're there.

Hook'er up to the compressor and blast away to a nice flat matte finish. Soda may work on stainless... dunnno. Works great on aluminum.

Then, wash it all down, and put it all back together and pray you don't scratch it while doing so.

Leave it... trust me.

[JohnR]

Pictures. The 2nd picture doesn't show much, the slide has small subtle dings. No dents in the metal, just unevenness to the finish.

[Bawanna]

A lot depends on the wear. You can even out smooth areas or remove scratches with fine wet/dry sandpaper like 600 or 800 and finer.

This usually takes away from the brushed type finish they come with. You can clean up the scratches and even out the worn smooth spots and find some one with a bead blaster. That's the best way to get back to looking original.

Or keep with the sandpaper finer and finer if you want a more polished look. And really keep at it if you want the Jfootin mirror finish polish job. That would require a real bench polishing wheel, several grades of compound and a lot of skill.

[Bawanna]

I didn't see the pictures before, slow to load or impatience on my part. You might even try a little flitz and or even steel wool and see how the marks react to that.

The slide is harder than heck, really hard. Frame not quite as hard.

The barrel and barrel hood will shine up with ease and makes em look pretty sharp too.

[jocko]

what CJB says IMO is the way to go. This is a service gun,one to shoot util the cows come home, kinda like badges of honor what ur photos show, which IMO I had a hard time even seein them.

Leave the fokker alone..

[gb6491]

I don't see anything wrong with the occasional refinish of a stainless pistol; kind of figure it as part of the maintenance cycle.

However, there are some initial and reoccurring costs involved. As CJB recommends, I use Harbor Freight for my blasting tools.
The biggest outlay is for the compressor. I used one of these for years (my buddy has it now and it's still going strong):http://www.harborfreight.com/2-hp-8-gallon-125-psi-portable-air-compressor-67501.html It's loud and you have to play catch up, but it works. It will also inflate tires and toys, run some air tools, and blow dust off stuff. It's just a decent tool to have around.
A blast cabinet is nice, but it's mainly for trapping the media (great for cleanliness and reuse of the media). I have one but mainly blast outside now.
Blasting outside, you lose most of the media though you can aim the blaster down into something to capture some of it. I use this hand held blast gun: http://www.harborfreight.com/1-liter-abrasive-blast-gun-92857.html
For a finish that mimics Kahr's I use this glass bead at from 60 to 90 psi (you do have to experiment some with media/pressure/distance): http://www.harborfreight.com/25-lbs-80-grit-glass-bead-blast-media-46426.html
You'll also need a respirator, eye protection, hose and fittings. A regulator with moisture trap is also nice to have.

Though it's a good idea, I don't always find it necessary to remove the sights when working with glass bead. Masking tape will work to tape them off with, just be careful to aim the nozzle so that it does not blow the tape up around the edges or completely off. Quite often the top of the slide may not need a refinish, so I just tape the whole top off.

For cleanup (of stainless): I use compressor air to blow any media off, wash in hot soapy water, rinse, blow with compressor air, hose down with WD40, blow most of that off, wipe down, and lubricate as normal when reassembling.

My CW45 was done this way as the final finish:
http://oi48.tinypic.com/2vj7ko0.jpg
I also did this S&W in similar fashion:
http://oi47.tinypic.com/2u93fd0.jpg

Regards,
Greg

BTW, from the OP's photos, I'd probably sand some of those nicks out, blast with an abrasive, and then bead blast.

[Ultona]

Nice work GB, honestly though I'd not worry about those marks if the gun were mine John. I always like to see a little wear on my stuff as it shows which guns/knives/leathermans/flashlights are my favorite ones! Just keep 'er clean inside and lube it so she doesn't wear unnecessarily and she'll be fine. You can always have it refinished down the road if you retire it ect.