Anybody ever take a Dremel tool...

[GLOOB]

I think some the backlash against the Dremel is from bad trigger jobs, and the like. Trying to clean that up a dirty sear/hammer interface with a Dremel and just a polishing wheel can round over and change the shape of parts which may have critical tolerances. In this case you want a collection of sanding blocks and stones to do a proper job. This kind of job is akin to shaping the edge of a knife perfectly straight and crisp. But trying to use these same tools for what OP asked is going to be fairly inefficient.

Making generalizations that "Dremel = bad" is pretty sweeping, and it just shows how narrow is the scope of what some people consider when they think about modification of a firearm. There's more out there than lightening triggers and installing aftermarket parts that need minor (but precise) hand-fitting. The OP's actual question should be a hint, if you bothered to read it.

Believe it or not, there are lots of people out there that know how and when to use a Dremel tool, and 99% of them aren't certified gunsmiths.

 

[tark]

There are a few legitimate uses for a dremel tool when working on pistols....

This ain't one of them!

All of the years I worked for Les, we got more RMAs back because someone did something stupid with a dremel, than just about all other reasons put together.

 

[HisSoldier]

He never mentioned using a dremel to destroy some steel parts of his pistol. Never once.

No, but many people made it sound like using a Dremel on a gun is sacrilege.

It is so silly to blame the tool for what people do with it. Many guns have been damaged with improper use of a screw driver, but I don't read any statements that imply that anyone coming near a gun with a screwdriver is stupid, instead it is correctly assumed that the user is responsible for how he or she uses a screwdriver, and a Dremel is absolutely no different.

But don't we hear an awful lot of knee jerk reactions about guns being used improperly or by people who should not use them? Don't blame the gun for what people do with them, and don't blame the Dremel for what people do with them either.
I've never heard of a Dremel getting out of the drawer when no one is around and ruining a gun.

What I'm saying is that blaming the tool is what the anti gunners do!

 

[GLOOB]

^^ Lol. Well said. I love the irony.

This ain't one of them!

So grinding/shaping plastic isn't an appropriate use of a Dremel? Well, I'll be damned. I will have to go back to see how many things I have unwittingly messed up with my Dremel tools. What am I looking for, exactly?

I think OP was probably more concerned with the actual construction of the grips. If he grinds them, will there be voids under the surface? Will he find a fiber-fill that produces an ugly surface finish? Is the material prone to cracking? That sort of thing.

 

[DrDeFab]

Dremel's don't ruin guns. Bubbas ruin guns.

(And for that matter, the only Bubba I ever knew was a rancher in Texas. He was a True Old-Fashioned Gentleman, and IIRC, his BBQ gun was an engraved Python in a beautifully tooled Western rig. But I digress...)