Nick recently sent some 1" aluminum hex stock that had been languishing in his carport for years. Soon as I saw it, I knew it would be perfect for this. Chopped about a 3" length off to start.
As is the norm, the end was faced off square. A really sharp bit with some negative top rake and a high turning speed gave a dead flat surface in a single pass. Some cutting fluid didn't hurt either.
Rather than drill a hole first, I just plunged the boring bar into the aluminum face to start the hole. Took a few minutes, but I was able to bring the hole to approx 24mm deep, then bore the diameter to 16mm. Note: Not all boring bars work for this type of cut.
With a M18 x 2mm bottoming tap I was able to start the first couple threads by hand turning the headstock and feeding the tap gently until it started cutting. Once the tap starts cutting thread, it pulls itself into the work as long as the quill on the tail stock is free to move.
Transferred the work to the vise and switched to a larger tap handle.
About that much. Oh, I'd like to also recess the e-clip above the thread.
Finding the bottom of the hole.
Cut it beyond the rod and all will be OK.
The parting tool loves aluminum.
Chucked the cut off piece of work and cleaned up some corners, cut some decorative bevels...
With the boring bar, I cut a relief at the top of the thread to clear the e-clip.
Ran a piece of Scotchbrite over it to get a matte finish. I could definitely use a second one for the other pistol. Beats the pants off the plastic cover.
Inside view of the M18 x 2mm threads as well as the cut for the e-clip.
When (if) I make another, it'll probably have to be blackened.
More soon.
Not to hijack the article but I thought I had seen a reference to making a new rear sight blade for your S&W 78G. In reviewing the 78G blog articles I could not find anything. Did I just miss it or am I misremembering?
ReplyDeleteI want to replace a broken blade on my 78G and nobody has replacements. How tough would it be to make one?
Love reading about your work BTW. I appreciate your craftsmanship and attention to detail.
RG,
ReplyDeleteHijack away. We don't have a problem with that. Yep, I bought a S&W 79G--actually a Daisy 790--in pieces and the rear sight base was broken. I began to rebuild the gun only to determine that it has some more serious issues with the frame. I think the sight project is shelved until the frame issue is repaired--if that's even possible. Since I have a functional S&W 78G in my preferred .22 caliber, it's probably pretty far down the list.
Shoot me an email and I'll see if the sight is there from the broken gun. Maybe I can part it out for you.
dwk164@sbcglobal.net