Started my 30 cal can - fun with stainless steel

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John_TX
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Re: Started my 30 cal can - fun with stainless steel

Post by John_TX »

vaeevictiss wrote:... Probably needed stitches but i ended up using my usual method of cut repair. wrap a paper towel around it and electrical tape over that....
You too :D ? The blue paper shop towels work well I've discovered. After that episode I bought a new first aid kit and after recently splashing gasoline in my face, I added two eyewash stations to the shop.

Now it's time to start designing my 5.56 can....
When you come to a fork in the road, take it.
speed6
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Re: Started my 30 cal can - fun with stainless steel

Post by speed6 »

curtistactical wrote:When I started out years ago with a small Atlas lathe I would just stick the bar in the cut off saw and cut the baffle off that way instead of using a parting blade. With a cut off blade it all comes down to rigidity of the machine, there is a lot of force involved there. Just food for thought but I never liked using a cut off tool on a small lathe, you can pick up a small cut off saw at Harbor freight for around $200.
Joe
This. I have a smaller, less rigid lathe and use this technique when making baffles with integral spacers:

1) groove a little more than the finished wall thickness of the baffle integral spacer portion where you want to cut the baffle off
2) make a jig out of the tubing that you made the suppressor tube out of. Put a slot longitudinally about half the length of the tube and drill a hole 90 degrees from that for a bolt and nut.
3) put the baffle in the jig, cone side first
4) tighten down on the bolt through the hole in the tubing, clamping the baffle in the jig
5) use a cutoff saw to cut off the "puck" you were chucked on as close as you can get to the groove
6) put the baffle back in the chuck and bore out the integral spacer part without additional machining on the surface you grooved in step 1.

This would work for a non-integral spacer baffle as well. This method works great for smaller lathes without a large spindle bore where you have to just leave a short "puck" of bar to chuck on instead of a longer length of bar. It keeps everything nice and perpendicular because all locating surfaces are done without having to remove the workpiece from the chuck. I can't just put the baffle in my cutoff saw because there is not enough length of bar to clamp on to.
chrismunn
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Re: Started my 30 cal can - fun with stainless steel

Post by chrismunn »

Gloves in the machine shop is a terrifying thought!
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mcmaster
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Re: Started my 30 cal can - fun with stainless steel

Post by mcmaster »

speed6 wrote:I can't just put the baffle in my cutoff saw because there is not enough length of bar to clamp on to.
For round objects I find it's usually helpful to use a V block on one side for clamping in a band saw, might increase surface area enough you can clamp it successfully.
speed6
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Re: Started my 30 cal can - fun with stainless steel

Post by speed6 »

I just have a cheap abrasive saw. It has a v-block made from sheet metal that doesn't give me enough length to clamp on. This is similar to what I have, although it doesn't have the v-block:

http://www.harborfreight.com/6-in-55-am ... 61659.html

It is portable, which is important to me, and can still cut off 1.5" 416. It's not super great but light-years ahead of using a hacksaw.
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John_TX
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Re: Started my 30 cal can - fun with stainless steel

Post by John_TX »

I use a Griz 7x12" horizontal band saw, does a good job of sawing solid stock (or tube for that matter.) I was cutting 1.75" 304 stainless round bar for my cones and it quickly does the job with a very square cut. The coolant system though is a mess to use, the catch pan doesn't have a low point at the drain. It seems the cooling was a Grizzly marketing afterthought. I just drip Oatly cutting fluid on the kerf, much less mess.

One problem is I have several two inch long blanks laying around that are too short to chuck up and machine. Been thinking about tigging a couple together and seeing how that works.
When you come to a fork in the road, take it.
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