It is absolutely illegal to tamper with a serial number. Lucky for me the CS45 has it's serial number in three places and three sizes (the one under grip is huge) so there was no way I could get in trouble. All of the original serial numbers were visible after bead blasting and anodize as the laser used by the manufacturer is very powerful and I was specifically careful about maintaining their integrity. The model and serial number listed below the slide stop was easy to see if you wet it with oil, but on a dry frame is was a little difficult to make out. So I went the extra mile to make it stand out again by re-marking over the top of it. It turned out to be about 17 extra miles in the end but the visual improvement and factory look made it worth it.

Here's how I did it:

• Scan high resolution picture of frame using flatbed scanner
• Import picture into drawing program
• Spend a day looking through font catalogs only to find none match
• Trace over original text with 'pencil' tool at 1600% magnification
• Create line-up marks based on frame pin holes
• Lathe turn delrin line up pins to insert in frame pin holes
• Laser cut a piece of plastic flat stock with holes made to fit delrin pegs
• Load frame on to work jig which is now aligned with the drawing
• Place paper over serial / model number area and rub with fingernail to emboss
• Run job with laser at min power / max speed to burn paper only
• Lift paper and evaluate line-up between embossed characters and hand drawn characters using backlight
• Adjust location of text block and try again
• and again
• and again
• and again
• and again
• and again (getting the idea this might be a slow T&E process )
• Remove paper and run job at proper marking speed