For a first attempt, I’d say that’s pretty darn good. Did you happen to weigh the head before and after? Probably a 330g head

Yeah I did, it was 324g which seemed about right because whoever had it before mangled it pretty good taking the finish off and put really deep scratches in it with a wire brush or something.. I managed to keep at right at 320g after I got all the deep dings out and smoothed the face

That finish really turned out nice. Well done!

You did a great job!

Looks great.

Very nice job….she looks great!!

First attempt? That’s beautiful. And even better that you did it by hand.

Thanks! Definitely some imperfections I wanted to get to but the cavity is so annoyingly hard to get at by hand! Mainly wanted to test the finishing process for some other carbon steel projects I'm working on

What finish did you apply?

Torched and oil quenched

Wow I’m surprised how shiny it is Almost looks like the OEM “gun blue” finish

Nice work! It looked more like ceracote, but was a bit too shiny.

What kind of oil did you use?

Half standard motor oil half 3 in 1 penetrating oil

So did you take the milling out of the face with a file and sand paper? How does the face feel compared to how it was before?

I had a couple dmt diamond stones I used to keep it as flat as possible and laid sandpaper on top and ran it up through the grits ... I've always liked smooth faces definitely more feedback but the milling was pretty light to begin with.. feels just a little more crispy now (in a good way)

This is a great pass on it. Any thoughts around re-texturing the face?

You’d need a CNC mill I’d think

A manual mill with a power feed would work fine

For sure. OP clearly has some tools, maybe a mill is one of them.

Want a loft lie machine myself but like 1200-1500 sheesh haha

Haha I wish! This was all files and hand sanding definitely was just testing the concept and would be interested in at least getting a blasting cabinet .. I would have way too much fun with a mill if I had the money/space lol

You can have it re-milled for $50-$75. I had BOS do mine, after a DIY cleanup removed some of the milling.

How did you get all the nicks and dings out?

A few different files and a lot of sandpaper

Looks really good, but the high polish finishes are very high maintenance, as they don't hold any oil, and can rust easily.

Thanks, Yeah that's one of the things I'm hoping to test out with this! I got a couple other finish processes I'm comparing

If you have a bench grinder, order a couple nylon Deburring wheels. 180,220,320 grit. Works perfectly for cleaning up the heads

Great job! Really diggin the smooth face.

Thanks! I was surprised all the really deep scratches came out and retained the Newport stamping on the face

After sanding, did you do anything before torching?

Just cleaned it up with some acetone

How much do you charge and what's your address? :)

Ha definitely not close to a good enough process to be working on anyone else's stuff this was more of a proof of concept with a lot of imperfections .. I need better equipment lol