Metal engraving with a Dremel Tool

[brstevns]

Has anyone tried engraving a rifle (metal) using a Dremel Tool?

[smithnframe]

Boy I'd like to see it if they did! Can you say skating?

[ulav8r]

Can you say skating? No, but I can say scrap metal!

[rking22]

As stated, definitely a bad idea. Rotary tool will make a mess of it. If you are just curious, try it on a pipe nipple.

[Scrounge]

No, but I can say scrap metal!

That would pretty much agree with my simple experiments with the couple of real Dremels, a Wen, and a couple of HF semi-clones I've tried. They're great for polishing and sanding and grinding. To try to engrave something again, I'd want to hook up CNC equipment to drive it. Sure ain't gonna happen if I'm holding it in my hand.

[pietro]

.

I goggled "Dremel tool metal engraving", clicked on "images", then scrolled down to get this. :popcorn:



https://www.google.com/search?q=dremel+tool+metyal+engraving&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwiKj9LZi5brAhWBHt8KHdNZC-EQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=dremel+tool+metyal+engraving&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQDDoGCAAQCBAeOgQIABAYOggIABAIEAcQHlC 8iAFYiKACYN-8AmgAcAB4AIABtA2IAecdkgEKMjMuNS0xLjgtMZgBAKABAaoBC 2d3cy13aXotaW1nwAEB&sclient=img&ei=khk0X4r-IYG9_AbTs62IDg&bih=620&biw=1366

.

[waksupi]

A distance of fifty feet minimum should always be maintained between a gun and a Dremel tool.

[BigAlofPa.]

Some look good on the google images. If one has good steady hands and can write real clear. And is artistic. I think that will be helpful. I would practice on some scrap metal 1st.

[brstevns]

Guess it was a bad idea. That is what happens when I can not sleep at nights

[bangerjim]

Bad idea. VERY BAD IDEA. Dremel tools have a VERY limited use, but never engraving! Even with dead steady hands (which I have), the tool bit would skate all over the surface and make a real mess.

If the Dremel was held VERY RIGID in a good metal panto-graph, you might have some success. But I would not count on it.

https://www.amazon.com/Proxxon-27106-PROXXON-Engraving-Device/dp/B00JVSZXF4/ref=asc_df_B00JVSZXF4/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312130922324&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=15553323545740749867&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9030068&hvtargid=pla-423382392628&psc=1

Proxxon is leaps and bounds better than any Dremel garbage. I have several of their tools and they are precision!

But engraving.............that is why I have hand gravers!

bangerjim

[redhawk0]

Yikes....just the thought makes me cringe.

redhawk

[porthos]

a joke, right?

[bangerjim]

a joke, right?

Actually - no. I f you had that Proxxon system above and the right tracing patterns for the tip, you could actually do some decent engraving. The trick is the master patterns you would have to make! But the Proxxon pantograph system is fairly rigid and can do some engraving, but not the type you guys are probably thinking of on guns. Depending on the size, you could actually copy the original engraving/carving on a gun/stock to another one! That is what a pantograph is used for in drafting or engraving, allowing you to scale up and down from the original pattern.

[Handloader109]

PLEASE DON'T!
Look for a local LASER engraver. There are several in your area. They need a Fiber laser, not CO2 and ask if they can engrave INTO the metal.
$20 or $30 for caliber or similar engraving..... no dremel
I'd do it for you, but shipping ain't cheap any more.

[Jedman]

I have used a dremel tool with a carbide burr to engrave the caliber on the underlug of a handi rifle barrel that I built from a shotgun barrel with a rifle barrel liner. The barrel is parkerized and you can only see where I engraved it when the barrel is removed from the receiver and it looks pretty good to me.
My eyesight is bad enough that I cannot see most small stampings on barrels without reading glasses so I had enough room to engrave 357 Maximum in large letters and can tell what I have easily.
I would post a photo but to find the gun and remove the forend a take a photo would take more time than I have right now so you will have to take my word for it.

