Using a dremel tool.

[745SW]

My Dremel's go back a good many years. My first one was a a variable speed model with bronze bearings, they were pricey back in the early 70's. I wore out the bearing at the working end of the tool, banged the bearing with a flat punch and mallet. This will give the bearing a bit more life. Used it fine for a while but don't use it to the point the tool gets hot. Getting it hot is bad news and it took out the internal speed controller. Turning on the tool would trip the main breaker. Years later I became richer and/or the Dremel became cheaper and I have several all are ballbearing variable speed.

I have several because as soon as the tool gets very warm I drape it across a fast fan to cool and use another. Most of my Dremel's are of the older design using a metal sub-frame. The later type, along with most other handheld power tools, no longer use a metal sub-frame. The plastic body of the tool is also the frame. I say it's best not to run these types of tools to the point they feel hot.

I use the Dremel for cutting, grinding and polishing but not drilling. The body of the Dremel is not rigid enough for drilling. The end attachments used most frequently are cut-off wheel, emery embedded rubber wheel and various grinding attachments.

Most of my firearms are untouched by the Dremel. Largely used on the 1911 and for deburriing on some others.

 

[pete2]

I read somewhere that no problem is so large that a dremel tool can't make it larger, some truth to this. I still use mine for polishing.

 

[Hawg]

I have dremels I use for a variety of things. I can't remember working on a gun with one but I may have, won't say I haven't or wont ever. On the other hand I have seen the need to polish feed ramps on guns that refuse to feed hollow points or SWC's like 1911's and M1 carbines.

 

[745SW]

An alternative to the standard Dremel is to remove the internal speed controller and have the wires (3) of the male plug changed to color coded banana plugs, red-black and green for ground. Using a variable DC power supply of 0-50 volts and current of about 5 amps should be ideal. If it's a laboratory grade power supply so much the better. This will give superior speed range and torque while keeping the tool cooler.

 

[Bill DeShivs]

An easier method is to just plug the Dremel into a rheostat-like a sewing machine foot pedal.
It works fine and there is no loss of torque.

 

[745SW]

I would agree a rheostat would be cheaper and more practical for most and quite frankly the makers of the tool would never use the power supply method because of costs.

But like Gaston Glock (plastics) I utilized what I have on hand, laboratory test equipment. The motor of the Dremel is a permanent magnet DC motor. The cleanest power would be a. battery while a highly regulated supply would be the next best.

 

[James K]

"I have an aversion to someone who has not mastered the basics of gunsmithing and metalworking using them without the requisite knowledge and skill."

Wouldn't the same thing be true of ANY tool? I have seen guns totally ruined by unskilled "experts" using hand tools; the ham handed do not need power tools to screw things up; power tools just make it easier.

Jim

 

[FITASC]

Wouldn't the same thing be true of ANY tool? I have seen guns totally ruined by unskilled "experts" using hand tools; the ham handed do not need power tools to screw things up; power tools just make it easier.

All one needs to do is to look at most screws that have been buggered by some garage "gunsmith"

 

[Old Stony]

I 've cleaned up a lot of those "buggered screws" using a dremel.

 

[745SW]

I'd say the Dremel is almost as important as the kitchen sink. There are times I lacked a driver/bit for a fastner. I simply get a driver/bit that is similar and modify with the Dremel. Other times the driver/bit doesn't fit quite right, the Dremel may work for that too.

The most common mod I make using the Dremel is cutting a slot on the non-working end of a bit. In this way the bit can be driven with a flat screwdriver. Many times the shank of a magnetic bit driver would be too wide/big to fit down the opening of the recessed fastner. Just need to feel when the bit engages the fastner and driver.

 

[NYRanger]

Stop!

Please resist the temptation to use a high speed rotary tool in your gun's receiver.

 

[Gunplummer]

^^^^

Thank you for the advice. The next time I cut/weld a receiver to shorten or lengthen it, I will use a hammer and chisel to rough down the weld.

 

[g.willikers]

After reading this thread, I've decided to collect up all my Dremels,
Power air tools,
Impact wrenches,
Drills,
Welding gear,
Soldering tools,
Plus everything else that could even possibly cause trouble,
And donate them all to the local technical school.
You know, just to remove all forms of temptation.
Sure I will.
To repeat,
Poor Craftsmen Blame Their Tools.

 

[Bill DeShivs]

Why take things to extreme?
As most have said, Dremels are very useful tools in competent hands.
Unfortunately, most people are incompetent in their use.
Dremels are marketed as an "all-in-one" tool-and they aren't.

 

[DT Guy]

I think this is (as I stated earlier) similar to the gun control arguments sometimes encountered.

Is it true that untrained/careless people can damage a firearm with a Dremel? Sure it is.


It is true that a Dremel is easy to purchase without a background check and waiting period? Yes it is.

Does that mean that a careful or trained person can't use a Dremel appropriately to improve a firearm? No; it just means that dumb people can screw anything up with anything.




Larry

 

[hooligan1]

Look, if you cant use a Dremel tool well enough to do minor clean up and buff, then you probably need a Smith's phone number.
I have never been afraid to chuck a bit in my Dremel and go to town, but Im an "outside the box" kind of tinkerer.
Im no gunsmith, however I do a lot of gunwork.
I lack machinist skills and cannot recollect numbers for more than 24 hours,( 2 heatstrokes) but I get a vision, and whip out the Dremel and make my dang self happy.

 

[arquebus357]

Just to keep this thread going. I have a use for rotary tools that is a bit unusual. If I need to drill a hole in metal be it a gun or something else, I do not have much luck using a punch for creating a drill guide dimple. I mount one of the very small metal bur bits and hog out a small divot in the metal for a drill bit guide. I can do this with greater precision than using a punch and hammer. This method has served me well over the years.

Oh yeah, I don't have a drill press.

 

[5whiskey]

Just to keep this thread going. I have a use for rotary tools that is a bit unusual. If I need to drill a hole in metal be it a gun or something else, I do not have much luck using a punch for creating a drill guide dimple.

Unrelated to Dremels, my wife gave this to me as a gift last year. I was not thrilled with it at first, until I used them a couple times. Very handy and more precise than a normal punch/hammer or any rotary tool could hope to be. For instance, I used it to divot a set of standard sights so I could make dot sights. It turned out quite well... I would never try that with normal punches or a rotary tool.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/5pc-Wood...34491&wl11=online&wl12=40488441&wl13=&veh=sem

Had to dust off the evil rotary tool in obvious need of regulation this weekend as I'm making a set of grips for my Ruger Security Six. I don't have a drum sander, just a belt/disc, so some of the curves I have to take the Dremel to. It does an exceptional job and beats trying to whittle and hand sand Bubinga wood (for perspective, it is more than twice as hard as Walnut and a bit harder than Hickory). That would take FOR EVER! Ok, off to go renew my rotary tool registration and license

 

[lefteye]

I've had and used a Dremel tool for years, but I am not a surgeon, a dentist or even a gunsmith. My Dremel is locked up if I have a gun out of my safe.

 

[Tinbucket]

using a dremel tool

I'm a victim of the evil assault Dremels. Through the finger through the nail.
I used one to build a model railroad that would make a watchmaker proud.
Tiny holes through one inch plywood and wired through that soldered to bottom of rail.
I thought it a dandy idea to drill through plywood of reloading bench for a screw. It headed for my finger hiding on the underside.
the hammer spur on a Ruger stainless looks like it got out of the factory before finishing. Thinking of trying to take the mold mark or parting line off and maybe using a good file to give a crosshatch like old Colt Python.
Use the Dremel or not?