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Thread: No 32 scope tin repair/ refinish

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  1. #1
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    No 32 scope tin repair/ refinish

    Some may of seen this on ebay some time back ?? thought it would of been snapped up but it was missing the internals..... thought it would be easy to make the internals, even easier would of been to copy the ones with brass spigots, but as the tin and the finish was the same as another tin I have, decided to copy the internals from that, although it was a last minute measure most of it worked out ok, need to turn a few MM of the front spigot but apart from that all seems ok, just a question of welding the spigots on the backing plate and to rivet to the base of the tin.

    Some will say the base was spot welded to the tin which is correct but speaking to Peter Laidlericon the type of repair would of been rivets.

    First job was to kill some of the rust so used the electrolysis process, the pics don't show it but the tin was covered in rust and the only cure was the process its going through now.

    Pictured bottom is the tin in question the middle one is what I copied the internals off and the top one is a repro tin that had been hand painted in Bronze green, this is more of an undercoat before spraying and to test the paint just needs a slight rub down.







    The pics here show the fabricated spigots and back plate compared with the ones I copied, this needs to be set up and so I can weld the spigots to the plate and then rivet the plate to the tin.





    Next thing was to use the electrolysis process to remove some of the rust think its a bit more gentle than heavy sand blasting....



    After many hours tin come up better than expected,





    After this a good wipe down it was cleaned up with the sand blaster,





    Next step is the parkerizing/ phosphate , had to put this on hold as typical bank holiday weather in the UKicon, rain and more rain.... will update this over the weekend as intend to get at least some primer on the tin.

    ( I was surprised to see when the paint was lifting off the red primer underneath don't know if the tins were supplied just in primer ??? Maybe one of the Armourer's will know ?)

    Regarding the finish for this tin I,m looking at the original colour which on a colour chart showed it to be olive drab, but when it was mixed it was a mile off so the paint was mixed by eye to match....
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    Last edited by bigduke6; 04-03-2015 at 07:55 PM.

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    A Collector's View - The SMLE Short Magazine Lee Enfield 1903-1989. It is 300 8.5x11 inch pages with 1,000+ photo’s, most in color, and each book is serial-numbered.  Covering the SMLE from 1903 to the end of production in India in 1989 it looks at how each model differs and manufacturer differences from a collecting point of view along with the major accessories that could be attached to the rifle. For the record this is not a moneymaker, I hope just to break even, eventually, at $80/book plus shipping.  In the USA shipping is $5.00 for media mail.  I will accept PayPal, Zelle, MO and good old checks (and cash if you want to stop by for a tour!).  CLICK BANNER to send me a PM for International pricing and shipping. Manufacturer of various vintage rifle scopes for the 1903 such as our M73G4 (reproduction of the Weaver 330C) and Malcolm 8X Gen II (Unertl reproduction). Several of our scopes are used in the CMP Vintage Sniper competition on top of 1903 rifles. Brian Dick ... BDL Ltd. - Specializing in British and Commonwealth weapons Specializing in premium ammunition and reloading components. Your source for the finest in High Power Competition Gear. Here at T-bones Shipwrighting we specialise in vintage service rifle: re-barrelling, bedding, repairs, modifications and accurizing. We also provide importation services for firearms, parts and weapons, for both private or commercial businesses.
     

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    Nice job on the tin bashing, Geoff
    look forward to seeing the finished item

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    I would imagine that the tins came new from Bellings as simply oxide primed and painted.

    I have probably mentioned this before but I used to go out with a girl from Totton in Southampton who's family had moved there from North London during the early 60's. In her typical dads garage, the shelves were literally lined with these tins......... There must have been dozens of them, full of nails, screws nuts bolts etc etc etc. I recognised them straight away of course and asked him about them and it transpired that he worked at Bellings press shop just after the war until he moved and like everyone else, he'd just taken the over capacity to use as handy tin boxes. Just as you and me might use old OXO or sweet tins, they'd used the various boxes that they'd made!

    Wish I knew her now of course. I bet when they cleared the garage out they all went to the tip!