Jedman

[Drm50]

I can’t do steel with Dremil . Softer metals brass and aluminum it does fair job. I have extensive collection of molds for fishing lures & tackle. They are cast aluminum, I engraved a number, code and my name in each one. Did a fine job and I can pull out the one I want without sorting through them. 266177

[brstevns]

Saw this on flea bay what do you think? ( Pneumatic Engraving Machine Double Ended Impact Graver Jewelry Engraver DE)

[bangerjim]

It is no different than those electro-magnetic vibro-engraver tip tools that have been around for decades. I have one and it just vibrates a carbide tip at 60 Hz and digs into metal. OK for putting ID data on things, but not a very pretty sight. That thing just runs on a little air pump internally that moves a piston in the hand piece in and out.

I really do not think that is what you are looking for!

[Winger Ed.]

I put it in the category of: It can be done, but not by me.

[Cap'n Morgan]

If you want to do engraving, you could try acid etching instead. You cover the (warm) part with a thin layer of beeswax. When the part has cooled you "draw" in the soft wax with a pointed stick of hardwood or plastic. Then use a mixture of nitric acid and sulphuric acid, known as aqua regia, to etch the part where the steel has been laid bare. With a little practice you can make som pretty decent patterns - and you can keep redoing the pattern until you're satisfied before using the acid. Not so with the Dremel tool! You better have a steady hand as you only get one shot at it...

Do a google search for "steel acid etching"to see some nice examples.

[brstevns]

Got it, back to chisels and a hand chaser hammer.

[reivertom]

I've seen it done, and it looked like the Dremel had a mind of its own. It has to be the quickest way to destroy something.

[22cf45]

I'm pretty sure it is illegal to use the words Dremel and engraving in the same sentence!

[brstevns]

Boy you guys are really letting me have it !:happy dance:
Like I said sometimes bad thoughts happen with lose of sleep.

[Winger Ed.]

Boy you guys are really letting me have it !

Friends don't let friends chop and hack around on a rifle with a Dremel.

[bedbugbilly]

Some folks just are blessed with artistic ability. I had a friend like that - anything he did with a Dremel turned out well. He did a fantastic job engraving a Uberti Colt Walker clone with a Dremel and when he got done, it was the most beautiful Baby Dragoon that you ever saw.

[Hossfly]

A man has to know his limitations.

[jaguarxk120]

Look up www.airgraver.com

[nun2kute]

I sure hope you don't let all that closed mindedness stop you.

how long ago was it the "idea" of powder coating boolits was a "bad idea" ? NO ! its not for everybody, but neither is ________ (a million other things)

[country gent]

There are power gravers out there expensive. I seem to remember an ad for an dremil attachment for engraving in one of the gun mags years ago. Had a friend that did window etchings on auto safety glass with one of those engraver pencils.

the big problem with the dremil tools is the speed at 20,000 rpm they arnt fast enough for the small cutters. They grab and walk follow wood grain. Try a pencil grinder at 80,000 rpm with the same 1/8" cutter and its much better. Takes a light skilled touch but it dosnt fight you like the dremil. I also have a dotco air grinder thats 100,000 rpm and its really easy to control and use especially with smaller than 1/8" cutters. But dont put a mounted stone in it.

[KCSO]

Enough talent makes up in part for lack of professional tooling. Look at the M1895 Winchester that Charles Russel did with a Pocket Knife, and think what he could have done with a dremel. Like any tool a dremel has it's place and its uses/ The biggest problem with a dremel is for most it goes too fast and takes too much meat off. I use one al the time with a=carbide dental bits to take broken screws or shattered case hardened nipples out of their holes. This can save you when you break a tap off in a blind hole. BUT it does take a steady hand and patience.

[bangerjim]

Look up www.airgraver.com

Most would have to take a 2nd mortgage to buy one of those things! WOW. Does great work but those are truly professional tools you are investing in there.

[Scrounge]

Most would have to take a 2nd mortgage to buy one of those things! WOW. Does great work but those are truly professional tools you are investing in there.

A commercial vise for use with the engraver goes around a grand all by itself. And you pretty much need one of those, too. I might have been able to use the fancy engraver years ago, but my hands are getting shaky now, and I don't think it would work well enough to make up for my shakiness. Got plans for something that should be a good approximation of the vise, but too late to do me good.

[bangerjim]

The vise is easy to make if you have milling machines and lathes like I do. The actual tool would be kinda a bugger to make in my shop.

