Bolt jeweling

In an attempt to keep my youngist son as far away from TV as possible.............what can he use to jewel a bolt.I have a several old Carcano's of dubious quality so he gets to 'smith on them.Does a small wire brush and regular clover lapping compound make any sense?I've heard you can use wooden dowels but thats for flat work,yes?no?
Oh yeah,he tigged up the bolt jeweling fixture first.

You might check out Brownell's supply of tools. I have used on occasion a round eraser, the type that is about 5" long and wrapped in paper similar to a "china marker".

There is an article in the Machinist Workshop magazine, June/July of '06 on bolt jeweling.-Jerald

You might want to consider buying your son the set of Brownell's Gunsmith Kinks 1-4.

A lot of good info on smithing, including jeweling. Plenty of articles to keep him busy reading and learning about gunsmithing.

I use Brownells engine turning(jeweling) brush with a holder that keeps the brush from spreading.
I use Clover 150 grit cut with CooL Tool.
Warn your son to watch the brush depth as years ago I had a student that ran the rim of a brush into a customer rifle bolt.

Need a new Brownells catalog anyway.Think they call'm ET brushes,thanks!

There's already some good info here. For flat surfaces, I have always used a dowel charged with fine lapping compound. For smoother, brighter finishes, bind a scrap piece of oiled leather around the dowel.

Curved surfaces are a bit trickier and an O-ring or shrink wrap around the jeweling brush will do the trick. If the radius of the part is not too small, a round Cratex (abrasive rubber) will conform to the curved surface and leave the desired effect.

Tip: When jeweling a part that has a raised shoulder or edge; begin your jeweling pattern from this raised detail and move away from it. If you jewel towards it from the opposite end, you may not be able to index fully without hitting the shoulder, throwing your center distance off and ruining the pattern.

Try mounting the jeweling tool in a drill press, and the bolt in a small vice. The drill press lets you apply the same amount of pressure, and the vice will keep things lined up much more easily.