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    Quote Originally Posted by waco16 View Post
    Nice job on the tin bashing
    One part of my apprenticeship I really enjoyed, although a Fitter & Turner we had our own Electrical and Sheetmetal work shop in our part of the training school, I could of done with the jigs, benders and folders etc that was there.....

    Quote Originally Posted by Peter Laidlericon View Post
    Wish I knew her now of course. I bet when they cleared the garage out they all went to the tip!
    Going by a dozen and todays auction price (unless they looked like the one I got) thats around £4800 in the skip...........

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    Next step is the parkerizing/ phosphate , had to put this on hold as typical bank holiday weather in the UKicon, rain and more rain....
    We tried phosphating on a rainy day once. Did it under a carport, but it didn't turn out well. Unseen flash rust maybe?

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    We had to replace a lot of the catches I seem to recall. Under the paint, some of them (the replacements I mean....) were brass and some of the hook plates were configured wrongly to meet up with the clamp and/or align with the horiginal rivet holes. Just a fiddly bit of hand fitting and bending and they were OK. Still got some of the brass ones!

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    With a break in the weather yesterday and today managed to get the tin parkerised, wasn't too sure how it would go regarding the galvanised hinges and brass rivets, but it did go better than expected biggest problem was the inside of the tin as I was using a shallow tank, had a bigger one to hand but didn't have the water..... but come out ok the pic doesn't do it justice as its just been rinsed and then covered with AC 90 (WD 40) I know its not the correct stuff to use but I like to get some oil on as soon as its rinsed, I,ve dried it off before with air and as Vincent says it was flash rust..... so for me it works well and at a later stage can use the correct oil.



    It was only a matter of time before I was going to spray it, so another rinse in steaming water dried off by hand then any little bits brushed off it got a coat of primer, its even got an authentic run on the inside...





    As for the finish paint..... well thats were I was a bit p****d off to say the least, I was in the paint shop when they mixed it and it was spot on..... only problem then it was still half wet and matched the inside as they had polished a bit to get the colour so it was correct but not for the outside......... I was convinced I was on a winner but it was a mile off, although it was a light spray thought it may improve with a final coat..... so did a few test bits on some steel tube, as its a matt paint with a touch of sheen, the sheen was lacking also the pic here shows the first coat and what I mean, hard to describe apart from ....... on looking I think it was the added sheen causing the problem as it had dried with a whitish finish think it may of got too cold to spray ???



    Managed to get a second coat on today and big improvement hopefully will do the same as I did to the test piece it won't be far off, still may go for the deep bronze green but was really wanting to get it back to its original colour.

    Not often I get anal about stuff like this but as an example I,ve seen a few Military vehicles that have had many hours of labour and love spent on them and at the last hurdle they paint it with anything but the original or near as colour..... even worse is their own camouflage pattern.

    Waiting for the sun this morning but think I,m flogging a dead horse, got some pics of the second coat, pics don't do much for it but it is a big difference, not bad next to the other tin....... if the sun does come out will give it some UV rays.









    Just the internals to finish , rifle number to apply ( big thanks to Peter Laidlericon for the stencil) and the internal label with scope number......
    Last edited by bigduke6; 04-06-2015 at 06:16 AM.

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    That is truly awesome, thank you.

    I have a few tins which need repairs, and you have given me inspirations of grandeur...
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lee Enfield View Post
    I have a few tins which need repairs, and you have given me inspirations of grandeur...
    If some off them need the internals repaired I would go the brass spigot way one a round bar the the other a square bar, I,m guessing the plate these were fixed to was brass, but not sure on that maybe Peter, Tankhunter or Skiprat may chirp in.

    The only reason I.ve gone for the cheap version ( but harder to make from scratch) is this is what was in there and I had the other tin to copy from, also its got two holes on the bottom were the spot welds have been removed will use these for the rivets.

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    Managed to get the internals finished and fitted, as I made them from stainless steel it just needed a sand blast for a good key for the paint, turned out quite well and used the "rifle" stencil to complete the lid, all in all quite happy, should last me for my life time...... undecided regarding rifle number and scope number (hence the missing label) intention was to use original numbers etc but think its a pointless task as I,m guessing scope and rifle are long gone.












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