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Making your own parts ?
- Thread starter SIGSHR
- Start date
Bill DeShivs
New member
I make some.
Springs, firing pins, other small parts. I generally don't do screws.
Springs, firing pins, other small parts. I generally don't do screws.
ShootistPRS
New member
I have made sights, springs, firing pins and other parts including screws but I don't like making screws at all. It's a lot of work that doesn't pay.
FrankenMauser
New member
I've made a few small parts -- springs [from spring stock], shoulder pins, split pins, plugs, magazine caps/plugs, magazine followers, and assorted minor items needed to resurrect derelict firearms.
...But never screws.
Now, I don't even really bother with labor and hand tools for stuff like magazine followers and plugs. I draw it up in a CAD program and get that stuff 3D printed in stainless steel or 'bronze' (both require a post-print sintering and 'sintered matrix infiltration' casting process). Sometimes minor fitting is required. Often, the parts drop in as intended.
...But never screws.
Now, I don't even really bother with labor and hand tools for stuff like magazine followers and plugs. I draw it up in a CAD program and get that stuff 3D printed in stainless steel or 'bronze' (both require a post-print sintering and 'sintered matrix infiltration' casting process). Sometimes minor fitting is required. Often, the parts drop in as intended.
g.willikers
New member
Nothing I would admit to.
dakota.potts
New member
A couple pins and screws. Made my first mainsprings the other day for an LC Smith receiver we have in the class that's been unfortunately torch cut. Not working perfect yet, but I couldn't believe I took a flat piece of metal and made a spring that fit in the little nooks haha.
I've also machined a number of fixtures for color case hardening, welding, etc. Having access to a mill and a lathe is a great thing.
I've also machined a number of fixtures for color case hardening, welding, etc. Having access to a mill and a lathe is a great thing.
Gunplummer
New member
I have made a lot of bolts, claw extractors, and screws to no end. The older gun screws are odd balls and you are stuck making them. Some screws I used so often I made a button die for them. You can make taps too, but size gets to be hit or miss with the heat treating. If you split the die you can always adjust it. When making parts, material knowledge and heat treating is everything. I tightened up a lot of levers on 99 Savage rifles by building up the bumper cam with weld and using Kasenite on the area. There are a lot of cheap fixes like that, and it is a correct repair. If you are going to stay in the business, there is money to be made with repair parts and repairing parts. Any competition that can only replace parts will be helpless when they can't find the part.
Almost forgot. What did the OP want to know about?
Almost forgot. What did the OP want to know about?
I have two lathes and a milling machine, plus other assorted related tools.
I make a lot of my own parts, bolts, and screws. Its not really cost or time effective for a lot of things but I don't live in town.
So when you count the time it takes me to go to town and back, often I can turn a bolt faster then I can drive to town and back.
The critical thing for these projects is often the heat treatment. You don't need to be an expert or have fancy equipment to do heat treating. You just need to know how hard the part needs to be.
Heat the product until it reaches its critical temp (this is where it no longer attracts a magnet). Quench in oil. Then draw the temp to desired hardness.
I use either the oven in the house or my lead pot to do this.
If anyone wants to get involved in part or fastener making, first thing you need to buy a copy of Machinery Handbook. Covers about everything you need to know.
I make a lot of my own parts, bolts, and screws. Its not really cost or time effective for a lot of things but I don't live in town.
So when you count the time it takes me to go to town and back, often I can turn a bolt faster then I can drive to town and back.
The critical thing for these projects is often the heat treatment. You don't need to be an expert or have fancy equipment to do heat treating. You just need to know how hard the part needs to be.
Heat the product until it reaches its critical temp (this is where it no longer attracts a magnet). Quench in oil. Then draw the temp to desired hardness.
I use either the oven in the house or my lead pot to do this.
If anyone wants to get involved in part or fastener making, first thing you need to buy a copy of Machinery Handbook. Covers about everything you need to know.
