Dangers of a Dremel-Or how to KA-BOOM)

R

Redneck2

New member
Some time back I posted "Ka-boomed a Custom 45 tonite". I never posted the final reason.

I was reading another one of the posts about 1911's, and one of the comments about the "generous" use of a Dremel.

In an attempt to make a real live "race gun", it seems some enterprising individual had "polished" the feed ramp, to the tune of removing .080-.100 "excess" material. Left the case head unsupported. Blew the mag out the bottom, distorted the slide and blew out the frame rails.

Many asked about the ammo, which of course is the first thing one thinks of. Not guilty in this case.

Just food for thought and supports the other comments. Hope these words save a fellow TFL'er the same fate.
 
Once again, we're blaming the tool for the lack of skill of the user! We no more need to register Dremel tools than we need to register guns. Both are very useful in the hands of someone that knows how to use them! Both are dangerous in the hands of idiots!
 
A Dremel is just a tool like any other tool. It doesn't cut feed ramps by itself. I've never seen a Dremel jump off the table and attack a 1911.

An idiot with a Dremel in his hands is still an idiot. Put any other tool in his hands and he'd still be an idiot.

Put a Dremel in the hands of a conscientious individual and it just makes his job easier and possibly better.
 
Some folks can build a watch.
Some can repair one.
And some break em while settin the time.

Expensive lesson, hope the dremelizer learned from it.

Sam
 
'Just serves as a reminder that an hour at the workbench--or the kitchen table--can do far more harm to a gun than many years of normal use. :rolleyes:
 
Industrial strength dumb . . .

Maybe -- just maybe -- the engineers who designed the weapon knew more about the generated loads and the required strengths, about the properties of materials, and about likely failure mode initiation than do the "shade tree mechanics". Designs are rarely capricious, and the amount -- and type -- of material is there for a good reason. CAUTION.
 
That's exactly why I am hesitant about purchasing firearms with "trigger jobs" or ones with a "reliability" package done on them unless I know a bit about the gunsmith.

Bubba Gunsmith Speaking..may I help you sir?:eek:


Good SHooting
RED
 
Those nifty little Mech Tech carbine conversions

that replace the 1911's slide with a longer barrel are popular at the range I work at.

One, in .460 Rowland, kept bulging the brass something fierce, right at the base of the cartridge, kind of how a Glock's brass looks but a lot more severe. They hadn't blown through, but that was more a testament to the thicker brass of the Rowland, regular .45 ACP brass would have given out for sure.

In the interest of smoothing out the cycling and feeding of his new Mech Tech carbine, our shooter had taken a Dremel to his carbine's feed ramp and chamber. He went a good bit overboard, and slipped, hogging out the chamber wall in the process.

Suffice it to say, Mech Tech wasn't gonna fix that boo-boo for free.:rolleyes:
 
I get the idea here that most folks would rather condemn the tool, rather than the inept user. I've used a Dremel tool for many years for various jobs, including working on guns. I've yet to destroy a gun, or render one dangerous. I've polished countless feed ramps, and there is no measureable difference in exposed cartridge web when I'm done, just a smoother surface. Just because you have a Dremel tool in one hand, and a gun in the other, that doesn't mean that the gun will automatically be reduced to scrap metal. If you're not proficient with a tool, than you most certainly should not use it on your gun, but don't presume to judge others by your abilities. :rolleyes:
 
I agree, Johnwill!

But on the flip side, having a gun, and a Dremel tool, does not make one a gunsmith, either.;)

(Not saying much, I have a Foredam Tool)
 
"Enterprising?" More like Idiotic! I once saw a pistol that had the front sight Dremeled off in an attempt to polish the slide. :rolleyes: There should be a "Basic Dremel Safety Course" required prior to Dremel purchase!

Dremels don't destroy guns...PEOPLE do! :D
 
I am sick and tired of people saying you can't work on guns unless you already know how. You can't use a Dremel on a gun because you'll destroy it.

How else are you supposed to learn? I haven't done much work on guns yet but what I've done I've done well because I made sure I understood what I was supposed to do before I did it. If I ruin a part then I know I did something wrong and find out how to fix it. I have ruined some parts but how else am I supposed to learn? "The only people who don't make mistakes are those that aren't doing anything."

What is the criteria that I have to meet before I can do quality work on a pistol? What do I have to do before I can use a Dremel to polish a feedramp without destroying it? Is there some magic ingrediant or some secret that Wilson and Kuhnhausen and others are not giving us that the average person needs before they can do a good quality trigger job?

Sorry about the rant but this annoys me. Working on pistols is not rocket science. There is no great mystery. There is no magic ingredient or great secret.
 
ine point to consider... there is a HUGE world of difference between "polishing" a feed ramp and taking (Read: GRINDING) .080 off it...

I learned by doing... but "polishing" was well explained to me... and so was "grinding".... BEFORE I attempted either...
 
Last edited:
Hi, guys,

"Hope the Dremelizer learned from it".

Yep. He learned that he can palm off his mistakes on someone who buys guns without knowing how to check one out.

NapAttack, you have a good point about gun work not being rocket science, but there is a good deal of experience involved in doing things right. If you work on your own guns, keep the work mostly to replaceable parts, and fix or replace what you mess up, there can be no objections to learning that way.

But I would also suggest obtaining some books before you have to spend a lot of money relearning what folks already know. On the 1911 type (and some others), the Kuhnhausen books are excellent and will show any beginner how many things he does not know, and fine points that he will probably not learn on a DIY basis.

No matter what, I hope you don't do as the "Dremelizer" did and unload a defective gun, not caring if someone else gets hurt by your mistakes.

Jim
 
Southern Raider

As a transplanted yankee, my first introduction to real-southern talking was at a hamburger stand in Natchez when the nice lady said "Mep you?"
 
But I would also suggest obtaining some books before you have to spend a lot of money relearning what folks already know. On the 1911 type (and some others), the Kuhnhausen books are excellent and will show any beginner how many things he does not know, and fine points that he will probably not learn on a DIY basis.
Click to expand...
Some of us have already invested in the Kuhnhausen books, not to mention several bookshelves of other books! :) Just because I don't make my living being a gunsmith, doesn't mean I don't have the basic skills to do many gunsmithing jobs...
 
That explains it. Before they let you buy a Dremel in kalifornia, you have to pass a literacy test and let them count your tatoos. I thought it was just harassment, but I guess it's necessary.
 
Last time I saw a thread where some gunsmith was ragging on the rest of us amatuers for fiddling with our guns, I told him the sign on the wall at my smiths shop reads:

Labor rates:

$50/hour

$150/hour if you watch me work

$250/hour if you bug me while I'm working

$500/hour if you worked on it before you brought it in
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top