I was just on the verge of springing for a sight installation / adjustment tool (Big buck$) when it dawned on me to ask here. Anyone made such a critter? I want something universal (or mostly so) with a lot of leverage. I'll use it mostly for 1911 sights, so that one's a must. The $500+ jobs in Brownell's don't look terribly complex, any gotchas?
TIA, GsT
Sight installation / adjustment tool
Re: Sight tool, what kind
Something along the lines of the Hesco Universal sight installation tool or PI Semi-Auto Magnum sight tool. In Brownell's catalog #55 p.245; in catalog #54 p.245 also.
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GeorgeGaskill
That kind of money for those things almost ...
has me ready to quit my day job, assuming of course there is a big market for them. 
Can't see anything really too hard about making one for yourself in either one, although the picture at brownells.com of the PI leaves something to be desired. Saving the image and bringing the brightness up reveals more complexity but I doubt I would spring for that much cash without seeing one in person.
I would harden and grind any surfaces that bear on the slide so I wouldn't be marking it and harden the screw and traveling part to lessen wear. Can't see any other obvious things.
Can't see anything really too hard about making one for yourself in either one, although the picture at brownells.com of the PI leaves something to be desired. Saving the image and bringing the brightness up reveals more complexity but I doubt I would spring for that much cash without seeing one in person. I would harden and grind any surfaces that bear on the slide so I wouldn't be marking it and harden the screw and traveling part to lessen wear. Can't see any other obvious things.
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jcbgunsmith
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Re: The more expensive one looks even simpler ...
I was at the Kahr Arms factory last week for the armoures school. They were using old 6" mill vises as sight pushers to install the sights. The slide slid onto a rail attached to the ways of the vice in front of the back jaw. The movable jaw had a projection that was contoured to fit the sight. You just turned the vice screw to press the sight in. By making different rails and pushers to fit different slides you could use any old mill vice to make you own sight adjuster.
Re: The more expensive one looks even simpler ...
Seems like a decent idea, but I'm still bent on the Brownell's design. Yes they look very simple, I'm just wondering if there's something I should watch out for before undertaking one, or a reason to just buy it. I have had mixed results with purchased gunsmithing tools, many are entirely too simple for what they cost and really only of benefit to someone without machine tools, other's are well worth purchasing.