BUBBA needs a winter project.

fingers284 said:
Glad to be of some help to a fellow hobby machinist. We soon learn that it's cheaper to learn from someone else's experience/mistakes than spend exorbitant amounts of money on the "right tool"....sometimes....I, for sure, have as many machine mods/jigs in my shop that didn't work "as dreamed" as the one that did work.

Good luck with the rest of your project, let us know the results. If you need to run a finish reamer in your barrel to set headspace, I can give you a tip on building a floating reamer mount that works for about $15.
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It's a Savage, the headspace is set by screwing in the barrel and locking it with the nut when headspace is theoreticly zero.
I've done this a few times, using a fired case as a spacer, and I'm still alive.

The next part of this project, is to clear out the barrel channel on the Boyds stock to clear this one, it's 1.050" Dia. and the stock is made for a sportser barrel. Now, if I could just find a wooden mill....LOL.
 
You can open up the barrel channel in a table saw that has the table drilled for mounting a router underneath so that the bit will extend up through. You need what I would call a round nose router bit, but the bit makers seem to call a core-box cutter. You will also need to shim the stock so that it will slide straight and true with the barrel channel along the saw fence. I would start with a smaller than required bit, maybe about 7/8". You can finish to size with a 1" bit and offset the fence to widen to size. This is not a simple process and requires a lot of fiddling around, but can be done. Alternatively, you can do the job in a vertical mill, but it is still going to be a PITA to clamp your stock up straight so that the cut goes true with the original barrel channel. Easier to cut this way, as you can see what is happening.
 
bushwhacker said:
You can open up the barrel channel in a table saw that has the table drilled for mounting a router underneath so that the bit will extend up through. You need what I would call a round nose router bit, but the bit makers seem to call a core-box cutter. You will also need to shim the stock so that it will slide straight and true with the barrel channel along the saw fence. I would start with a smaller than required bit, maybe about 7/8". You can finish to size with a 1" bit and offset the fence to widen to size. This is not a simple process and requires a lot of fiddling around, but can be done. Alternatively, you can do the job in a vertical mill, but it is still going to be a PITA to clamp your stock up straight so that the cut goes true with the original barrel channel. Easier to cut this way, as you can see what is happening.
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That sounds like solid advice, unfortunatly I dont have any fancy wood working tools aside from the usual hand tools.
Not sure what I'm going to do yet. Thinking about using the mill, but holding the stock in place will not be easy, as the
mill has a short bed.
Someone suggested manually carving it out and finishing with sandpaper, it sounds easy and safe to me.

I'll post pics of the stock "before" and "after" I bubba it. Wish me luck.
 
For those interested,

Here is a pic of the original barrel (black) and the new (used) barrel (stainless).
The new (used) barrel was machined down from a lage shank to a small shank and thraded 20 tpi.
It is fitted on the action with nut in place.

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Boyds thumbhole being opened up for the new (used) heavy barrel.
I decided to take a chance on the mill.

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Great pics :) Wow, you got the downsizing and rethreading done already.

Time consuming to open up the stock on the mill? Just a thought, you could have probably inserted a router bit on the mill and the profile could have been done in less passes, that is if you used a drill bit as it appears in the last picture.
 
NL-Hunter said:
Great pics :) Wow, you got the downsizing and rethreading done already.

Time consuming to open up the stock on the mill? Just a thought, you could have probably inserted a router bit on the mill and the profile could have been done in less passes, that is if you used a drill bit as it appears in the last picture.
Click to expand...

Polishing my turd and putting lipstick on it. LOL

It's not a drilling bit, it's actually a two flute carbide milling bit, I've used it on aluminium and all sorts of plastics, works great.

Milling the barrel chanel took a while, making a square cut to accomodate a round barrel is not easy. I used
small "ladder" steps to try to save as much wood as possible.

It fits well, and the barrel is free floated. My concern right now is hanging that much weight on the action itself.
Yes, I should have thought of that sooner, but didn't.
May have to bed the action, to spread the weight of the barrel over a larger area, instead of just two pillars.

Some say that "not having a plan" is a plan in itself...........I call BS.
The bottom line is: I'm having fun with the project, I have the time, and can also afford to mess it up since
"little Hitler" (the wife) knows nothing about it.

I'll post more pics when I get batteries for the camera.

