Hey guys/gals
I had alot of interest in this process on another forum that I used to post on before I found INGO - so I thought I would share it with you. This partial melt job can be done by absolutely anyone so don't be afraid and best of all... you are doing it on a +/-$250 gun.
I picked up my PF9 and it was a standard matte black with black grips. Perfectly usable - but not much to look at. I bought this gun primarily to be a pistol to grab when we are out on our southern Indiana property - I have been stood off by stray dogs out there many times. I really liked the feel of the gun in hand, but it wasn't much to look at.
I decided to try my hand at a melt job (removing all corners) - a partial melt in my case as I left most of the profile of the original slide in tact. After removing the sights, extractor, ect. from the slide I removed the bluing with Birchwood Casey's Blue Remover. Then I began to slowly knock the corners off with (first) a polishing stone on my bench grinder - this didn't work very well and was difficult to maneuver around. I ultimatly used a small fine grit sanding wheel on my Dremel hand tool. This worked great! Go slow and use long passes over the corners. After removing the metal that I wanted with the Dremel, I took some 280 grit sand paper and evened out the strokes even more, and gave an overall consistancy to the slide.
Here are some photos of the PF9 at this point:
From here I had a buddy take it to his shop where he blasted it with aluminum oxide to even out the finish and remove the sanding marks. Aluminum oxide is commonly used and is preferred to sand blasting or bead blasting. Most machine shops can do this for you.
Last, I sprayed a few coats of Lauer Weaponry's Dura Coat Clear over it, let it dry and re-assembled everything. I added the Kel Tec belt clip and an inexpensive laser and I am honestly 100% happy with the finished product.
Here it is:
This gun has gone from an inexpensive pistol to ward off strays to honestly my favorite carry pistol. It is lightweight, ultra concealable and now - not bad looking.
As I said at the beginning of this post, anyone can do this. I am a banker with no gunsmithing or metal working experience. I would like to see anyone elses successful project photos.
Good luck!
I had alot of interest in this process on another forum that I used to post on before I found INGO - so I thought I would share it with you. This partial melt job can be done by absolutely anyone so don't be afraid and best of all... you are doing it on a +/-$250 gun.
I picked up my PF9 and it was a standard matte black with black grips. Perfectly usable - but not much to look at. I bought this gun primarily to be a pistol to grab when we are out on our southern Indiana property - I have been stood off by stray dogs out there many times. I really liked the feel of the gun in hand, but it wasn't much to look at.
I decided to try my hand at a melt job (removing all corners) - a partial melt in my case as I left most of the profile of the original slide in tact. After removing the sights, extractor, ect. from the slide I removed the bluing with Birchwood Casey's Blue Remover. Then I began to slowly knock the corners off with (first) a polishing stone on my bench grinder - this didn't work very well and was difficult to maneuver around. I ultimatly used a small fine grit sanding wheel on my Dremel hand tool. This worked great! Go slow and use long passes over the corners. After removing the metal that I wanted with the Dremel, I took some 280 grit sand paper and evened out the strokes even more, and gave an overall consistancy to the slide.
Here are some photos of the PF9 at this point:
From here I had a buddy take it to his shop where he blasted it with aluminum oxide to even out the finish and remove the sanding marks. Aluminum oxide is commonly used and is preferred to sand blasting or bead blasting. Most machine shops can do this for you.
Last, I sprayed a few coats of Lauer Weaponry's Dura Coat Clear over it, let it dry and re-assembled everything. I added the Kel Tec belt clip and an inexpensive laser and I am honestly 100% happy with the finished product.
Here it is:
This gun has gone from an inexpensive pistol to ward off strays to honestly my favorite carry pistol. It is lightweight, ultra concealable and now - not bad looking.
As I said at the beginning of this post, anyone can do this. I am a banker with no gunsmithing or metal working experience. I would like to see anyone elses successful project photos.
Good luck!
nice job. easy in pocket, easy outa pocket.
