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Kibler Colonial

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Joined
Apr 21, 2020
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Location
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I am assembling a Kibler Colonial kit and like others have noted it is a outstanding kit. Have emailed Jim a couple times and he is a gentleman of the first order. Fitted the lock last night in about 30 minutes, I was very happy with the way it was inlet.

My question is about finishing the lock. I will be using cold blue on the metal rubbed back to a nice light grey/blue. Have experimented on pieces and am confident it will work to my satisfaction. The lock has a fairly smooth finish as is, sorta like a sandblasted finish. There are a few parting lines to clean up. Wondering what degree others finish it too before browning or bluing.

I believe draw filing or sanding to a 400 grit would be enough.

Interested in opinions.

Don
 
Definitely file and sand the lock! The cast surface on that fine kit would stand out as simply unfinished at best. I polished then color cased the lock and polished it back to white on the out side. Came out nice I think, and the case protects and strengthens the lock.
IMG_0541 by Oliver Sudden, on Flickr
 
Wondering what degree others finish it too before browning or bluing.
In my opinion, I would not be browning the lock. After smoothing things up, I’d either case harden (my first choice) and polish back to near ‘white’ and then let it age naturally, or just blue it and polish back until I’m liked the look.
 
I used a wire brush on my drill to burnish the lock. Not really shiny but adds a nice sheen to the surface and polishes the prominent areas a bit.
 

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I take it to 320 grit. Then cold blue and rub it back like you're planning.
 
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