I had some jerk take a pretty decent (but slightly rusted) original ppk down to parts and proceed to "coat" it with Duracoat bought over the internet and a model train sprayer. couldn't even get the gun back together with a mallet. ended up selling to a gunshop for pennies on the dollar.
then this same jackwagon takes apart a 1911 to try and fit a new magwell the day before a match, and can't get it back together. had to go running to a different shop with the proverbial "Bag of gun" to get it fixed in a hurry.
oh to be clear, I'm the jackass in the first 2 stories
all my worst smith things were projects I thought I could do and got over my head. I was younger and knew less, but that's how you learn. That and youtube.
I've had great luck with real smiths. Sent a range officer slide out to a competition smith and he did a perfect job tri topping it. sent a rusted piece of what used to be a hunting rifle to a smith on this forum and he did better than I could imagine. Only issue was he didn't charge enough. had some milling done by L&M years ago and it was perfect.
I made peace with the rule "Good, fast, cheap... pick any 2".