Tool Tuning

From the high dollar lathe, milling machine, and bluing set up of a large shop, to the screwdrivers, punches, and bench vise of the hobbyist, tools are at the heart and soul of every gunsmith. Despite this, I find many folks just don’t know how to take care of their tools and why it is so important. I caught my 40-year-old son sawing back and forth with a file and realized that nobody really teaches us how to use and maintain even seeming-simple tools.

Let’s take a look at some of the basic tools of the trade and see if we can find a few things you don’t know but should. Screwdrivers are among the most basic and important hand tool of the trade. Many people will judge the quality of your work by first looking at the condition of the screws in the These Brownells bits are mounted in Special Tool & Chisel Handles (#249-640-642AK) to make turn screws. I prefer them for close, precise work and made them up in my shop.

File handles area must to keep the user safe from injury. The file on the right came with an integral handle. guns you have worked on. The typical screwdriver found at a "cheap Chinese tool store" has a keystone tip that tapers along all four axis of its length. These screwdrivers are responsible for more buggered screw slots than any other. Because the blade tapers to fit any number of screw slot sizes it only contacts the metal at the top edge of the slot.

When you put pressure on the screw the first thing that happens is the metal at the top edge of the slot deforms. The more pressure, the more deformity. Good gunsmithing demands a parallel ground blade fitting snugly into the slot and the same width as the screw head. With parallel sides the pressure of installing or removing a screw is transferred to the entire interior face of the slot uniformly. This allows far more pressure with no damage to the slot itself.

Grace USA (graceusatools.com) makes a set of gunsmith screwdrivers that appear to have keystone tips but closer inspection reveals the very ends have been milled to present a parallel section inside the screw slot. Brownells and Wheeler Engineering offer sets with up to 85 bits to fit the most commonly found gun screw slots. Brownells goes a step farther offering Thin-Bit sets for the super skinny screw slots found on many high dollar guns. They are well worth the investment and will save you a world of trouble.

You will also find that the tips of the best bits are made to break rather than bend when they reach their torque limit. It may be upsetting when a bit breaks but the alternative is for the bit to bend and cam itself out of the slot, damaging the slot on its journey to pop out of the slot and dig into the surrounding metal or wood. A good bit is engineered to break so it won’t ruin a stock or scratch the metal of the gun. Brownells has always offered free replacement of broken bits.

If you over torque the bit and it breaks, send it back and they will replace it free. If you find yourself with a tool box full of standard commercial screwdrivers the tips can be ground on a stone to the correct profile in just a few minutes. Brownells offers the Magna-Tip Bit Shaping Stone so you can use your drill press to grind any screwdriver to precisely fit any screw. There is just no excuse for buggered screw slots in our trade. Files area simple tool that are often misused. For

The typical hammer (right) has grinding marks that can be transferred to the work piece. The polished peen reflects the image of the photographer, the care its owner takes with his customer’s firearms, and the pride he takes in his work. safety’s sake, please put a handle on every one of your files. In the heat of along bout at the bench it is easy to run the tang of the file into your hand. The handle also gives you better control of the file and that is important when working in tight places.

Far too many people seem to think files are indestructible; they are not. Depending on how you use and care for them, a good file can last a lifetime, or be irretrievably ruined the first time you use it. Protect files from coming in contact with others. Either hang your files on a rack so they do not touch each other or make cardboard sleeves for each one before storing. Cut only on the forward stroke, not back-andforth like a saw. Files remove metal with microscopic burrs located on the edge of the teeth.

When you push the file forward those burrs scratch the surface of the metal and remove small pieces of it. Drawing the file back while maintaining downward pressure, those burrs are bent into the valley between the teeth. On the next forward stroke they take off less material until the burrs are removed completely or break off from being bent back and forth, leaving a file that does not cut.

Use chalk (yes, the same stuff used on a blackboard) to prevent, or at least reduce, the build up of file shavings in between the teeth of the file that causes it to stop cutting and increases scratches on the surface of the work, known as pinning. Chalks helps stop sharp little metal chips from getting into the teeth, requiring less time with a file card cleaning out the chips, allows the file to cut just as aggressively, and gives the work a smoother finish.

Standard chalk works fine or buy it in oneinch diameter sticks from Brownells (#080-705-006AK.) Finally, clean the chips out of the teeth after each use or whenever needed with a file card. Take care of your files and perhaps you can be like a friend of mine that has used his for twenty-five years without having to replace them. In the case of hammers my advice is simple. Any hammer that will come in contact with a gun should have its face polished to perfect smoothness.

Crazy perhaps, but ev- Far Left neglected, it will mushroom and get worse with use. A rounded edge can slip off the work, making the job harder and risking damage.

ery nick or scratch on the surface of the hammer face will be transferred to whatever it strikes with any force. Those little areas will have to be polished out before you finish the project. Isn’t it easier if there are no marks to polish out? Yes, this is picky and extreme but it is also part of a mindset. Approach every job as If yours won’t reverse you can grind the serrations off so as not to stamp a "trademark" on your customer’s guns.

Rubber wedge door stops (not pictured) can be used to help hold tapered stocks. Brass or lead jaws are better for holding metal parts securely without marring them. if each detail is important and your work will improve. If you ever present your work to one of the custom gunsmith guilds for judgment you’ll realize this level of detail no longer seems silly. In the gunsmith shop there is rarely a need for a really heavy hammer.