ShootistPRS
New member
I had metal shop in high school and learned the basics of sheet metal work, pattern making and lathe, forge, casting but it wasn't until I worked with a metalsmith for a summer that I learned some of the metallurgy I would later use. The more I learned the more I wanted to know. I have books that cover most of what I need to know about metals, their alloys and treatments and reference manuals on the strengths and limitation. My latest acquisition is the NASA information on new alloys and their properties and uses. It covers some of the latest aluminum alloys as well as some materials that I will likely never see much less use.
I won't call myself a blacksmith because I don't do it enough to say it. I'm not a machinist though I have a lathe and mill but it is for my hobbies and not to make a living. I do refer to myself as a metal smith because I use a lot of different metals to make the things I need or want. I have even invented some small things to solve problems for others in the past. I have made pumps, guns, tools and car parts in my years working with metal. If you want something made of metal I can make it - whether I will or not depends on my own motivation.
I won't call myself a blacksmith because I don't do it enough to say it. I'm not a machinist though I have a lathe and mill but it is for my hobbies and not to make a living. I do refer to myself as a metal smith because I use a lot of different metals to make the things I need or want. I have even invented some small things to solve problems for others in the past. I have made pumps, guns, tools and car parts in my years working with metal. If you want something made of metal I can make it - whether I will or not depends on my own motivation.
One of my gunsmithing mentors used to bring me challenging jobs once in a while.
One was a stamping,a linkage to a safety on a Franchi double.I had two pieces.
I used an Optical Comparator and other inspection tools to make a drawing,then machined this thin walled part out of a block of pre-hardened mold steel(P-20).
He needed a tang for a Lo-wall Win,a Winder Musket. Made that out of P-20,also. Radius and angle dresser and the surface grinder helped on that.
In my experience,just finding a way to mathematically define the part is the first challenge. A big optical comparator helps a lot!!
Also,remember what tools they used long ago. I cut the breech mortises through a Hepburn receiver casting with a keyway broach guided by a fixture I built.
I looked at a Rolling Block extractor and thought "Shaper". I don't have access to a shaper.
I bored a deep hole in a bar of 1 1/2 in or so 8620 steel to match the ID bore of an original extractor. The bar was about 8 in long. I used a brass plug in that bore to screw the original extractor to the end of the bar for a pattern.
I put that bar in a rotary index head on a Bridgeport,so the length of the bar was horizontal,and aligned with the "Y" axis on the mahchine.
Then I just used my eyeball and a loupe to bring a corner or other geometry of an end mill as close to that extractor as I could get without touching it. Within .002. I'd make a cut the length of the bar,to the chuck on the rotary index tool .
(YuasaAccudex,a rotary table with a chuck and 90 deg base)
Then I'd turn the fixture a bit,ane eyeball another cut.I worked all around the original extractor that way,and made a bar that had about 6 inches of the outside shape of a rolling block extractor. Easy.Just eyeballing off a pattern part..Then I filed/stoned the cutter marks down on the outside to smooth it up.
Now,stand it up vertical and use a slotting saw to slice them off,but wait!!. Useabout a 5/32 thick saw,and use the thickness of the kerf to leave the stock standing for the extractor hook! In other words,don't cut all the way through with the slotting saw. You can switch to a thin one,.040 or so,to make the final "slice off"
Made really nice rotary extractors that way! 8620 steel is a great choice. A lot of modern receivers have been made of it. It can be case hardened,too.
If you look to a mold supply outfit like DME,you can get Core Pins and Ejector pins. I find both handy.
The steel is H-13 hotwork tool steel. These pins are hardened and ground. They have heads on them.You can get them hard,but machinable.
I made some real nice reverse bushings for a 1911 that needed a thick head.
The ejector pins are H-13 steel,softer,tough core but nitride very hard case,I have made rolling block pins out of those.
One was a stamping,a linkage to a safety on a Franchi double.I had two pieces.
I used an Optical Comparator and other inspection tools to make a drawing,then machined this thin walled part out of a block of pre-hardened mold steel(P-20).
He needed a tang for a Lo-wall Win,a Winder Musket. Made that out of P-20,also. Radius and angle dresser and the surface grinder helped on that.
