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1. I’ve been building custom guns for 38 years now. A Dremel tool causes more trouble than it fixes. You need to learn how to use files and you’ll see far superior results.

   1. @Brooksy

      I already know how to use files. I could have easily done it that way, but I want to master power tools as well. I can still build cabinets with a handsaw and a hammer too, but I do like my table saw and pneumatic tools.

      1. Well I’m old school so take that into consideration. You’re an exception to the rule as know very few people who can file properly, common problem in todays mechanized machine world. I can do most jobs with a file quicker than you can even set up a milling machine to do the same job.
         When I used to teach the first thing I’d teach is how to sharpen tools and how to use a file properly.

         1. I can appreciate doing things by hand. I learned to file in a machining course I took as an elective in college. It’s been a very useful skill to have and maintain. Having a good sharp set of files and the skill to use them is indispensable to a shop.

   2. I have gunsmithed professionally since 1981 and the dremel tool is like any tool, you must learn how to use it correctly. That means picking the proper tool head and especially the rotation speed. Way too many folks are very impatient and heavy handed when using a dremel. Vast majority of the time you need a light touch. Other common mistake is not supporting both the work and the tool correctly resulting in chatter or bounce, hence the “waves”. I suspect your particular job should have been done with a “Cratex” abrasive, either bullet point or drum. It is very easy to control material removal without getting carried away. Depending on the grit (I use mostly the medium which is coded brown in color) you can whisk material away or polish to a high luster. The most used dremel tool head in my smithing is the “1” cut-off disk”. Make no mistake, you can screw up quick so it takes practice but does allow you to be extremely precise, even to the point of needing a magnifier lense to see precisely the material removal rate and angle. Files have their place also but the dremel does things quicker and with more options to work in areas you just don’t have room to move a file stroke. If you work for profit the dremel will definitely speed up work. P.S. Watch out for the sparks thrown off the cut-off wheels. Not only do you need safety eyewear using a dremel but don’t get so focused on the action that you ignore the spark stream and burn your shirt/shop apron like my assistant did….lol.

      1. **sigh** been there, done that, have the t-shirt with the hole in it for evidence. 🙁

         I just discovered the abrasive impregnated rubber bits. I love those things. It’s actually hard to do a bad job with those.

2. R2: Thanks for these articles. I look forward to them, as they constitute pretty much a comprehensive review of AGI’s course. I have many of their videos (I generally get one whenever I acquire a new firearm, if available, to supplement the owner’s manual), and have found them to be pretty good.

   However, I’ve not taken the step of going full bore on their courses. Your experiences, as described in this series, may help me decide if this is right for me. Thanks again for putting in the time on this.

3. Dremel = the devil’s tool ! 🙂

   Sounds like you’re being very generous with the “older material”. Probably not a big deal when you’re dealing with the 1911 except the quality of the video.

   Know it’s really early but have you got a sense of where you might be going with this ?

   The local gun shop owners can do minor stuff but seems like the real Smith’s specialize.

   1. @sirlancelot,

      While the quality of the video itself is dated, the information contained in the video is excellent. To me, it’s worth dealing with NTSC formatted video. Sure, you could reshoot, but would Bob be able to be the instructor? It would appear to me that a significant draw of this material is the knowledge that the instructor has and his ability to pass that knowledge on. I’ve not seen another gunsmithing instructor as good as Bob Dunlap.

      As to what direction I’m heading, I’m not sure right now. Bob seems to have obtained his vast store of knowledge by being a warranty repair smith for most of the major manufacturers. I don’t know that that is in my future. I would like to own my own gunsmith shop and be an all around excellent smith. Most of those around here are mediocre at best and I want to be better than that. As to specializing, I don’t know about that. I hear from people that you have to specialize to be successful, but that has not been my experience in business. About the only thing that I can’t get good at is something that I’m just not interested in.

4. I specialized, Flintlock muzzleloading rifles and fowling guns. Have had a constant back log of orders of two to three years for over twenty years. I haven’t had to do a show in over 15 years. I quit taking orders two years ago and build only what pleases me now. So, specialization does work, you just have to be the BEST at what you do.
   I’d suggest one field that could use some good people is early Colt and Smith hand ejector revolvers, awful hard to find anybody who knows about these old guns and there’s lots of them out there. Heck, everybody works on AR 15’s etc., too much competition in an area like that.

   1. Going off of my experience in another one of my ventures… Specializing on what the market wants isn’t always a good thing to do. I did that and found all of the fun sucked right out of one of my businesses.

      I got into the business as a hobby, but the minute I ended up doing the drudge work that the clients wanted and didn’t have time to do what I wanted, it no longer became fun. I eventually shut that business down because I grew to hate it. Life’s too short to not enjoy what you’re doing in your career.

      Of course, it also depends on how hungry you are too.

      1. I see your point. I was ate up by flintlocks and had already been building them for 16 years before I ever went full time. I avoided drudge work altogether, never took any on, always had plenty of work on my plate so I didn’t have to take it on. Always refuse any kind of repairs or restoration as well. I like the creative end of the skill.

         What you eventually need to get to is to be “THE” man in a particular area that every body goes to. Eliminates all the drudge work.

         I only build what I want to these days. But I can only do that because I have put in 38 years worth of dues to get there.

5. I might also mention I’m completely self taught. There wasn’t an internet or anything else back in those days. So, my advice may be somewhat slanted, what worked for me all these years may not work today.

   1. Pretty sure you got some experience and expertise [b]Brooksy[/b]. I got a buddy who’s trying to learn gunsmithing and having some hard time learning from other resources he found on the internet.

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