Not worth my time to make one or the $$ that guy charges to buy a commercial one. I thought maby $400-500 would cover it. But OMG, he is VERY proud of his little engraving tools!

banger

[Traffer]

I have a Dremel in my hand a lot. Made several videos of using them. But I wouldn't even try to engrave my initials in a hammer with one. Does that answer the question?

[reivertom]

One more thing....did you know that every known "Dremel Master" is named Bubba? FYI

[brstevns]

You guys are letting me have it with both barrels!! :killingpc

[Hootmix]

Quote " a min. of 50 ft. between a Dremel & guns ,, " now I got to build a bigger shop. ( man it's always somp'n ).

coffee's ready ,, Hootmix.

[DocSavage]

Dremel as an engraving tool bad juju,find a pattern and bring it and the object you want engraved to someone who has a laser set up. I used a similar tool for marking parts when I was working for a major jet engine maker,the best way to describe the out come is someone with a case of the DTs and Parkinson's trying to write during an earthquake.

[Traffer]

Dremel as an engraving tool bad juju,find a pattern and bring it and the object you want engraved to someone who has a laser set up. I used a similar tool for marking parts when I was working for a major jet engine maker,the best way to describe the out come is someone with a case of the DTs and Parkinson's trying to write during an earthquake.

Hey I lived in Lynn for a while! "You never come out the way you went in" I trust you know the rest of the saying. lol

[Drm50]

When cheap German SA 22s came out in the 50s, my dad would get one and strip it and dip it it wax. Then he had little tool he made to “engrave” his art through wax. He dipped the parts in acid.
Don’t know what it was but I think some type for batteries. Flushed with distilled water, also free in battery room at work. He then heated up guns to remove wax. He had a little jig to hold cylinders while he worked on them. He did quite a few and run them on tip boards at work. I tried it once on a beat up Buffalo Scout 22. My squirrel on branch looked like a rat on a outhouse plank.

[Traffer]

When cheap German SA 22s came out in the 50s, my dad would get one and strip it and dip it it wax. Then he had little tool he made to “engrave” his art through wax. He dipped the parts in acid.
Don’t know what it was but I think some type for batteries. Flushed with distilled water, also free in battery room at work. He then heated up guns to remove wax. He had a little jig to hold cylinders while he worked on them. He did quite a few and run them on tip boards at work. I tried it once on a beat up Buffalo Scout 22. My squirrel on branch looked like a rat on a outhouse plank.

Sounds like he was doing a type of acid etching. There are thousands of hours of videos about acid etching techniques on the internet. I just grabbed one of the simplest methods i could quickly find here. I have never done this. BUT I have purchased several used machine tools...mostly reamers that had been re-ground to smaller specs that had the new diameters crudely but visibly acid etched on them. I have been meaning to acid etch the dimensions on the swaging dies that I make...Just haven't gotten around to it yet. This video shows the crudest method which is good for things like numbers on tools ...Many folks make stencils with those cutting printers and do some nice work with them...same principle. I wouldn't do this to a gun but it is still WAY better than trying to do something with a dremel.

https://youtu.be/U0wTNdgL2Uc

[Traffer]

I saw this video recently and thought of this thread. Steve uses a flex shaft but it is the same as a dremel tool, just easier to hold.
This is the best engraving I have seen with one of these. It's not bad but I wouldn't consider it good enough for a gun.

https://youtu.be/CtmTztKrEHw

[Traffer]

I am ressurecting this old thread because it turns out that one of my youtube buddies is a professional engraver. He has made 5 videos on engraving metal with a dremel type handpiece with carbide burrs. I just got done modifying a cheap Harbor Freight hand piece with extra bearings for rigidity so I can try engraving steel with diamond bits. Should be pretty much the same process as doing softer metals with carbide. Here is the first of the five video tutorials:

https://youtu.be/oYDE-3FBMlk

[Handloader109]

That ain't a harbor freight dremel. Those shafts don't have any vibrations to speak of and are way easier to use then any dremel sort of tool.
Find someone local who has a Fiber laser. They are getting to be fairly common and most folks that do work with them aren't very expensive as compared to a hand engrave, and even though this guy is pretty dang good, I wouldn't let him near my gun. Professional gun engravers might use a mechanical tool, but it ain't a rotary bit.

