Polishing

I want to polish the feed ramp on my Springfield XD40. I'm thinkg of using my drimel tool with polishing compound. What kind or grit should I use?

Polishing is a repetitive process of removing the existing scratches with an abrasive of finer size. Thus one might start with 120 grit and polish to a uniform finish, then move to 150 grit and polish at right angles to the 120 polish until the scratches from the 120 are all gone, then go to 180 or 220 grit and polish until the 150 marks are gone, etc., until you reach the degree of polish you desire. So you need to determine how smooth the starting point is and them go with a slightly finer abrasive. You might even consider a fine file depending on how much material needs to be removed to start with a reasonable beginning.

Brownells lists 140 grit, 240, 320, 400 and 500 in their Polish-O-Ray line. I don't know how shiny the ramp needs to be; 400 would seem plenty to me. I would probably buy a sheet of wet-or-dry paper in 180, 280, 320 and 400, and cut strips to wrap around a piece of dowel and make like a file. A little slower but less likely to take off too much.

I like the Brownells felt bobs for polishing ramps and small parts with a Dremel tool.I use the cone shaped felt bob for feed ramps.Usually use the 400 grit compound to clean up the ramp and a final polish with a white rouge bar compound.


http://www.brownells.com/aspx/ns/store/ProductDetail.aspx?p=610&title=FELT+BOB+POLISHING+KIT

Use Cratex.

Get a bullet or cone point and use it in a Dremel Tool. Using anything else is just a waste of time and effort.

If your knuckles drag the ground, you could take off too much. If you have half of a clue,you wont have a problem.