Polishing Internals

I'm looking for some info re: what materials and techniques to use to polish up
(smooth up) mating metal surfaces, like the sear, etc.
Thanx......

Gunsmiths use a combination of stones.
Generally, course man-made Behr / Norton brand stones for fast cutting.
Very fine Hard Arkansas natural stones are generally used for final finish, although ceramic is starting to catch on.

Sears & hammer hooks are best attacked while clamped up in a sear jig in order to maintain square flat surfaces of the exact & correct angles.

Trying to freehand it is just asking for trouble in most cases.
Especially for a beginner.

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rcmodel

I use Flitz metal polish with a Dremel and those little cloth wheels. With it you can get a mirror finish on parts. Don't get too carried away because you don't want to change the angles on the parts i.e. you want to maintain a positive engagement for the gun to remain safe.

Thanx....I was hoping there was a "Dremel" solution. So, I gather that with FLITZ you can actually remove some metal?

Flitz will not remove any metal, but what you put it on can. Red (jewelers) rouge is also a common polish. Is more aggressive than Flitz. Even more agressive is white rouge. It's pretty safe to polish with Flitz and red rouge. If you need something polished and flat use a small piece of tempered glass as a flat block. Either that or a a machinists granite block will do for flatness. Really depends on what you are polishing and if there is a finish on it. Like chrome. For a Glock I use Flitz on the little rubber sanding drums from a dremel. No paper , just the rubber drum. Take your time and be careful not to let the little screw on the end of the drum hit the piece you are polishing and you will be ok. Can use rogue on the drum also. And it is all messy so a shop apron is helpful to keep the shirt clean and free of holes. The flat blocks are used for the return block inside a S&W revolver. Tape a piece of 2000 sandpaper on it and use lots of oil.

Thanx Riss......good info. Just one more question: do you know where I can buy red or white rouge?

you can also use cheap "store brand" tooth paste.it's a mild abrasive. jwr

Dremel kits usually have red rouge in them. Otherwise try the local Walmart, or Sears Handware, or autoparts store for metal polishing compound. The colors are pretty standard in color and grit. Red is used by jewelers because it does not remove material, like gold. White is more agressive, usually used for Aluminum where the material is soft and only the surface of the material needs to be removed.

Not to be offensive or arrogant but a good guideline seems to be that if you have to ask you shouldn't do it.

On occasion I've been next to people who violated that guideline. It's no fun hearing a semi auto pistol go full auto.

It is assumed that the former advice is for someone that at least knows what the inside of a gun looks like, and when taken apart, can put the gun back together correctly. The purpose behind the act of "polishing the internals" is just that. To polish and not remove any material or make any changes in the parts is what the goal is.

Polishing is removing imperfections, therefore you cannot polish without removing material. Even a mild abrasive on a high speed Dremel will round off corners that you do not want rounded off. I know my limits, so I don't polish working parts, I watch the local gunsmith work very carefully with fine files and finer stones until the surface is smooth. It does not have to be mirror bright to function well, but it does have to be smooth and flat (or at the design radius of curvature.)

There's a good DVD on the market by Jerry Miculek titled, quite appropriately, "Trigger Job." He demonstrates how to do a trigger job on a K-frame S&W. It's quite informative.

He doesn't use a Dremel. As much as I like my own Dremel, I don't use it for polishing critical surfaces because, as Jim Watson pointed out, you can round off corners that shouldn't be rounded off.

I'd stay away from the Dremel. Unless you're really skilled with it and know what you're doing, it's too easy to wind up buying replacement parts for round #2. Stick with stones and go slow. You'll learn more about it too than grinding away with a Dremel.

Hand fitting and the use of jigs is vital when doing sears and lockwork inside guns. NO place for a power tool. Now on the outside where you want pretty and not just functional go for it.