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Many of you know that I have not accepted new work between May, 2007
and Dec., 2007. During that period I have been working to complete my
backlog, which stood at about 90 jobs on-hand in May. That backlog has
now been reduced to just a few remaining jobs.
In the interest of reducing my future turnaround time, I’ve decided to cap
my 2008 backlog at 60-days. That is, I will have no more than about 60-days work on-hand at any given time. At one time in the past, my backlog was well over 2 years.
The 60-day backlog cap is designed to provide excellent turnaround time.
That's the good news. The bad news is that customers will have to
continue to check with me until I have room under the cap to take their
job, assuming that their job qualifies as one I will accept.
There will be no 'waiting list' or future slots held open. It will be the customers' responsibility to check with me (email preferred) on whether I can currently accept his job.
Many types of jobs that I have accepted in the past will no longer be
accepted. The exclusion of certain types of work will give me much
more time available in a given month to accept more of my specialty
work. Please click the following link for a fairly complete list of
the types of jobs that will or will not be accepted:
Jobs Accepted for Restoration or Lettering in 2008
A 60-day quantity of work means roughly 16-20 restoration jobs, and a
number of small lettering jobs on-hand. I typically restore only about 8-10 handguns per month, depending on the amount of work involved in each,
plus roughly 20 small lettering jobs monthly.
Beginning in 2008, I will accept, for restoration or lettering, certain
limited types of new jobs, but only to a maximum of a 60-day backlog.
That initial 60-day backlog has already been reached as of Dec. 15,
2007, and includes both new jobs plus a few leftovers from 2007.
Even though these new jobs will not arrive until early January,
I have already comitted to accepting them for my initial (Jan-Feb)
60-day backlog.
As a few jobs are completed from that initial 60-day workload, then
I can accept a few more to take their place, and that will be the
pattern for the future: complete a few and accept a few more,
but never accepting more than a total of 60-days worth on-hand.
The one exception to this might be the summer vacation months, when work
coming in generally declines from late May thru August. Depending on
the number of jobs I have to defer, I may accept more than a 60-days worth
around May to even-out those summer months before all hell breaks loose
again in Sept.
(See below for Lettering jobs.)
To facilitate a low backlog and good turnaround, mostly 1911’s and
1911A1’s will be accepted in 2008 for restoration.
Those are my primary area of specialization. Secondary
specializations such as Single Actions, some other Colt auto’s,
and Imperial Lugers may be accepted in limited quantities if
some room is available under the backlog cap.
NO other handguns can currently be accepted.
By excluding many makes of handguns that I formerly accepted,
I should be able to free up much more time for 1911's and A1's.
Basically, it boils down to this: If you have a 1911 or A1 in fairly
decent condition, or one of the 'secondary-specialization types,
chances I can accept that gun within a few months are very good.
If you have something else, the chances are not very good.
Guns accepted must be in fairly-decent, restorable, condition.
Past-miracles performed are in the past. I really have no desire
to work on some of the terrible messes I’ve accepted in prior years.
If you have any doubt at all, please email some very good
pics of the gun, including in-focus close-ups of the worst areas.
All handguns must be shipped fully-assembled and working, so that
I know they're properly functioning when received. That basically
means the pistol can be dry-fired and that all safties are
functioning properly. Original parts for the types of guns I restore
are basically long-gone from my inventory, and these parts
can be very difficult to find. I cannot do parts-hunting for customers.
The words ‘decent, restorable condition’ mean the gun has to stand
a very good chance of being successfully restored, without having
miracles performed on it. That doesn’t rule out ‘problem’ guns by
any stretch. After all, problems are my business. But there are
serious illnesses and there are terminal ones. Worse yet, there
are others where the patient died a long time ago. My limit will
be ‘serious’.
Guns in condition that are worse than ‘serious’ include:
Dug-ups or train wrecks.
Very-overbuffed guns with few, if any, contours
remaining.
Guns so pitted that 2-pounders become 1 ˝
pounders after de-pitting.
Guns requiring parts to complete a restoration.
(I cannot do parts-hunting for customers.)
Plated guns or guns to be plated.
Clones or ‘modern’ variations such as 1911 military reproductions.
Possible other restrictions
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Lettering jobs accepted:
Most lettering jobs involving handguns or handgun parts
will still be accepted, with a few exceptions noted below. For
now, long-gun barrels will have to be excluded (rifle and shotgun).
Exceptions regarding handgun lettering:
Certain handguns (or parts) are so hard they almost defy re-lettering.
The hardness factor causes breakage of tool points at a rate of 10
times normal. Some parts are so hard they can't even be scratched.
Mostly, these are case-hardened parts. These include, but are not
limited to:
1911A1 Colt Series 70 and Delta Elite.
Any color-case-hardened, or case-hardened part.
M1 receivers (tangs).
Ruger (and other?) Stainless Steel parts.
Plated parts.
WWII Mauser Lugers
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Referrals to other gunsmiths:
Smith and Wesson restoration and repair work:
Dave Chicoine
dave@oldwestgunsmith.com
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Single Action's: Repairs and Restorations
Alan Harton
8822 Jackwood St
Houston, Tx. 77036
713-907-6031
aharton@hotmail.com