Update.
Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later--abject project failure. The breech hit the recycling bin a few minutes ago. I found it impossible to use the small drill press and keep the bit on center when drilling for the barrel. There's no current plan to make a second attempt. Sorry 'bout that. I was really looking forward to this one. I'll have to regroup and come up with another project.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Crosman Breech Attempt-- Part 1
Happy Thanksgiving to all our readers!
A few weeks ago, I bought a small milling machine from Grizzly. It somehow seems only fitting that the first real project would be a breech for a 22XX. And since I have almost no milling experience, this will probably be a complete and utter disaster. This whole project may end up in the recycle bin.
Bought a bar of 12L14 from Speedy Metals on my last order. It's 3/4" x 1" x 6". Took a clean up pass on one of the 3/4" sides with an endmill.
With the piece on parallels and cleaned up the opposite side. This makes the two sides parallel to each other. Vise parallels are simply pieces of thin metal that are precisely ground top and bottom that sit on the bed (bottom) of the vise so the top of the work sits above the jaws. If the work is really thin, just use a single parallel.
Wanted to try something different on the sides, so I used a flycutter. The flycutter can sweep a larger surface than an endmill in a single pass, so it's good for cleaning up large surfaces--though it's not as accurate.
Flipped the piece and did the opposite side.
Need to drill for the barrel and bolt. Drilling a six inch deep hole in a piece of steel is not an easy task. The new mill doesn't have enough vertical travel to accommodate the vise, workpiece and 6"+ drill bit. The Taig lathe doesn't have enough bed length, either. Hmmmm... Guess I need a full size drill press after all. Since I didn't want to buy one at 9 PM last night, that left the small bench top drill press. I swung the table out of the way and used the base. The base on this machine has slots to fix workpieces. For the size and low cost of this drill press, it's pretty well thought out. I used a 3" drill press vise that is ground on the bottom and both sides. The vise was mounted sideways and clamped down with step blocks, t-nuts and strap clamps. Getting the fixture right took some time. Found hole center with a pointed indicator in the chuck.
Started drilling with a 1/4" standard length drill bit.
After drilling into the work approx two inches, I removed the bit and the workpiece then inserted a longer bit into the drilled hole. The work was reinstalled into the vise and the drill bit chucked and I continued drilling. After drilling over halfway through, I turned the work 180 degrees in the vise and drilled from the opposite end. With some luck, the holes met halfway and lined up quite well. Ran a 0.250" reamer through the length of the hole to clean it up.
Slid a piece of 0.250 drill rod through the hole and noted that the hole wasn't completely straight through the steel. Not unexpected, since it's almost impossible to keep a long drill bit from wandering as it cuts. It was very slightly angled side to side--which means the barrel will be pointed left or right depending on which end becomes the front. Had the angle been in the vertical plane, it would have been easy to fix when milling the bottom radius to fit against the gas tube. As I still need to drill for the barrel diameter, it seemed that I should fix this now. It made sense to use the hole itself as the reference point and just make the outside of the breech parallel to the drill rod.
Probably a lot of ways to do this, but I have a nice set of gauge blocks and I'd like to put them to work.
The gauge blocks are very precisely graduated lengths of steel. They can be combined to make exact lengths for layout, measurement...
I stacked four together on one end. I lifted the work just off the parallels and hung the piece by the drill rod.
Could have duplicated the stack height with the gauge blocks for the other side, but I grabbed an adjustable parallel instead. With a caliper locked open at the exact measurement of the gauge block stack, I matched the parallel to the exact size of the stacked blocks.
Slid the parallel under the other side. With the work hanging from the drill rod, I clamped down the vise.
Top of the workpiece just barely clears the top of the jaws.
Could've used the flycutter again, but this time I milled the top surface--just kissed it until the entire surface had material removed. The top is now parallel to the center hole. I turned the work over and seated that freshly cut face against the parallels in the vise and took another cut. Now both sides are parallel to the center drilled hole.
Lot more to do. Check back in a couple days.
A few weeks ago, I bought a small milling machine from Grizzly. It somehow seems only fitting that the first real project would be a breech for a 22XX. And since I have almost no milling experience, this will probably be a complete and utter disaster. This whole project may end up in the recycle bin.
Bought a bar of 12L14 from Speedy Metals on my last order. It's 3/4" x 1" x 6". Took a clean up pass on one of the 3/4" sides with an endmill.
With the piece on parallels and cleaned up the opposite side. This makes the two sides parallel to each other. Vise parallels are simply pieces of thin metal that are precisely ground top and bottom that sit on the bed (bottom) of the vise so the top of the work sits above the jaws. If the work is really thin, just use a single parallel.
