Polishing with a Dremel
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I used mine on the brass furniture. The felt tip smeered with the red rouge/polishing compound stuff. Seemed kinda messy and everything looks black at first but it wipes off and it worked for me. I followed up with some good ol' Never-Dull and it all turned out to a mirror finish. I also understand that highly polished brass isn't exactly PC but rather a more subdued look. I used perma blue to darken it and rubbed it back to bright except for in the lines and low spots. I think that turned out looking good. I polished the lock plate and the bottom of my pan with it as well and it turned out real shiney and smooth. :thumbsup: Now I will let the rest age naturally. I'm not very patient but I'm workin' on it.
I have used a Dremel tool with the small, 1 1/4 or so polishing wheel. The results were on the poor to shilly side. There is not enough surface being polished at once so you end up with bright and dull spots. I find it hard to control. May be just me. I just use a polishing wheel on my bench grinder and plenty of jewlers rouge. Good results on the larger parts. I still use a dremel on trigger guards to start but end up with the bench grinder running for a final polish.
I have used the Dremel buffing wheels a number of times on inlays and other small objects.
For anything larger than an inlay, I use my bench grinder with a cloth buffing wheel.
I have not tried the Dremel compounds but I have tried Dico brand Emery, Tripoli, Stainless, Plastic, and Chrome Rouge.
These (and the bench grinder size buffing wheels) are carried by my local Ace Hardware Store.
My opnions of them on brass, German Silver, steel and stainless steel are:
Emery: Dirty, removes material slowly, doesn't polish well.
Tripoli: Marginal for material removal, marginal for polishing.
Stainless: The BEST thing sence sliced bread. It will remove material if used aggressivly but if used lightly it polishes all of the above metals to a mirror finish. This is the one to get.
Plastic: Works well on 1978 GMC tail light lenses. Not much else.
Chrome Rouge: Very disappointed with this. It is VERY SLOOOW to do anything.
These compounds come in tubes which are about 1 inch in diameter and 5 inches long.
To use with your Dremel, just touch the spinning wheel to the compound and then to the part. Don't overload the wheel. It doesn't take a lot to do the job and too much compound will just schemer on the part and stop the polishing action.
With the proper use, the Stainless will polish the sear nose and tumbler full cock surface to a mirror finish.
For more of my BS on polishing follow this link:
METAL POLISHING
Towards the bottom of the following link is a drawing of how to polish the Sear and Tumbler without making them dangerous.
POLISHING SEARS AND TUMBLERS
For anything larger than an inlay, I use my bench grinder with a cloth buffing wheel.
I have not tried the Dremel compounds but I have tried Dico brand Emery, Tripoli, Stainless, Plastic, and Chrome Rouge.
These (and the bench grinder size buffing wheels) are carried by my local Ace Hardware Store.
My opnions of them on brass, German Silver, steel and stainless steel are:
Emery: Dirty, removes material slowly, doesn't polish well.
Tripoli: Marginal for material removal, marginal for polishing.
Stainless: The BEST thing sence sliced bread. It will remove material if used aggressivly but if used lightly it polishes all of the above metals to a mirror finish. This is the one to get.
Plastic: Works well on 1978 GMC tail light lenses. Not much else.
Chrome Rouge: Very disappointed with this. It is VERY SLOOOW to do anything.
These compounds come in tubes which are about 1 inch in diameter and 5 inches long.
To use with your Dremel, just touch the spinning wheel to the compound and then to the part. Don't overload the wheel. It doesn't take a lot to do the job and too much compound will just schemer on the part and stop the polishing action.
With the proper use, the Stainless will polish the sear nose and tumbler full cock surface to a mirror finish.
For more of my BS on polishing follow this link:
METAL POLISHING
Towards the bottom of the following link is a drawing of how to polish the Sear and Tumbler without making them dangerous.
POLISHING SEARS AND TUMBLERS
Deerstalker
36 Cal.
- Joined
- Jun 1, 2004
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You may want to give Flitz metal polish a try, has worked real well for me. I just use it on an old washcloh, no power tools needed.
Bryan :results: :m2c:
Bryan :results: :m2c:
I use my dremel (cheapo battery kind) and regular old rubbing,polishing compound. The rubbing compound is pinkish the other is white. Works pretty good for getting the little spots in the trigger guard and thimbles etc.
When built I want mine bright and shining like a spanking new gun. Thats the last time the metal ever gets polished as now I want it to age naturally.
I also have wire wheels and cloth wheels for the bench grinder. I am going to try something new with it. 1 micron diamond paste in lieu of rouge.
I bought a felt wheel (wood carvers secret) and charged it with the diamond paste for honing my chisels. "WOW" scary sharp real fast. It should work well for polishing also.
When built I want mine bright and shining like a spanking new gun. Thats the last time the metal ever gets polished as now I want it to age naturally.
I also have wire wheels and cloth wheels for the bench grinder. I am going to try something new with it. 1 micron diamond paste in lieu of rouge.
I bought a felt wheel (wood carvers secret) and charged it with the diamond paste for honing my chisels. "WOW" scary sharp real fast. It should work well for polishing also.
flashpanner
45 Cal.
- Joined
- Dec 31, 2004
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oooo! Diamond paste? For brass? A little overkill. (and pricey too!)I save that for harder metals like cutting tools, scribers, carbide cutters and polishing cut glass edges. I get good results with craytex wheels or a good semi tight sewn cotton wheel with tripoli or even a tapco wheel. I also use only one type of abrasive per wheel and never cross charge.