Cheers
 
:)

You could always bed the barrel as well, using barrel tape of course so it is still free floating.

Wish I had more time and equipment, would try various things for sure.

Like making a Four piece rifle, still pondering how to safely create a two piece barrel... Time will tell, Patience I have abundance of.
 
NL-Hunter said:
:)

You could always bed the barrel as well, using barrel tape of course so it is still free floating.

Wish I had more time and equipment, would try various things for sure.

Like making a Four piece rifle, still pondering how to safely create a two piece barrel... Time will tell, Patience I have abundance of.
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Have a look at the interupted thread, or some modification of it.

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May I offer up some advise for the vise you show in the photo. I have the same vise and was always discouraged by the amount of time used to square the jaws up with the track of the carriage. The "fix" takes about as much time as a perfect re-set does. You will need a piece of square key stock that is the same width (as in snug) as the t slots in your lathe bed. Install the key stock to the base of your vise as close to lining up with the base clamping bolts as you can.

You will also need two bolts with an unthreaded length of shank that you have the exact drill size for (I used 1/4 " on mine). Properly, we should use tapered pins but they and the corresponding drills are expensive. Now set up a dial gauge so that you can take a reading off the solid jaw of the vise. Using the lathe table, transvers it back and forth, adjusting vise angle until you get an absolute "O" reading on the gauge from one end of the travers to the other. Now lock the vise adjusting bolts solidly (check for "O" again). Now with the "Mill", drill a hole on the lower step beside the locking bolts (as shows in your photo's). Drill right through both vise top & vise base. now cut the threads off the 1/4 " bolts leaving enough bolt shank to engage both top & bottom of vise, install in hole....you can now remove vise from the machine or remove the "pins" to change the jaw angle and return to "a most times acceptable" "O" in seconds by lining up the holes and inserting pins.

You can also drill more holes at "90" or any angle you will commonly use. The "90" is useful when to want to make a perfect right angle cut without disturbing the work piece in the jaws. Very much more accurate than the dial engraved into the base of the vise (on mine anyways)
 
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Don't worry about the weight of the barrel. I shoot a 30 inch bull barrel on my Axis in 223 and I got pretty good results in F-Class this season. It is free floated all the way.
 
fingers284 said:
May I offer up some advise for the vise you show in the photo. I have the same vise and was always discouraged by the amount of time used to square the jaws up with the track of the carriage. The "fix" takes about as much time as a perfect re-set does. You will need a piece of square key stock that is the same width (as in snug) as the t slots in your lathe bed. Install the key stock to the base of your vise as close to lining up with the base clamping bolts as you can.

You will also need two bolts with an unthreaded length of shank that you have the exact drill size for (I used 1/4 " on mine). Properly, we should use tapered pins but they and the corresponding drills are expensive. Now set up a dial gauge so that you can take a reading off the solid jaw of the vise. Using the lathe table, transvers it back and forth, adjusting vise angle until you get an absolute "O" reading on the gauge from one end of the travers to the other. Now lock the vise adjusting bolts solidly (check for "O" again). Now with the "Mill", drill a hole on the lower step beside the locking bolts (as shows in your photo's). Drill right through both vise top & vise base. now cut the threads off the 1/4 " bolts leaving enough bolt shank to engage both top & bottom of vise, install in hole....you can now remove vise from the machine or remove the "pins" to change the jaw angle and return to "a most times acceptable" "O" in seconds by lining up the holes and inserting pins.

You can also drill more holes at "90" or any angle you will commonly use. The "90" is useful when to want to make a perfect right angle cut without disturbing the work piece in the jaws. Very much more accurate than the dial engraved into the base of the vise (on mine anyways)
Click to expand...

Fingers284, have a picture? Sounds like a great idea, but not sure I follow your explanation.

Thanks !!
 
bobfortier said:
Don't worry about the weight of the barrel. I shoot a 30 inch bull barrel on my Axis in 223 and I got pretty good results in F-Class this season. It is free floated all the way.
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I was wondering about that. Thanks bobfortier, I'll try it without bedding and see what happens.

Thanks !!!
 
cet said:
Yup, agree, I was just laughing at myself. The wife suggested a complete body condom.......go figure.

"If you can't laugh at yourself, you should not laugh at others........." my mother's favorite.
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If you can't laugh at yourself, someone will do it for you.
 
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