Dremel question for polising slide

T

TennJed

New member
Ok I am new to dremels but not guns. I have several stainless revolvers and semi autos that I have polished with a rag and mothers mag over the years. I have seen all the post about DO NOT POLISH GUNS WITH A DREMEL. YOU WILL RUIN THE GUN, ect.

My question is, are there soft tip tools for your dremel that you can use with something like mothers mag? Looking at dremels in the store and there seems to be some softer tips, almost like cloth. I was just wondering if this would accomplish the same thing as a rag and polish, only quicker
 
Slow and light

I was just wondering if this would accomplish the same thing as a rag and polish, only quicker
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Yes and I'd suggest that you go light and slow. Dremels are great but they do have a way of being mis-used. They have a tendency to get away from you. I too use Mother Mag, on cloth, Q-tips and the soft white felt "rounds" of a Dremel tip.. ... :)

Be Safe !!!
 
Consider finding yourself a piece of stainless steel to practice on before you take your dremel to your gun. Easier to learn from your mistakes on a cheap piece of steel than a cherished revolver
 
The other problem is the torque. Because you're basically holding an only slightly modified electric motor in your hand the ergonomics suck. Supposedly they are a little better now. Back in the day when I was lifting and turning heavy patients nearly every night, all night, I could almost literally crush walnuts with my bare hands. Even with that amount of strength sometimes it was hard to keep control of the tool. For most jobs like this I would clamp the tool in a vise and move what I was polishing back and forth.
 
Dremels are good for small areas. For big parts, it's better to use a buffer wheel.

That said, I prefer to hand polish and then finish with a buffer. A buffer can be very aggressive and can remove markings, dish out screw holes and round corners.
 
Dremels and similar tools are best left to professionals. There are a few things they do exceptionally well. Polishing large objects is not one of those things.
 
The problem with using any type of polishing head or polish with a Dremel on a large area is that it simply can 't give a uniform finish.

No matter what or how you do it, the smaller polishing head will leave the surface with a very uneven, blotchy look.
To polish a large area, the bigger the polishing wheel is the more even and uniform the finish.
Professional polishers use very large diameter HARD polishing wheels that they stack to form wheels as much as 6 inches wide.
As example, Colt used to make their own polishing wheels out of wood, covered with walrus hide. These were over 1 1/2 feet in diameter.

This allows keeping a flat surface like a slide perfectly flat, and gives a very uniform unvarying finish.
Try to polish a big area, especially a flat surface with a Dremel and it'll look terrible.
If you want to polish a large surface like a pistol, do it by hand with a metal polish and a cloth. It's slow and won't bring the surface to as brilliant a polish as a professional can, but it's look okay and won't ruin the surface.

As an experiment, get a flat piece of steel and try to polish a larger area with a Dremel. It'll look uneven and terrible.
 
OMG NOOOOOOOO!

Dfaris nailed it. Someone asked me once. Flat tool with polish, he thought dremel would be quicker. It was. Now the gun looks like total trash.
 
it just does uneven damage to a finish which makes it much more noticable to the human eye. Our eyes tend to notice things we deem out of place if the finish is wavy instead of smooth our eyes will notice.

I won't say its impossible to make a gun look good with a dremel but it would be pretty tough for 99% of people.
 
Sears has polishing wheels that will fit on your bench grinder. - sticks of polish, too.

Just get the wheel that is the same diameter as your grinding wheel.

If you have a way to slow down your grinder, such as a variable speed control, that helps too.
 
Um.....

Remember a few things:

1. Polishing is actually metal removal.
2. A Dremel (even at its lowest speed) operates at a VERY high speed.
3. Even with a fine polish, a Dremel WILL dish out the workpiece, round off sharp edges, blur letters, and give a REALLY uneven finish.

If you want to polish metal, you'll need to get:

1. A dedicated motor/polisher. Your bench motors run about 2500 to 3000 rpm. This is a good speed for polishing.
2. You'll need a number of wheels; for the best results, you should not mix different grades of polish on the same wheel.
3. You will need to not only mount the wheel to the buffer, but carefully balance and true the wheels prior to adding polish. This will give a good, smooth finish, even and ripple free.
4. Loose and bound muslin wheels are the best bet for polishing at the beginning and intermediate level. Use good 6" wheels--8" wheels when you get used to it. Avoid ANY felt wheels until you get your polishing techniques down.

And, finally--as a poster above said it--slow, steady and smooth does the trick. Always, TAKE YOUR TIME. Go slow. It's always much better to polish just a wee bit more--than to apply too much pressure and see a dished surface appear--or notice that your roll marks are now blurred.

Curved surfaces do present a challenge--but there's a way to do that without a Dremel as well.
 
Tennjed, the best thing I've found for polishing stainless steel in Semi-Chhrome. ..BY HAND!
You can find it at some cycle shops or eBay. Works great on all types of metals.
As far as Dremels, I've mainly used on feed ramps with felt point , coarse then fine rouge. Polishes to mirror finish. I use dremel hung up, connected to a speed control foot pedal with a flex shaft from dremel accessories.
Most everything else its better by hand IMO.
 
Gary, that's the set up my Mom always used and I'm fairly sure she could have built the Eiffel tower from scratch with a just a Dremel and what seemed like the million attachments she had. Every once in a while I'll run across Martha Stewart on TV. I always think about Mom when I do and can't help but think "Amateur".

My kids would ask Grandma for something, you could hear the dremel start as we left, and the next day or next week (depending on the size or complexity of the toy involved) the child would get a visit from Grandma at which point the toy (made from scratch normally) would appear. How do you compete with that? Dead humbling the whole thing. We were just their parents, their hearts belonged to their Grandmother. One of my kids once asked if "Santa got his toys from Grammy?":D
 
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TennJed I was at Harbor Freight looking for something else and ran across this metal polishing kit that is attached to a drill, and I decided that I should have one for my stainless 1911s. It cost less then $6 and it has 3 different size polishing wheels and the polish. I think with a cordless drill (low speed) this should work like a charm.

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