Colorado School of Trades

09/02/2026

The second quarter at CST demands our students learn machining. This is the section where they will utilize manual lathes, mills and other machines to build skills like turning, facing, reaming, and threading.

They will later on use this knowledge and the machine to complete their project rifles.

08/31/2026

We love fades! So does Mr. Ogle. Sam creatively used to complete a "Copper Patina" finish on his AR.

08/27/2026

What is going on in Design and Function on a random Thursday?

The most organic part to our program is that we take in roughly 3,500 customer fi****ms annually. Each of these projects consist of general repairs, customizations, modifications, etc. All customer fi****ms are issued with service writing paperwork and work orders for the Gunsmith in training.

You never know what you'll get at your bench; It could be a muzzle threading job, an entire stock repairs and refinish, checkering, bluing, Cerakote application or even a full rebuild with new parts!

08/13/2026

Quite a collaboration between two CST students: Corbin Peck & DNA Fi****ms

This one has a unique story. A customer supplied Browning Superposed was lost and left in a field for a year. It came in with the checkering marred, a broken toe, rust/pitting on the metal, wood finish cracked and a chipped buttplate. Miraculously, it was was still fully functional.

Corbin Peck took on the steel, Dennis Nunez took on the wood.

Doing everything they could to retain factory roll marks and engravings, these two came together to restore this classic Browning for usage in the field.

While not all the pits in the steel could be removed, Corbin did an excellent job of removing rust, polishing and rust-bluing the carbon steel components. Dennis used his skillset to apply a near exact, original finish to the stock, repair the toe, fit and install a new buttplate and recut the checkering.

Excellent work, Corbin & Dennis!

08/10/2026

Congrats to Alan, AJ & Paul! These folks are headed to the industry to do some big things!

🎓

08/03/2026

Current student Myles Koester used his own J. Stevens 94B to case harden with LT Arms . Versus a clear Cerakote finish, Myles decided to use lin-speed oil.

This finish is actually boiled linseed oil and petroleum thinner. This is a fast acting finish and is meant to protect the color case hardened finishes underneath.

07/29/2026

07/23/2026

07/21/2026

Pictured is Walker Wroten going through the process to mix, apply and cure Cerakote to components on his project rifle.

He used Graphite Black to accent the small pieces and later applied Sniper Grey to his synthetic stock.

07/17/2026

All CST students complete walnut stocks for their project rifles from a blank. In class, they learn how to take measurements, finishing and shaping processes and many other skills.

In the lab, students will inlet, shape, bed and finish their walnut stocks to make the American Classic Rifle - Made famous by CST graduate and industry legend, Jerry Fisher.