9mm aluminum K baffle questions

[Dr.K]

I've got a 9mm stamp, and well, I've got a couple of 9mm stamps....so, I want to make one of the cans a Titanium tube/endcaps and Aluminum K baffles. The other will be SS baffles and Ti.

Funny, but this will be my first time doing anything with aluminum. And, first time making K's. Basically I paid for an extra stamp so I could use the first one as a learning tool for the second.

I've got hundreds of hours cutting SS and Ti, and a couple of mild steel projects under my belt, but what thinknesses are being used with mfg aluminum baffles?

I use .050" for most of my stainless applications, but am thinking .080"-.100" for thickness at the cone. Am I way off here?

Oh, and I'm pretty sure I'll get them anodized, do I need to account for that in my thickness calculations, or does it come out in the wash, and end up sub thousanth thicknesses that I shouldn't concern myself with?

Thanks guys.

[Enfield577]

Hiya
check out my old posts, including the recent 9mm AR and an old one there somewhere for a can I did for a full auto sten.... all the Ks are Aluminium with cone walls of around 0.050". The sten has done a bit of work and had no problems... a good anodize job would help too

Cheers

[Dr.K]

Hiya
check out my old posts, including the recent 9mm AR and an old one there somewhere for a can I did for a full auto sten.... all the Ks are Aluminium with cone walls of around 0.050". The sten has done a bit of work and had no problems... a good anodize job would help too

Cheers

I saw the 9mm thread, great looking set up there! I didn't notice your dimensions, and said screw it, and started making baffles last night. I picked 0.080" as an arbitrary number, and went with that. Finished out all the lathe work on my very first K last night

I am rolling around the idea of using a regular drill press to mill my cutouts in the aluminum.....Man, I really need a mill!

I believe it was you that had made the Jigs to put the holes right with just a hand drill, I've considered that route also....but, Man, I really want a mill!

As far as coating, I'm gonna use moly resin, and see how that holds up. This can is kind of an experimental thing for me, as my other stamp will go for the real deal.

Come to think of it, I've got like 5 or 6 stamps that I don't even have a design for yet.

[57fairlane]

.080" should be fine, or you can skim a little down to .070-.075". The problem, for me anyways, doesn't tend to be holding up to the round selected but rather getting them out if you have to remove them forcefully. Go with 7075 instead of 6061 either way you end up going on the thickness.

There's no downside other than the price for almost twice the strength.

[CThomas]

Pictures please.

[L1A1Rocker]

Sorry I cannot offer any input. But I"m very interested in your project some I'm tagging.

Good luck and best wishes!

[Dr.K]

[S4area51]

Will you be adding a dater or mouse holes? IMO I would make the blast K out of SS then the rest AL. Lookin' good.

[Dr.K]

Will you be adding a dater or mouse holes? IMO I would make the blast K out of SS then the rest AL. Lookin' good.

Haven't researched it enough to say definitively yes or no. I've got a buddy with a mill, I'm going to ask him if I can use it and some "ball end mills" I think that's what its called ....for the scoop and cone cut out.

[Dr.K]

Ok, so I've got all the baffles cut on the lathe.

I'm headed out to my friends house tonight to mill the scoop and the hole in the skirt.

Side note: First time to use the milling machine, It's a gigantic Bridgeport of some sort, and I'm pumped up about playing with it.

Here is a pic of the stack sofar.

[Bendersquint]

Ok, so I've got all the baffles cut on the lathe.

I'm headed out to my friends house tonight to mill the scoop and the hole in the skirt.

Side note: First time to use the milling machine, It's a gigantic Bridgeport of some sort, and I'm pumped up about playing with it.

Here is a pic of the stack sofar.

Highly recommend bringing with you a bunch of scrap metal to practice your milling on before you cut for real.

Same rule applies, measure twice, cut once.

[CMV]

OMG you're slow! Just kidding.

When I did my K's the only mill work was entirely Z axis so a drill press should be fine for that as long as the chuck is true. You're removing very little from mild material. It was nice using my little rotary table to hold them - simple setup - just pop them in & out. That was probably the biggest benefit of using the mill.

But by all means, play with the BP! I wish I had room for big mill like that.

Interested in how yours turns out. I'll be starting my 9mm one of these days..... Maybe the day after my FFL finds me a Remington R51.

[Dr.K]

So, milling was almost exactly like I imagined.

X, Y, and Z axis, twist the handles, zero dials, I guess knowing my way around a lathe helped a lot. It really wasn't that hard at all.

Here is a picture, I've got to clean up the edges a little with a dremel, and I'll put some close ups of my finished K's soon.

[whiterussian1974]

Dr K, you didn't mention which hosts you plan to use.
Won't make much difference to can specs, but would be nice to know if pistol or SMG or even low pressure .358" rifle.

[CMV]

Do you have one of these?



http://www.use-enco.com/1/1/24532-155-2 ... -sets.html

They start at around $5 for disposable ones. Might give that a try before taking a Dremel to it.

My mill is similar to this one: http://www.grizzly.com/products/Vertical-Mill/G3102 Not nearly as large as a BP, but it's a nice size for home shop. Runs on 110 which is nice & uses R8 tools which are pretty common. Big enough to take some decent cuts, small enough to move around (with an engine hoist) & not have a huge footprint. One to consider when you start mill shopping. But if that BP is convenient to borrow, it would be hard to justify.