Heavy hammers move more metal faster but we are normally moving small amounts of metal in a precise manner. A four to six ounce ball peen hammer is all you need for the majority of gunsmithing jobs. A hammer should feel comfortable in the hand and the head should go where you want it to. If you’re having trouble hitting the head of a punch Far I’d call that abuse but I’m the guy that did it and should know better. What is it good for now? I could put it in my tackle box for removing fish hooks.

It sure doesn’t belong in my shop unless I carefully regrind the entire tip so the jaws meet perfectly straight. From left to right, needle nose, parallel jaw, and duckbill. Buy good pliers that align correctly, keep them away from high heat (welding, brazing, soldering, etc.) and take good care of them. squarely or the hammer just feels like it is out of control don’t be afraid to try shortening the handle or modifying the grip.

I know gunsmiths that make their own hammers because they feel their design idea does a particular job better. There is nothing like a tool you have designed and made yourself to give you pride and satisfaction in a job done well. There are more different types of punches than you can shake a stick at and I have tried to collect a set of every one of them over the years. Long, short, pointed, or flat, they all need to be kept in good shape to do the job

you bought them to do. Probably the most abused punch in the shop is the pin punch. We use them to remove pins, poke into tight corners and hidden places, move sights, open paint cans, pick our nose, and peen rivets. OK, I exaggerate… slightly. Punches have two business ends. One is struck by a hammer and the other transfers force to an object, usually a pin we are trying to remove. Both ends are subject to being mashed and the small end is also subject to being dinged, broken, or bent.

Both ends should be inspected regularly and repaired when they need it. I have never been successful in trying to straightening a bent punch so as to again slip through a hole cleanly when driving out a pin. When a punch bends or breaks I write its size down so I can order a replacement, cut it off above the bend, dress it off, and use it as a starter punch. A battered tip is larger in diameter than it is supposed to be and should also be dressed back to original diameter and polished.

The same goes for the striking surface. Clean it up, square it off, and polish it smooth. The points on your center punches should be sharp and centered. A center punch that has been inadvertently used on hardened steel will have its tip flattened, making it difficult to precisely locate the center point next time it is used. Dress the tip and you’ll find it much easier to precisely locate the exact point to mark. Every bench I’ve ever looked at has had a wide selection of pliers.

The most common are needle nose, parallel jaw, and duckbill, with more lengths of needle nose than any other kind. A good set of pliers is like an extension of your hand with tiny little tips that can pluck debris out of places your fat fingers could never reach. A good set of gunsmithing pliers should never leave the shop and visit the garage where plier-destroying disaster lurks around every corner.

If abused the tips on those delicate needle nose pliers no longer come together when closed and has an "S" bend in it. The parallel jaws aren’t after trying to hold on to a nut, leaving the jaws anything but smooth. If so damaged, assess if they can be fixed. Sometimes a little careful work can realign the needlenose tips or resquare the parallel jaws with careful filing and polishing and save replacing a potentially expensive tool. About all I used to care about drill bits was that I had the size I needed.

Once I had completed the set up, turned on the drill press, and started to try to make a hole, I began caring very much that the dang drill bit was sharp. I hate it when they smoke and squeal but won’t cut. Most often that will happen on a popular size I use often, so I usually have several more bits available. I’m not going to sell you a drill bit sharpener. Unless you are working in a large, high-production machine shop, bits are too inexpensive to ever buy a machine to resharpen them.

I solved this with a Titanium nitride coated high speed tool steel set of 115 bits purchased for $55. This set has every fractional, letter, and number size bit in it. As such a set isn’t the best quality of bits, I replace the often-used bits individually as needed from Brownells. Only a quarter of bits in my set are replacements because I rarely need the oddball sizes, but the day I need one I already have it and it will be good for at least a few holes before it needs replacing.

This also keeps all the bits in one box nicely labeled and sorted. That saves a lot of time I used to waste trying to find the right size bit. We will end our trip around the shop with a look at your bench vise. I think I have seen more guns ruined with a poorly prepared vise than any other tool. This isn’t the easily replaced damage like a buggered screw head that can generally be repolished and a wider slot cut.

No, this is caused by serrated teeth on the vise jaws and an operator who either thinks nobody will notice that fancy work on the metal, doesn’t care, or never took the time to figure out away to avoid it. Most vises come with a set of jaws that are something other than smooth. The serrations help plumbers hold pipes and other parts that will be hidden behind a wall or under a toilet. Unless your customer or you keep you guns under that toilet, people will notice.

Most jaws are removable and the serrations can be milled, ground, filed off and polished smooth. For more delicate parts, a set of soft jaws made of lead, plastic, wood, brass, or any other material softer than steel. They should slip easily on and off the vise. I suggest having several for different jobs. For reworking screw heads I like jaws made of soft wood. I can tighten the vise around the screw threads and hold the screw while I work on it without damaging the threads.

To drift sights dovetailed into the slide or barrel, brass or lead jaws hold the work firmly without marring the steel. That vise is your third hand and you’ll use it a lot. Don’t let it mark your customer’s gun. Specialty vises secure barrels without digging into the metal. Action wrenches will hold the action without damaging it.

For your own sake don’t let people know that you worked on a gun because they recognize the tooth pattern of your vise and/or the pipe wrench you used on every barrel you have ever changed. I promise, that kind of calling card won’t bring you more work. This is by no means a complete list but covers some of the more commonly used hand tools and the problems that can be ignored. Good tools help to turn out good work and make the job easier. Keeping them in good condition is a mindset important to the gunsmith.

Every customer showing a gun you worked on displays the quality of your work. The results will determine if you will get his next job or if he goes elsewhere looking for better quality workmanship. That quality starts with your tools. AG