Tooling suggestions?

[eddybo]

I have been searching for a 1 3/8 ball end mill and cant seem to find one. (That is the external diminsion of a remington 700 isnt it?)

While I was searching I decided I may as well pick up some good endmills for some common gunsmithing practices, like inletting for the trigger guard etc. Any body know common sizes for this purpose. Any common sizes for opening up barrel channels? Any tooling suggestions period?

What about indicators? I do not want to spend a whole bunch on them but would like some quality equipment.

Action trueing mandrels-fixtures? PTG or Manson for the mandrels, is there anything better than these?

 

[James Jones]

Dave Kiff is a great guy to deal with , you can call him and he may be able to point you in the right direction fo some tool ,his range rods and mandrels are probably the best.

As for the 1.375" end mill , thats not a very common size though they do have them , the actual or on the Rem 700's is 1.350-1.355" so you would be .020" over on your inleting which isin't a problem if you don't need that "like it grew their" look. Anaother problem is that the ball nose endmills don't like to cut wood or fiberglass to much , I was thinking the next time I get the chance to inlet one that I would use a regular 6 flute center cutting endmill (I got a couple that are 1.350" now) and just clock the mill head over 45 degs so that your cutting on the side on the tool rather then the bottom.

For the indicators , those are like relocding dies ,you can never had to many , you can get some decinet ones from Grizzly for about $15 ,their not great but if you take care of them they do a good job but their not sealed up as well as the Starrets so they can get a little funk on the inside and gum them up , get a couple 2" travel models too , they come in handy , a few maybe 4 of the flexible magbase holders , and rather than use the mighty mag holders that hold the idal real close I mill the lug off the back of a couple and glue a strong magnet to them cause they take up less room.

 

[eddybo]

Thanks James and that is a great idea on tilting the mill head I had never considered that. I think Mr. Don found me a ball end mill like I wanted. I have about a month before I get delivery then it will probably take me a month to get everything squared away. I may have to beg you to come up and give me a hand figuring some things out once I get it all set up.

 

[338hammer]

Tooling

There are ball endmills out there for any size you need. A ball endmill the size you indicate will cause heart palpitations and blurred vision when you see the price.

SInce I steel and Piller bed anyway, I have found it way easier to cut flats with standard endmills and actually use a 1/2 endmill and run to within an inch of the end of the stock muzzle. Then a use a 4 or more flute ball endmill to trace the barrel channel I have marked out on the material.

I make sure I am under sized in all my cuts and finish everything up by hand fitting. However if you want a close contouring barrel channel then this method is not for you. Since I fee float everything forword of the action I really do not care how much its floated as the barrel covers it up.

For the action I either do as previously indicated and encompass the action in steel bed apoxy or use a 3/4" endmill and move from side to side as needed.

I also agree that one can not have enough indicaters, especially in the absence of CNC or DRO's.

Just something to think about.

Neal

 

[eddybo]

Talk about a let down. I didnt expect any parts but they apparently decided to drop ship my tool post.....and it is wrong. I mean this thing has got to be for 10" or smaller lathes. Hope this isnt a sign of things to come.

 

[James Jones]

What kind of post is it and what size is it , you'ld be supprized at the size of some of the "recomended" tooling , if your going by the size of Mr. Don's then don't ,that the same size I have on a 18x60 LeBlond at work its about two sizes to big but over kill is hardly ever a bad thing , but in some cases the tool holders will sit so high that you can adjust them down far enough to accurately work with the centerline of the lathe , then you have to machine on the tools and thats a pain in the ***.

As for the action truing jig you can make one pretty easy ,just have to find the right size stock and I think I know wher a chunck may be
I'll dig through my secret stash that I've accumulated and see what I can do without , it'll probably cost you some machine time though.

338Hammer is right ,you can get any size , shape and material you for for tools its only a matter of what your check book can stand but their are dozens of ways to skin cats , hell I know a guy that trues rifle action with a mill cause he doesen't have room for a lathe , it works and they are just as strait as any others I've seen but their ALOT of work involved.