[Traffer]

That ain't a harbor freight dremel. Those shafts don't have any vibrations to speak of and are way easier to use then any dremel sort of tool.
Find someone local who has a Fiber laser. They are getting to be fairly common and most folks that do work with them aren't very expensive as compared to a hand engrave, and even though this guy is pretty dang good, I wouldn't let him near my gun. Professional gun engravers might use a mechanical tool, but it ain't a rotary bit.

I repent in dust and ashes.

[country gent]

Getting the shading and blending lines to follow the engraving and give that even flow would be hard with the rotary tool. With engraving its not just the image but all the shading and flow that gives it its depth and eye pleasing appeal. The other issue will be how the tiny minute burrs from the rotary tool affect the image, I can see them giving a fuzzy look to it.

I have a foredom flex shaft, dremil flex shaft, and several die grinders from 20,000 to 100,000 rpm, the only one I would consider is the foredom with the "hammer" hand piece. While I have never tried engraving with it It does a very good job stippling and setting pins. This hand piece is a straight line movement for setting stones and such.There is an engraving hand piece but its very expansive by itself.

[slohunter]

Dremel & Gun should never be used in the same sentence!

[Traffer]

Dremel & Gun should never be used in the same sentence!

Again, I repent in dust and ashes (although I never advocated the use of a dremel to engrave a gun)

[waksupi]

Dremel & Gun should never be used in the same sentence!

They should never be closer than 50 feet to each other.

[sierra1911]

A more appropriate power tool would be a GraverMax (grs.com). Another option is traditional manual gravers and a small hammer.

The Firearms Engravers Guild of America website has books and other helpful information (fega.com).

My father was an engraver but engraved western jewelry (belt buckles, bolos, money clips, pendants, silver dollar belts, etc.) not guns.

[Traffer]

I don't engrave guns with dremels.
However:
I do Modify Bolts, sights, magazines, stocks, and just about every other part with dremels.
Call me BUBBA. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
Maybe some day I will make a video of me butchering one so you can all watch and cringe,. HAHAHAHAHAHAH

[gishooter]

I have a Gorton pantograph (model P1-2) for engraving numbers, etc in the shop. A Gorton, Deckel, Alexander, etc were industry standard before CNC and laser became common and "affordable".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lw1MyB7XgMI

Decent overview on inlay work. He doesn't cover engraving.

[2152hq]

All you need is a small hammer and a couple of chisels.
A home-made engraving vise made from a bowling ball cut in half. A simple 2 jaw vise mounted on it and it sits in a shallow seat so it can be positioned at any angle. Weighted w/ lead shot to 40+ lbs.

Hammer away.l

https://i.ibb.co/C96jQwM/IMG-4666-1.jpg (https://ibb.co/2MSzdFs)
https://i.ibb.co/Gcx6c3B/MVC-048F.jpg (https://ibb.co/J5B15F0)
https://i.ibb.co/3mb5cxq/MVC-042F.jpg (https://ibb.co/zVgWZ3Y)

https://i.ibb.co/gwbtBvg/MVC-036F.jpg (https://ibb.co/CvpVTJ0)
https://i.ibb.co/9sqXBRh/MVC-034F.jpg (https://ibb.co/KF9ZBCD)
https://i.ibb.co/ngjjttL/11-edited-1.jpg (https://ibb.co/98WWSSr)
https://i.ibb.co/YDMyWgb/61c.jpg (https://ibb.co/4sGYfkJ)
https://i.ibb.co/6BzFQcD/MVC-002F.jpg (https://ibb.co/TL6tyDP)

***Keep the Dremel for polishing the inside bow of trigger guards...
That's about the only thing I've ever used it for

[Traffer]

@2152HQ..WOW.. I fantastic work and a great idea with the bowling ball. Do you have a youtube channel? It would be great to see you work on this stuff. BTW I did build a handpiece for small burrs...I intend to use it primarily for engraving sizes on my home made dies and tools....

[gishooter]

2152HQ,
"home-made engraving vise made from a bowling ball cut in half. A simple 2 jaw vise mounted on it and it sits in a shallow seat so it can be positioned at any angle. Weighted w/ lead shot to 40+ lbs." That brings back memories. My neighbor at Fayetteville (Ft. Bragg) was a custom stock maker and engraver. He had a similar set up. Did beautiful work.