Darkening engraved notches and numbers in measuring tools
DannySnyder
| Posted in General Discussion on
I have a number of older tools used to measure that as I get older become harder to read. My combination squares and sliding steel mortise gauge are 2 that come to mind, I’m sure there are others. Is there a preferred method to highlighting the marks on them? I polish up the steel a bit with steel wool, but I still find it challenging to read the numbers easily.
Replies
You can take a white grease pen and fill the hash marks, then buff off the surface
I use nail polish, coat the area with the numbers, let it sit a few min and then while the flat clean with a rag and acetone. Also lets me color code, my metric is blue and imperial is red, or inside of carpenter square is one color outsid another
Another option is fontenay base, an undercoat used for gilding, paints and other brushed on coverings for metal and wood such as in picture frames, mirrors and so forth. It can be got in black, red, blue and perhaps some other colours.
It's quite runny but also dense of colour when you paint it on. Wipe it off straight away from the surfaces into which the etched lines and numbers are engraved and it will leave the dense colour in those engravings to dry.
Lataxe
I really love black rules with white lines. I was thinking about taking a spare combination square, darkening it, maybe with gun bluing, and then putting white in the lines. I look forward to seeing more responses.
I just looked on Brownell's. Gun people do this sort of thing. They have this product:
https://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-tools-supplies/general-gunsmith-tools/engraving-tools-supplies/inlay-color-fill-sticks/lacquer-stik--prod7778.aspx
Great replies, thanks everyone! I tried the nail polish but I wiped it all off, perhaps I'm not doing it right? Or maybe some types of engraving won't work as well? I'm going to try the Lacquer Stik John_C2 suggested. I found it less than half of Brownell's price here -
https://www.zoro.com/markal-solid-paint-marker-white-fine-51120/i/G3321039/?q=lacquer%20stik
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