I am attempting to recover a serial number on an old 1970's to early 80's 051 or 075 Stihl Chainsaw I bought about 7 years ago. I forget which it is on. My questions are for anyone with experience in serial recovery, metallurgy, chemistry, law enforcement, if you know of any other chemicals to use for etching magnesium other than the Ferric Chloride, Fry's etc, or if you know anyone skilled in performing the restoration I would be interested in any info you can provide.
Yes, I am aware that this saw may have been stolen due to the serial number being filed/ground away, but without the serial, how would a rightful owner ever be found? I can try to recover the serial and if successful, report it to police and if there is a record of it, I will do whatever the police say to do to get it to the rightful owner. However, it has been almost 7 years
I purchased this saw along with another larger one off an old timer who did tree work all his life. I didn't know about the mutilated serial number until awhile after I had already bought it. I belong to some Arborist forums and was asked about the serial numbers while seeking advice on sources of no longer available at the dealers/NLA old parts. Because Stihl has a way of updating the original parts with new ones and new numbers as a saw model or family of models ages. Having the serial is essential to maintain it. These particular saws were in production for about 15+ years.
I have seen some restoration demonstrated using a reagent called Fry's, and some using Nitric Acid mixtures or both. ( These are known to be good for items like guns that are made with Ferrous type material. However, in my case, my Stihl saws have die cast magnesium crank cases. Searching the web, I have come up with Ferric Chloride and Acidic Ferric Chloride as the recommended reagents for non-magnetic materials.
Here is a tech piece and an article/ video or 2 I saw yesterday.
https://forensicresources.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Serial-Number-Restoration-06-25-2021.pdf
https://forensicfield.blog/restoration-of-erased-markings-on-metal-surfaces/
Yes, I am aware that this saw may have been stolen due to the serial number being filed/ground away, but without the serial, how would a rightful owner ever be found? I can try to recover the serial and if successful, report it to police and if there is a record of it, I will do whatever the police say to do to get it to the rightful owner. However, it has been almost 7 years
I purchased this saw along with another larger one off an old timer who did tree work all his life. I didn't know about the mutilated serial number until awhile after I had already bought it. I belong to some Arborist forums and was asked about the serial numbers while seeking advice on sources of no longer available at the dealers/NLA old parts. Because Stihl has a way of updating the original parts with new ones and new numbers as a saw model or family of models ages. Having the serial is essential to maintain it. These particular saws were in production for about 15+ years.
I have seen some restoration demonstrated using a reagent called Fry's, and some using Nitric Acid mixtures or both. ( These are known to be good for items like guns that are made with Ferrous type material. However, in my case, my Stihl saws have die cast magnesium crank cases. Searching the web, I have come up with Ferric Chloride and Acidic Ferric Chloride as the recommended reagents for non-magnetic materials.
Here is a tech piece and an article/ video or 2 I saw yesterday.
https://forensicresources.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Serial-Number-Restoration-06-25-2021.pdf
https://forensicfield.blog/restoration-of-erased-markings-on-metal-surfaces/
