[BKLYN_C]

Well, This wasnt really a project but a test run on the new lathe and mill.
A week ago I received a shipment of lathe and mill from Grizzly. Got the machines lifted onto bench and set up. Now I needed a quick and easy something to test the new tools.
So, I had few of the uber ugly and useless tapco AK breaks sitting around. A lot of metal but if apply a little of work that should come out as a nice muzzle break. Not much of science, just two side gills/slots and enlarged to 16x1 RH to go onto Saiga308.
So this is what it was before vs what it is now. Dont know how effective it will be as a break, but I am sure it will blow away some things off the near by tables at Calverton

And some pictures of the machines
The mill

The lathe

 

[General.rr]

I think that is GREAT work. Love the setup too.

 

[FULL METAL JACKET]

Nice... I use grizzly tools all the time.

 

[Paté]

Nice.....Looks much better!

 

[Mad Russian]

DA! Iz vedee good!

So now you can make custom brakes?

 

[BKLYN_C]

DA! Iz vedee good!

So now you can make custom brakes?

Sorry, I cant yet. I broke my finger and cant do much till it heels. I cant even go to the range cause it is the trigger finger

 

[mattyj513]

Uhhhhhh. I want to come to your house and have you teach me all your AK knowledge. Good luck with your hand, and I look forward to the future results of your lathe.

 

[AngryAzn]

Pretty cool man.

 

[peteinsuffolk]

Sorry, I cant yet. I broke my finger and cant do much till it heels. I cant even go to the range cause it is the trigger finger

shoot lefty you wuss!

seriously.. nice stuff.

 

[NQ2F]

Hope the finger heals soon.  Really Nice Work!

 

[Captain Will]

Is that a smal gearhead mill? Looks like maybe the X3 pattern, but hard to tell scale from thepic?

Congratulations, now the dialing in phase begins.... you won't be buying any more guns since your next $2K-$4K is going to be sunk in tooling and while you run around trying to find stuff like Vactra that is not readily available on this island.

Hobby machining is more addictive than guns!

They just opened a Harbor Freight in Huntington, I have not been in there to see if they carry any of the chinese tooling, I need some tri-inserts, I will report back.

About the only plasces I know of locally for tooling are Grainger and MSC, so I try to order online from Shars, JT, etc. In the beginning phase, it seems the penalty for a newbie machinist is to burn up and dull everything he touches.

Keep an eye out for automotive cams and solid axles, like the ones on F250's where the hub cover unbolts and you can just pull the axle free. These parts are A2 and S7, great turning stock. Cams you need to grind the lobes off of first so you are not making interrupted cuts on hardened steel, it will beat the crud out of your spindle bearings.

Good luck, have fun! Oh, and LEVEL the machines now and bolt them to a proper bench- Soooooo important later!

 

[BKLYN_C]

Will, thanks for the advise. Many years back bin the school I got my machinist qualification and now the long forgotten skills are slowly coming back. Along with the machines I got some accessories which I thought I would need the most, so this plus all the tools I had before will get me covered. The mill is x2, small but good enough to do some hobby work. The lathe is not a big beast either but working slowly will get me where I want to be. The only it is missing is the feed to the right so no left threads for now. Will build a reverse tumbler later on.
What's really frustrating is the price of materials and lack of availability locally.
But you are right, I will not be buying anymore guns in the near future, I already have enough part kits to last me for a while