quote:

Originally posted by brywards:
Looking good! What are you using to polish?

I seem to recall seeing some Equinox grips on gunbroker a couple weeks ago.

quote:

Originally posted by AZsigshooter:
Here is my Notaquinox. As you can see I went full tilt and did the entire gun. It started life as a new basic E2 grip P226 9mm.

I only went to 400g on the slide and it came out very nice.

quote:

Originally posted by gearhounds:

Next, I’ll be looking to send off the hammer and controls to have them ceracoated to match stainless.

quote:

Originally posted by gearhounds:

quote:

Originally posted by brywards:
Looking good! What are you using to polish?

I seem to recall seeing some Equinox grips on gunbroker a couple weeks ago.

I started out with 240, but found I was polishing the nitron in places, so I switched to 100 grip which worked much better. I moved up as high as 400 to see how well it polished, although I still need to spend more time with 100 to remove the last vestiges of nitron from the low spots. Once I get the sides clean, I’ll begin the progression up the scale of finer grit.

The method I used thus far was one I saw here a few years back- I taped sheets of sandpaper to a flat Formica table top and did each flat back and forth, front to rear. Even with 100 grit, it is very time consuming and not easy going- nitron is tough, and I discovered that said flats are not exactly so. Both had shallow spots that sand unevenly- especially where the lettering is located.

Next, I’ll be looking to send off the hammer and controls to have them ceracoated to match stainless. The frame has lots of duty holster wear so I’m not sure I want to invest in a recoat of it. I just picked up a railed DAK 9mm from broker that has very little apparent wear. I’ll probably swap uppers to carry the worn frame on duty and make the railed version the pretty one.

quote:

Originally posted by Modern Day Savage:
I've always been partial to the Equinox look and hope to one day either find the right one in P226 or, perhaps, go it the do-it-yourself route after seeing what some of you guys are able to achieve.

I hope you continue to update the thread with your progress and pics and looking forward to the finished project!

By the way, although I think the name more aptly applies to those of you going the do-it-yourself route, there was actually a small run of actual SIG factory Poor Man's Equinox guns.

quote:

Originally posted by gearhounds:

quote:

Originally posted by brywards:
Looking good! What are you using to polish?

I seem to recall seeing some Equinox grips on gunbroker a couple weeks ago.

I started out with 240, but found I was polishing the nitron in places, so I switched to 100 grip which worked much better. I moved up as high as 400 to see how well it polished, although I still need to spend more time with 100 to remove the last vestiges of nitron from the low spots. Once I get the sides clean, I’ll begin the progression up the scale of finer grit.

The method I used thus far was one I saw here a few years back- I taped sheets of sandpaper to a flat Formica table top and did each flat back and forth, front to rear. Even with 100 grit, it is very time consuming and not easy going- nitron is tough, and I discovered that said flats are not exactly so. Both had shallow spots that sand unevenly- especially where the lettering is located.

Next, I’ll be looking to send off the hammer and controls to have them ceracoated to match stainless. The frame has lots of duty holster wear so I’m not sure I want to invest in a recoat of it. I just picked up a railed DAK 9mm from broker that has very little apparent wear. I’ll probably swap uppers to carry the worn frame on duty and make the railed version the pretty one.

I was just about to ask about how you were going about this so thanks for taking the time to explain it. Having used both sand paper and steel wool before, even using a sanding block, I keep wondering how you are able to only remove the finish from the outboard flats without actually removing any of the finish from the low inboard surfaces.

Are you wet sanding or dry sanding? If wet sanding, are you using oil, water...some other slurry mix?

Some Equinox examples have a portion of the top of the slide polished as well, any plans to do this?

quote:

Originally posted by gearhounds:
Dry thus far, but am considering trying wet using oil; I find that it takes no time at all for the grit to wear down to powder that walks out of the sanding path. Oil would probably keep it in place in a colloid suspension so that I can get more use out of it.

I found that the table top method is very effective for smooth even sanding. I plan to add a piece of tape under the sand paper to create a subtle high spot to better reach the slide low spots.

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:
Love the Equinox look. This all stainless fake Equinox FrankenP229 was done a while ago. I no longer have the slide, though.

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:
Love the Equinox look. This all stainless fake Equinox FrankenP229 was done a while ago. I no longer have the slide, though.

quote:

Originally posted by Modern Day Savage:

quote:

Originally posted by gearhounds:
Dry thus far, but am considering trying wet using oil; I find that it takes no time at all for the grit to wear down to powder that walks out of the sanding path. Oil would probably keep it in place in a colloid suspension so that I can get more use out of it.

I found that the table top method is very effective for smooth even sanding. I plan to add a piece of tape under the sand paper to create a subtle high spot to better reach the slide low spots.

I have significant experience in sanding various projects, probably more so in wet sanding, and my instinct would be to go with oil wet sanding on a project like this. Its certainly messier, and there may be a bit of concern in having some of the grit/finish oil leak into the gun internals...but wet sanding with oil generally makes it easier to move the sand paper along the metal surface and maintain a more consistent pressure, and might just help a tad in mitigating any micro-grooves and "digging" into the metal surface.

Good idea on the tape to reach the low spots.

quote:

Originally posted by Modern Day Savage:

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:
Love the Equinox look. This all stainless fake Equinox FrankenP229 was done a while ago. I no longer have the slide, though.

I recall you selling that slide and thinking just how sharp it looked. Very nicely done...but as fair a price as you had on it I wasn't able to swing it. Somebody got themselves a looker!