What do you use to hold safety plunger when polishing (pin vise?)

[Stumphenhammer]

So I've been going down the rabbit hole polishing parts to see what matters (and/or because I'm OCD and have too much time on my hands at the moment).

 

I noticed on one of Johnny Glock's vids that he uses a pin vise to hold the striker for shaping/polishing...so I pulled out the dial calipers and measured my Gen 3 9mm striker at 0.173 at the widest point and now I know which size pin vise to get.

 

The safety plunger however, measures at 0.237 where I want to grip it and I have not been able to find a reliable pin vise that opens that far, and if possible, I hope to find one with a range that allows it to hold either part (striker or plunger).

 

My question(s): (1) Can anyone recommend a pin vise that will fit the safety plunger's base, (2) if not, what do you use (besides your Mk 1 Mod 1 banana peelers), and (3) please share any other tools/devices you've discovered to be useful for trigger jobs/improving perfection.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

P.S. If you are tired of hand polishing but hesitant to get a Dremel due to cost or the fact that they seem to not be as well made as they used to be, I've had good luck using Dremel bits in a 12V Dewalt drill. It's not as controllable as a Dremel, but for polishing it's good enough and much faster than hand work (I'd only do metal removal/shaping by hand though).

 

Disclaimer: I don't do metal removal/shaping on carry guns (just polishing) but I'm using my range guns to test the waters with more extensive modifications.

Edited January 14, 2020 by Stumphenhammer

[davsco]

i'd just put two pieces of wood on each side, maybe paint stirring sticks, and throw it in a vise (or maybe vice grips).  then rotate it as necessary to get the various sides/ends.

[shooting for M]

For the striker, I just hold it and use a felt wheel and some Jewelers rouge.

 

For the firing pin safety, Chuck it in a drill then us a 3M wheel on a Dremel. Dremel about 500rpm, drill moving maybe half that speed. Rounds it nicely and uniformly.

 

Sent from my moto g(7) using Tapatalk

 

 

 

 

 

 

[open17]

I grab it in my cordless drill.    Hit it a touch on the belt sander to round the corner, then to a soft polishing wheel

while spinning it with the drill.   

[Stumphenhammer]

Thanks guys, good input. I'm going to take a rectangular piece of wood a couple inches long, drill a hole in it just smaller than the diameter of the plunger , saw it in half across the hole, then use it to clamp the plunger in a vise to see if I can get a bit more control on the operation.

[bigtimelarry]

I wrap the base with masking tape, put it in a cordless drill and put Flitz on a Scothbrite Green pad and just spin it.. 

[MemphisMechanic]

You want the plunger spinning to make it a very quick and very high quality job.

 

Chuck it in a drill and shape it with static sandpaper/ file / etc.
 

Edited January 19, 2020 by MemphisMechanic

[sam_b]

Usually 2 pieces of wood between the vise jaws and the part if it can be crushed

[davsco]

in your fingers, bonus of getting a manicure at same time...

[Tampa-XD45]

Put it the chuck of my drill press.  IIRC, the steel was pretty hard so I had to use files before the fine emery cloth & Fitz felt wheel stages. 

[Blue Jacket]

On 1/14/2020 at 5:08 PM, davsco said:

i'd just put two pieces of wood on each side, maybe paint stirring sticks, and throw it in a vise (or maybe vice grips).  then rotate it as necessary to get the various sides/ends.

ditto here I do the same 

[ima45dv8]

I've used a small allen wrench that fit in the spring hole. It allows the plunger to spin as Memphis said. Just use the wrench as a handle and hold it to the polishing wheel.