Wanted to try something different on the sides, so I used a flycutter. The flycutter can sweep a larger surface than an endmill in a single pass, so it's good for cleaning up large surfaces--though it's not as accurate.
Flipped the piece and did the opposite side.
Need to drill for the barrel and bolt. Drilling a six inch deep hole in a piece of steel is not an easy task. The new mill doesn't have enough vertical travel to accommodate the vise, workpiece and 6"+ drill bit. The Taig lathe doesn't have enough bed length, either. Hmmmm... Guess I need a full size drill press after all. Since I didn't want to buy one at 9 PM last night, that left the small bench top drill press. I swung the table out of the way and used the base. The base on this machine has slots to fix workpieces. For the size and low cost of this drill press, it's pretty well thought out. I used a 3" drill press vise that is ground on the bottom and both sides. The vise was mounted sideways and clamped down with step blocks, t-nuts and strap clamps. Getting the fixture right took some time. Found hole center with a pointed indicator in the chuck.
Started drilling with a 1/4" standard length drill bit.
After drilling into the work approx two inches, I removed the bit and the workpiece then inserted a longer bit into the drilled hole. The work was reinstalled into the vise and the drill bit chucked and I continued drilling. After drilling over halfway through, I turned the work 180 degrees in the vise and drilled from the opposite end. With some luck, the holes met halfway and lined up quite well. Ran a 0.250" reamer through the length of the hole to clean it up.
Slid a piece of 0.250 drill rod through the hole and noted that the hole wasn't completely straight through the steel. Not unexpected, since it's almost impossible to keep a long drill bit from wandering as it cuts. It was very slightly angled side to side--which means the barrel will be pointed left or right depending on which end becomes the front. Had the angle been in the vertical plane, it would have been easy to fix when milling the bottom radius to fit against the gas tube. As I still need to drill for the barrel diameter, it seemed that I should fix this now. It made sense to use the hole itself as the reference point and just make the outside of the breech parallel to the drill rod.
Probably a lot of ways to do this, but I have a nice set of gauge blocks and I'd like to put them to work.
The gauge blocks are very precisely graduated lengths of steel. They can be combined to make exact lengths for layout, measurement...
I stacked four together on one end. I lifted the work just off the parallels and hung the piece by the drill rod.
Could have duplicated the stack height with the gauge blocks for the other side, but I grabbed an adjustable parallel instead. With a caliper locked open at the exact measurement of the gauge block stack, I matched the parallel to the exact size of the stacked blocks.
Slid the parallel under the other side. With the work hanging from the drill rod, I clamped down the vise.
Top of the workpiece just barely clears the top of the jaws.
Could've used the flycutter again, but this time I milled the top surface--just kissed it until the entire surface had material removed. The top is now parallel to the center hole. I turned the work over and seated that freshly cut face against the parallels in the vise and took another cut. Now both sides are parallel to the center drilled hole.
Lot more to do. Check back in a couple days.
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Aeron Bulk-Fill Thread Cover Version 2.0
Since I was already making a cap for one Aeron, I decided to make another for the second gun. I'm just going to pick up where I made some departures from the first.
Had a piece of knurled stainless steel. I think Nick set it in a care package a couple years ago. Drilled it out with a 5/16" bit. A piece of black plastic is behind it as a backer.
Drilled a hole in the bottom of the end cap with a #29 bit.
Tapped M5 x 0.8mm. Since it's going on a metric threaded gun...
Flipped the cap and took a clean up pass.
With a small boring bar, I cut a recess in the face for the knurled stainless disc.
Faced off a piece of 0.250" brass rod.
Spotted--
--then drilled a small hole in the center. I think I used a 3mm bit.
Turned the end of an M5 stainless bolt down to--hmmm--about 3mm.
Flipped the bolt and turned the head down to 0.315"--a couple thousandths over the 5/16" hole drilled through the piece of knurled stainless. I seem to be missing a pic. I pressed the ring and bolt together with some Loctite 680 and let it set up for 12 or so hours. Should be permanent.
Found the bottom of the bore inside the cap and drilled a gas vent hole. The hole cuts a half-round groove in the bottom.
Finished the cap in black. There's the press-fit ring and bolt. The brass tip was cut to size. It's a running fit (rotates freely on the end of the bolt).
Assembled. The idea is that turning the knurled ring should depress the pin in the end of the Aeron bulk-fill adapter and vent the gun. There have been a few times when it would have been advantageous if the gun could be emptied in a couple seconds rather than having to shoot the gun dry.
Getting a bit long. Ah well, it can go into the tool bin if I change my mind.
More soon.
Had a piece of knurled stainless steel. I think Nick set it in a care package a couple years ago. Drilled it out with a 5/16" bit. A piece of black plastic is behind it as a backer.
