Dremel vs. Blasting

[Guest bkelm18]

Just a query, lets say I wanted to refinish a firearm that had a blued finish, would stripping the bluing off with a Dremel be anywhere near as effective as bead blasting? The finish that would be applied would be Moly-Resin most likely if I were to do it myself. Thanks.

[Bigiron]

Too much RPM from a Dremel. Bead blasting would be better, IMHO.

[Guest bkelm18]

Too much RPM from a Dremel. Bead blasting would be better, IMHO.

Yeah, the more I think about it, using a dremel would actually be a terrible idea. Haha.

[DaveTN]

Bead (Super Fine Glass) blasting would take five minutes to do the gun and all the parts, and would leave a nice uniform finish. If you aren’t going to blue it would have a good prepped surface for the finish.

Using a dremel would be a pain in the azz.

[LngRngShtr]

You could also chemically strip it off,.. try some "Naval Jelly" the pink rust removing goop won't hurt the metal or etch the surface,.. I used some to strip the blue off before rebluing with some cold blue and it worked fine,..be careful though this stuff removes all protection from the metal and it will flash rust on you if you leave it too long..just wipe on watch it do its thing and rinse in HOT water and a green scrub pad.

John

[Jasongar8]

Forget the dremel. Using it can only end badly.

[Guest GunTroll]

Blasting is the only way to go. It will also help give "traction" for your paint to adhere to. A porous surface is ideal for a coating of some sort.

Dremel...........Bad idea.

[I_Like_Pie]

I have done many guns by taking bluing off with naval jelly as mentioned above, spraying with wd40 to prevent flash rusting, use a file and sandpaper to polish, then reblue....or park and paint as in your case. Blasting would work and save ya a little time near the end of prep.

Best results with any gun project are had by using minimal tools and just your two hands...

[Luckyforward]

I have done many guns by taking bluing off with naval jelly as mentioned above, spraying with wd40 to prevent flash rusting, use a file and sandpaper to polish, then reblue....or park and paint as in your case. Blasting would work and save ya a little time near the end of prep.

Best results with any gun project are had by using minimal tools and just your two hands...

Well stated . . .

[fastbs]

blasting it is by far the best method, it knocks out a few steps at one time.

gets in the tight places well,

preps the surface for what ever coating will be applied next,

and you're not using chemicals that if a little is left behind can ruin the new coating

[Guest GenNBForrest]

Glass bead blasting. Much smoother finish to sand blasting.

[Guest expdnarc]

place the Dremel on the deck at your feet, and step away.

[Guest bubruins]

Has anyone tried soda blasting a firearm? I think that I'm going to pick up the $15 Harbor Freight special on a soda blaster next time I'm there. I imagine that it would yield similar results. Worst case scenario I know that I can use it to clean up 35 year old motorcycle carbs.