In my experience,just finding a way to mathematically define the part is the first challenge. A big optical comparator helps a lot!!
Also,remember what tools they used long ago. I cut the breech mortises through a Hepburn receiver casting with a keyway broach guided by a fixture I built.
I looked at a Rolling Block extractor and thought "Shaper". I don't have access to a shaper.
I bored a deep hole in a bar of 1 1/2 in or so 8620 steel to match the ID bore of an original extractor. The bar was about 8 in long. I used a brass plug in that bore to screw the original extractor to the end of the bar for a pattern.
I put that bar in a rotary index head on a Bridgeport,so the length of the bar was horizontal,and aligned with the "Y" axis on the mahchine.
Then I just used my eyeball and a loupe to bring a corner or other geometry of an end mill as close to that extractor as I could get without touching it. Within .002. I'd make a cut the length of the bar,to the chuck on the rotary index tool .
(YuasaAccudex,a rotary table with a chuck and 90 deg base)
Then I'd turn the fixture a bit,ane eyeball another cut.I worked all around the original extractor that way,and made a bar that had about 6 inches of the outside shape of a rolling block extractor. Easy.Just eyeballing off a pattern part..Then I filed/stoned the cutter marks down on the outside to smooth it up.
Now,stand it up vertical and use a slotting saw to slice them off,but wait!!. Useabout a 5/32 thick saw,and use the thickness of the kerf to leave the stock standing for the extractor hook! In other words,don't cut all the way through with the slotting saw. You can switch to a thin one,.040 or so,to make the final "slice off"
Made really nice rotary extractors that way! 8620 steel is a great choice. A lot of modern receivers have been made of it. It can be case hardened,too.
If you look to a mold supply outfit like DME,you can get Core Pins and Ejector pins. I find both handy.
The steel is H-13 hotwork tool steel. These pins are hardened and ground. They have heads on them.You can get them hard,but machinable.
I made some real nice reverse bushings for a 1911 that needed a thick head.
The ejector pins are H-13 steel,softer,tough core but nitride very hard case,I have made rolling block pins out of those.
Last edited:
Hunter Customs
New member
If anyone wants to get involved in part or fastener making, first thing you need to buy a copy of Machinery Handbook. Covers about everything you need to know.
Yep, I agree. My Machinery Handbook is old and well used, in the shop it's my bible.
Best Regards
Bob Hunter
Gunplummer
New member
^^
That is not true. The Machinist handbook is a reference book and does not tell you HOW to do anything. I took notice that there is now a condensed book to show you how to use the main book. If you do not know how to thread, the thread specs will not help. Same with heat treating or anything else in there. I use it a lot, but it is not for the inexperienced.
That is not true. The Machinist handbook is a reference book and does not tell you HOW to do anything. I took notice that there is now a condensed book to show you how to use the main book. If you do not know how to thread, the thread specs will not help. Same with heat treating or anything else in there. I use it a lot, but it is not for the inexperienced.
The right equipment makes all the difference ... Milling machine a lathe are a must have .
I got a good deal on 2 early Robinson Arms .308 VEPR rile new un-fired $400 each sounds too good to be true ... they were the thumb hole stocks .
The receivers are odd ducks , no one makes a stock or block for these guns .
I just ordered a folding rear block and am style buffer tube .
Bone Steel stocks are not steel ... LOL . They are nice but there aluminum so I just remachined a new angle on the bone steel fold mech , without a degree'd rotating vice on my mill that would not happen .
Just did all my 922r crap on this one but it being a heavy 20" barrel going to add bi-pod and some rails .
I got a good deal on 2 early Robinson Arms .308 VEPR rile new un-fired $400 each sounds too good to be true ... they were the thumb hole stocks .
The receivers are odd ducks , no one makes a stock or block for these guns .
I just ordered a folding rear block and am style buffer tube .
Bone Steel stocks are not steel ... LOL . They are nice but there aluminum so I just remachined a new angle on the bone steel fold mech , without a degree'd rotating vice on my mill that would not happen .
Just did all my 922r crap on this one but it being a heavy 20" barrel going to add bi-pod and some rails .