Guns & Outdoors Forum

PFD45 wrote: ↑Tue Nov 26, 2024 3:59 am That is Maestro level work. Just is.

Thank you. I take alot of pride in repairs that others aren't capable of doing but this is the first time that a manufacturer has failed to fix something and I saved it.

Justsomedude wrote: ↑Tue Nov 26, 2024 3:34 am At least you guys have your voice-mail set up. I'm griping about the morons that send me to voice-mail and it's full or not set up and then I have to store their guns which at times can cause me to have to decline work (my safe stays that full) and its money and time I have tied up just sitting there. Oh, on another note, I did finish the Colt Anaconda and test fired it today. It's superb. The barrel was so crooked to the left that the rear sight was jacked so far to the right that the adjustment screw was almost falling out.
20241125_170043.jpg20241125_170031.jpg20241125_170018.jpg

Looks Fantastic

Superb!
I’m still looking back at your measurement setup!!

A critical error in the programming for my knives…I made the second cut before I made the first cut. The first cut takes the lions share of material. Like 3/8” or better in some places. The second cut takes .010 off to clean up what the first pass didn’t get.

Thankfully I’ve found an excellent source for tooling, made in the USA, inexpensive, amazing service, and tools that are as good as those costing 3 times the price. But, they don’t stock the one I had them make me.

2-3 week lead time. So, I CANT break another.

Believe it or not, but amazon has some fantastic endmills. I get my carbide from there and they are cheap, sharp and durable.

I’ve got some from the Blamazons before. There’s some decent manufactures that sell there. I use them as a backup if my buddy doesn’t have something to hold me
Over.

But I have to have a consistent cutter, and consistent supply of that cutter. I’ve gotten stuff from Amazon only to have it disappear when I needed it again. The manufacturing process is built around the tooling, and having to change mid process sucks wang. Big greasy wang. Been there done that with the prototyping. Had random cutters Id been gifted that I used. All amazing quality stuff, but also random. Can’t hold a process around it.
Having my own knife manufacturing operation in my garage is pretty cool.

I use these 1/4" bad boys for my rmr cuts and they work flawless, even in the godforsaken Sig slides that they stupidly overharden. They don't dull out and they're consistent in dimensions.

Also meant to ask if you've figured out how to do your own g code? I can't figure it out to save my life for my cnc router. I can design things like no other for my 3d printers but working in the inverse is mind boggling. And I haven't found an intuitive program yet.

Justsomedude wrote: ↑Thu Nov 28, 2024 7:24 am Also meant to ask if you've figured out how to do your own g code? I can't figure it out to save my life for my cnc router. I can design things like no other for my 3d printers but working in the inverse is mind boggling. And I haven't found an intuitive program yet.

Fusion 360.
Now just called Fusion, I believe. You can get the version for poors, it “allows” you to use it for free as a hobby user, or sell stuff as long as it’s not over $1000 per year. It’s stripped down from the paid version, but for a router you’d likely never need the extra features. It’s a cad/cam (g code)
package. You draw it, then it coverts it to robot speak in the same program. It’s THE most taught software on the YouTube’s. Lots of tutorials.

As far as doing G code on your own, yes, it’s doable. It’s also insanity. You’ll be in the thousands of lines of code with a very little project. Ain’t nobody got time for dat.


Here’s a snippet of mine.
I didn’t write it. The program did.

Wanted one of those fancy press bracket set ups, but didn’t want to pay a lot for something I can do myself. Sheet metal is not my forte, but I can design things in CAD and send them to a buddy who is good at sheet metal. He did a little government work for me, and now I’ve got my brackets. I can swap presses by removing a few bolts. Had him make me extra plates

NICE Work!
Is that sheet metal work? Looks more like industrial metal fab to this old phone guy.
Nice snips.

He made you a plate for your Dillon, right?

Only
Dillion part I have is the scale in the picture.

So the parts were cut out on a CNC waterjet. Then he did all the bending on a manual brake.

He is very talented.

He designed the heat treat oven I’m building, and bent it also. I’m just now getting it assembled.

Man, thanks for the pics.
The mount looks like it would stand up to some serious reefing.

PFD45 wrote: ↑Sat Nov 30, 2024 4:14 am Man, thanks for the pics.
The mount looks like it would stand up to some serious reefing.

We will see. I have to bolt it to the bench. But, I will
Likely make the whole shooting match bolt to the bench. Mount the stainless bit on a chunk of plywood so I can move the whole assembly off the bench. Thats actually what I will do. I don’t have enough bench space, so being able to move it will help.
Of course, with that bolted to the bench I won’t have a place to pile poop that shouldn’t be on that bench to begin with….
Meh. Small potatoes. I’ve got a heat treat oven to finish.

If you cut that fire brick, don't skimp on a good fitting face mask. That ish will give you forever lung problems from just a few times of breathing it in. Silicosis is no joke.

Oh, and the press mount is genius. I imagine it's much sturdier to put pressure in the center of a table when wanging down on the ram than to have one bolted to the edge like they're designed. Even strong benches bow and flex with them bolted on that way. And I'm jealous of your oven. I heat treat and temper alot of parts and have gotten damned good at reading temper colors but a nice oven to dial it in would be awesome. When you do your first run up, do it very slow and progressive so that the brick won't crack.

Brick was cut with a hacksaw.
But I still wore a mask. I’ve seen folks go at it with power tools. Oh hell no. It turns to a stupid fine powder.

How do you control the oven temp? Or do you just measure the temp of the piece?

Japhy wrote: ↑Mon Dec 02, 2024 2:10 am How do you control the oven temp? Or do you just measure the temp of the piece?

With a PID controller.

https://a.co/d/1H35NWK



Keeps temps within a couple degrees of the set point.

Well. Would you look at deez nutz!
Thanks Alec.

No problem....Glad to see they finally made it.

“Look at her. That’s one **** nice kitty right there“

I know it's because I've been getting minimal sleep lately and the little things are starting to make me twitch but I absolutely DO NOT like when people show up a half hour before I open and meet me in the parking lot.
1. They almost always park in my spot.
2. They think I'm going to let them in before I'm open.

No dude, I'm going to sit down and smoke a cigar while I drink my coffee because I'm a creature of habit that doesn't like change.

Office Christmas party