Drilled a hole in the bottom of the end cap with a #29 bit.
Tapped M5 x 0.8mm. Since it's going on a metric threaded gun...
Flipped the cap and took a clean up pass.
With a small boring bar, I cut a recess in the face for the knurled stainless disc.
Faced off a piece of 0.250" brass rod.
Spotted--
--then drilled a small hole in the center. I think I used a 3mm bit.
Turned the end of an M5 stainless bolt down to--hmmm--about 3mm.
Flipped the bolt and turned the head down to 0.315"--a couple thousandths over the 5/16" hole drilled through the piece of knurled stainless. I seem to be missing a pic. I pressed the ring and bolt together with some Loctite 680 and let it set up for 12 or so hours. Should be permanent.
Found the bottom of the bore inside the cap and drilled a gas vent hole. The hole cuts a half-round groove in the bottom.
Finished the cap in black. There's the press-fit ring and bolt. The brass tip was cut to size. It's a running fit (rotates freely on the end of the bolt).
Assembled. The idea is that turning the knurled ring should depress the pin in the end of the Aeron bulk-fill adapter and vent the gun. There have been a few times when it would have been advantageous if the gun could be emptied in a couple seconds rather than having to shoot the gun dry.
Getting a bit long. Ah well, it can go into the tool bin if I change my mind.
More soon.
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Aeron Pistol Bulk-Fill Thread Cover
One of my Aeron pistols was missing the cover that fits over the male bulk-fill threads at the bottom of the grip. The factory supplies a press-fit plastic cap. While it works fine, I need/want a second thread cover. The bulk-fill thread on the Czech pistols is M18 x 2mm. It took a couple weeks to track down a bottoming tap that didn't turn this into a $30 project.
Nick recently sent some 1" aluminum hex stock that had been languishing in his carport for years. Soon as I saw it, I knew it would be perfect for this. Chopped about a 3" length off to start.
As is the norm, the end was faced off square. A really sharp bit with some negative top rake and a high turning speed gave a dead flat surface in a single pass. Some cutting fluid didn't hurt either.
Rather than drill a hole first, I just plunged the boring bar into the aluminum face to start the hole. Took a few minutes, but I was able to bring the hole to approx 24mm deep, then bore the diameter to 16mm. Note: Not all boring bars work for this type of cut.
With a M18 x 2mm bottoming tap I was able to start the first couple threads by hand turning the headstock and feeding the tap gently until it started cutting. Once the tap starts cutting thread, it pulls itself into the work as long as the quill on the tail stock is free to move.
Transferred the work to the vise and switched to a larger tap handle.
About that much. Oh, I'd like to also recess the e-clip above the thread.
Finding the bottom of the hole.
Cut it beyond the rod and all will be OK.
The parting tool loves aluminum.
Chucked the cut off piece of work and cleaned up some corners, cut some decorative bevels...
With the boring bar, I cut a relief at the top of the thread to clear the e-clip.
Ran a piece of Scotchbrite over it to get a matte finish. I could definitely use a second one for the other pistol. Beats the pants off the plastic cover.
Inside view of the M18 x 2mm threads as well as the cut for the e-clip.
When (if) I make another, it'll probably have to be blackened.
More soon.
Nick recently sent some 1" aluminum hex stock that had been languishing in his carport for years. Soon as I saw it, I knew it would be perfect for this. Chopped about a 3" length off to start.
As is the norm, the end was faced off square. A really sharp bit with some negative top rake and a high turning speed gave a dead flat surface in a single pass. Some cutting fluid didn't hurt either.
Rather than drill a hole first, I just plunged the boring bar into the aluminum face to start the hole. Took a few minutes, but I was able to bring the hole to approx 24mm deep, then bore the diameter to 16mm. Note: Not all boring bars work for this type of cut.
With a M18 x 2mm bottoming tap I was able to start the first couple threads by hand turning the headstock and feeding the tap gently until it started cutting. Once the tap starts cutting thread, it pulls itself into the work as long as the quill on the tail stock is free to move.
Transferred the work to the vise and switched to a larger tap handle.
About that much. Oh, I'd like to also recess the e-clip above the thread.
Finding the bottom of the hole.
Cut it beyond the rod and all will be OK.
The parting tool loves aluminum.
Chucked the cut off piece of work and cleaned up some corners, cut some decorative bevels...
With the boring bar, I cut a relief at the top of the thread to clear the e-clip.
Ran a piece of Scotchbrite over it to get a matte finish. I could definitely use a second one for the other pistol. Beats the pants off the plastic cover.
Inside view of the M18 x 2mm threads as well as the cut for the e-clip.
When (if) I make another, it'll probably have to be blackened.
More soon.
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