PaulW Posted September 8, 2005 Share Posted September 8, 2005 Well my wife and I flew up to NY (much nicer than I expected. Upstate NY was very nice) and Dan and I spent Saturday out in his shop. I now see much clearer how Dan builds such nice guns. His shop has 3 big bays. His equipment was very clean and well maintained as was the whole shop in general. We first started by fitting a slide/frame. Something that I thought took maybe 1/2 hr took Dan and I about 1 hour maybe 1.5 hours. I could not believe how many times Dan would measure, then re-measure to make sure, then measure some more. After showing me how he levels everything in the mill he first cut the frame rails. Then came the slide. Same deal, measure, measure, measure then cut. No short cuts and no rush to get it done and cut. I was amazed at how far off and how uneven the frame rails were. But when Dan was done we had a frame and slide that was within .001 of each other. Now came the hard part. Using some super fine lapping compound and some syrup (really heavy machine oil) the fun begain. VERY, VERY slowly he worked the slide onto the frame. Wipe off repeat by adding fresh lapping compound and oil. This went on for awhile, I was getting tired of watching Dan workout as it took some pressure to get the slide onto the frame. Then it started to come together. With just some oil and a touch of an even finer compound the two pieces of metal were now smooth as glass. And all the rails were nice and even. Break time? Hell no, we then had to do all the mill work on the slide. This is all done before the barrel is fit. So Dan is showing me how he sets up to cut the lightening cuts and I clearly see a short cut. In which Dan has a response that he does not like to do it that way because there is a slim chance of the cut being off??? WOW, he takes the longer harder way to ensure that the cuts are perfect. Ok now we have lightening cuts and rear serrations....lunch? Hell no we have a barrel to fit. I found this very interesting. We all hear how important the barrel fit is. WOW!!! We spend the next hour fitting a barrel. First came the bridge cut. Dan only uses the clark/para cut because it is stronger and a better fit. I could explain how Dan fits his barrels but he said he'd have t shoot me if I told to many of his trade secrets. But let me tell you when we were done the lock up on the barrel was not good, not great but perfect. I was surprised at how much time he spends on the main components. We spent at least 6 hours doing the above and yes it was longer with me asking questions. His tools were all awesome. All off his cutters were like new and some of the major cutters were TiN coated carbide cutters that go for about $80 each. I easily tripled my knowledge of the 1911 in these 6 hours. Rest assured that when you buy a Bedell gun you are truly getting a CUSTOM work of art. Every detail he pays attention to. With Dan running back and forth between bays I was tired of chasing him. He wants every gun to go out perfect and thats all he will settle for. Trust me he cares about every detail. Now Dan about that bullet trap of yours........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Cheely Posted September 8, 2005 Share Posted September 8, 2005 Sounds like a great time! I would absolutly love to see Dan build a gun. I wouldn't even have to ask questions, just watch. (ok, I'd probably be talking his ear off...) I've always wanted to see what all goes into building a great firearm. And see the sweet equiptment too! Dan, I'll bring the beer if you let me watch!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BEDELLCUSTOM Posted September 8, 2005 Share Posted September 8, 2005 the only problem with trying to teach paul something is when he gets talkin' that hick stuff so fast i gotta smack em' upside the head to slow em' down so i can understand what the hell he is saying. and after all that i taught him, the only thing that impressed him was a damn TiN coated carbide endmill, i just can't figure that boy out! hksniperman, how bout if i drink the beer and just shout out the instructions while you do the work. by the way matt, work is beginning on your order right now!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynn jones Posted September 8, 2005 Share Posted September 8, 2005 i get it .. MONSTER GUN BUILD! dan and his redneck friend build a custom gun in less than 48 hours. if you don't meet the deadline, you get "the tool". lynn next season: monster gun build off! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blkbrd Posted September 8, 2005 Share Posted September 8, 2005 This is good?? The artist/gunsmith/machinist/yankee/biker looking guy calling the clean cut/GM shooter that speaks perfect english, a hick?? Did I order a gun I don't remember? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulW Posted September 8, 2005 Author Share Posted September 8, 2005 Dan, was Matt's gun the one you let me work on? Opps, did I say that outloud? Dan thinks I'm the hick, which is ok with me, but when all his friends pulled up Saturday I thought there was going to be a truck pull or some mudd'in goin on. Those TiN caoted end mills sure a purtty! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BEDELLCUSTOM Posted September 8, 2005 Share Posted September 8, 2005 this is the object of paul's desire, a double ended TiN coated carbide endmill and a picture of me trying to keep him from stealing it and making it into a necklace. i think the shiny bling bling of it kept him from remembering the pain he was suffering from after shooting my S&W 500 when we were at the range. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulW Posted September 8, 2005 Author Share Posted September 8, 2005 I still have .500idiss. That thing is like having someone smack your hand with a 2x4. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirtypool40 Posted September 8, 2005 Share Posted September 8, 2005 is that Dan, Paul or Ron Batista with tats? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BEDELLCUSTOM Posted September 8, 2005 Share Posted September 8, 2005 that would be me, dan bedell, any spare time i had when i was in the army i would go get inked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulW Posted September 8, 2005 Author Share Posted September 8, 2005 They must have been short on toilets for you to clean as you have more ink than the Bill of Rghts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blkbrd Posted September 8, 2005 Share Posted September 8, 2005 Great I have a gun built by Dan and worked on by Paul I guess it must be my fault I'm not shooting GM scores. Paul; I have an old 1/2" double ended 4 flute carbide tipped titanium nitride coated endmill that I probably used to mill up a shuttle hubcap or something you can have to put under your pillow if you must. It didn't rust in Seattle so I doubt your drooling on it will hurt it, just dont chuck it in a mill and expect it to work for you. By the way my Bedell 9mm major shortie open gun has never had a DB or Paul induced hiccup, and shoots tiny little groups at 50 yards after tens of thousands of rounds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulW Posted September 9, 2005 Author Share Posted September 9, 2005 Must of been the pixie Tin coated dust I sprinkled on it!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BEDELLCUSTOM Posted September 10, 2005 Share Posted September 10, 2005 paul, i hope you retained some of what i showed you last week and i'm not talkin' about how many beers i could drink while i was watchin' you idiots play poker, i'm talkin' bout the gunsmiffin stuff. there will be a surprise test. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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