If you haven't bought your vises for the mill I highly recomend that you spend the extra money and get Kurt vises , they don't move the work like alot of others do as theyare desgined to apply downward perssure as well as clamping perssure where some vises don't and that causes your work to raise and cock 95% of the time.

What lathe and mill did you end up going with?

 

[eddybo]

I went with the Jet like dons and got a good deal on a 9x49 tabled Jet mill. You are welcome to use my machines anytime BTW. I want to watch am sure I would learn a bunch.

 

[P KUNDA]

Top indicators everytime

To try to save money on indicators is not a good idea. A top indicator, that one can 100% depend on everytime is the only accurate way to go.

Peter

 

[Rustystud]

Remington Diameter

Good Day:

The last Remington 700 I measured was 1.360 OD.

For inletting stocks I have never needed a 1.360 ball endmill.

For wood you can use a router bit. Either purchasing it or making it.

For metal you can use a fly cutter with either having your stock verticle or at an angle.

Metal again, You can chuck up your stock in a lathe and use a boring bar.


Good Luck
Rustystud

 

[eddybo]

Thanks for the info. I was thinking about getting a flattop A3 and inletting it for a remington action. The Ball endmill looked like the easy way out. I am glad to find out other methods. I had thought a one pass cutter would be the way to go.
I saw a cutter someone made from a spade bit the other day that was contoured to match the profile of an action. I am thinking about going that route but worry about chipping around the tang. I have a few weeks before my new machines arrive. I guess I will wait on them before I tacle anything. I cant angle the head on my little lathe/mill and it lacks the travel to make the cut in one pass anyway.
I guess I will just keep making pillar blanks and odds and ends until I get better tooling.

 

[James Jones]

eddybo , like everybody mentioned their are several ways to inlet for the action and if its gonna be glass bedded your gonna need relief anyhow.

P KUNDA , your right about the indicators needing to be reliable , I use the cheaper indicators for measuring my tool movement rather than depending on the machine dials ,I setup indicators on everything I do ,when measuring my parts and things like runout I use either my Starret of Brown&Sharp last word indiators. Unless your lucky enough to have DRO's on all your stuff using dials in the only way to go and in the places these thing get put and the danage they see from time to time you don't want any $100 dials in thier.

 

[adam]

I kind of agree on the indicators with both camps. Good indicators are important, but I have used a number of the cheaper ones to good effect. The way I see it is: If you aren't going to pop for a digital, then stick to the cheap ones and buy a lot of them. they do tend to fall,crud etc. tossem n get a new one from the shelf.

However I do recomend spending the bucks on the best bases you can get your hands on. A good base can make a crappy indicator good enough.

 

[JayIdaho]

I don't want to be a smartass but you would have to tip the mill head to 90º to get a 1.350 radius with a 1.350 diameter endmill. Any angle less than 90º will result in a radius LARGER than the diameter of the endmill.
There is a formula for using a smaller endmill to cut a larger radius. I think that it is radius of endmill/radius desired = sine of angle to tilt head. It is a handy trick but you cannot get a full radius.
I use a 1.250 diameter ball endmill with a formula from Excel to cut a number of scallops that are ALMOST a true radius. A few strokes with a piece of sandpaper on a 1.325 diameter aluminum rod gives me a pretty darn good radius. I've done a lot of stocks and barrel blocks with this method.

 

[grpolarbear]

Dial indicators

If your not fortunate enough to have DRO on your lathe a 2 inch travel dial on a mighty mag base works.I used to run a 2 incher and a top quality one ten thousand,s dial on my cross slide,Mitotoyo was what I used,anyway use the 2 incher for large moves and the tenths for tolerance work.Two dials are also good because they can verify each other.I also got in the habit of using the tenths with a DRO on close tolerance OD work,+ or - 2 tenths was easy on a decent lathe.Mill work requires a last word type dial, its a must.GRPB