Savage MK2

[PTK]

Running the bit upside down, fucking around one day, we were threading at 550rpm.



ZZZZZZT....... back the tool up, get it ready again..... ZZZZZZZZZZt. Done!

[HandyMan]

Watching a tool bit scream towards a heavy shoulder is about as fun as watching your teenager learn to drive.

any reason you could not cut it running the lathe backwards ,and the tool upside down ??
That way you would run towards free space,

plenty of time /space to stop

I had to do some threading on a old lathe that took VERY long time to stop
So i had to do it like that

Only issue with that is the carriage is being lifted by the cutting force instead of being driven into the ways. Won't make much difference on a tight machine.

However, on a lathe with some slop, it can cause some issues.

[Hoop]

Nice write up. The Savage is a nice little trainer and look great with a tactical bolt knob as well.

I have had a few in the shop and they always shoot great.

[kc0myg]

Very well done tutorial. Photos well done and easy to imitate.

What tool are you using? Your post said Nicole mini but my catalog and net search have been fruitless. It looks to be the answer to my external single pointing woes. The insert tools I have are great for down to maybe 20-22 TPI, not sharp enough. I've been grinding mine from HSS blanks, but this looks SOooo much easier.

Any help much appreciated.

[Pat M]

Almost the same way i do 10/22 barrels (stock tapered) on my little 7x14 Micro-Mark lathe

[Baffled]

Guys, I've had a couple of requests on sourcing the threading tool used here. I misspelled the name of the tool, causing frustrations.

It is a NIKCOLE "mini-systems" toolholder, model THE-7-3/8 R

The shank is 3/8" square, and fits perfectly in an AXA toolholder. The inserts have truly excellent geometry and sharpness, and are primarily for slotting. They range from probably 0.019" thick right on up to 1/8" or so, with many in-between. Excellent for O-ring and snap-ring grooves and the like, as well as threading, and they have form tool bits as well. With the really narrow grooving inserts, the tool better be squared with the work, or it's bye-bye tool tip.

The inserts are not cheap, but you get two cutting edges per insert. The $99 kit is a good place to start, and I'd add a pair of the threading inserts. This is easily one of my favorite, most-used lathe tools.



http://www.victornet.com/report/Nikcole ... /1204.html

http://www.victornet.com/subdepartments ... /2015.html

MSC carries this tooling as well. Hope this helps!

[Ring]

$50k? Geeze, that's in the realm of the small(ish) Haas turning center a local place bought.

I was disappointed that Remington target ammo went supersonic on occasion, but true subsonic ammo was a joy, very quiet. I need to do some ammo experimentation.

WOLF subs are some of the most accurate i have tested...

[Historian]

One of the most common questions on just about any silencer or NFA forum is "Where can I get my High-powered aircraft-destroying automatic Sniper Rifle threaded?" Assuming you need such a beast, here is one way to do it.

Obviously tools are important, but practice and experience more so. Practice, practice, practice. If your barrel will not fit through the head stock, get a bigger lathe. This job (as depicted) would be impossible on a lathe with less than a 1" headstock.

Work starts with a new Savage MK2 .22 LR with an Accu-Trigger! I've always wanted an Accu-Trigger. The name reminds me of the old Cessna "Land-O-Matic" landing gear from the 1950's. Actually, it really is a kick ass trigger, crisp and clean at 2.5 lb from the factory.



This came with a 21" bull barrel of about 0.80" diameter. If there is a choice, select a weapon with a constant (not tapered) bbl. Tapered bbls are a bitch to work with.

I measured the bbl and left enough length so I could screw up TWICE and still not enter SBR territory. If you're a noob, DO NOT measure to 16.125" and cut with a hacksaw. You WILL be sorry. I went 17.5"



After stripping off everything except the receiver, into the band saw it went. No band saw? Don't be a puss, get a hacksaw. The steel is not that hard.





SAVE the cutoff piece for setup work, practice, and to make a thread protector.

Also would be valuable starting piece for making a Braverman Stinger Pen Gun in the future.

[Historian]

Nothing wrong with old lathes! The first one I used to do a LOT of work was a 16x36 LeBlond. Still held proper tolerance, too.

Indeed, LE_BLONDS do have more fun.

But the old Hardings are still the 1939 LaSalle Cadillacs of lathes.

Thanks again for your (PTK) great posts.

[Historian]

Baffled, your presentation, skill, and results are joyously enviable, never to be attained
but to be strived for. Like watching from the 50 yard line Tom Brady practicing at Foxboro
throwing TD passes and then running home in the back yard trying to emulate with
the kids.

My admiration.

Thanks.

[daviscustom]

Very nice tutorial! I get cruising on a project and forget to stop and take pics until I've skipped over about 14 steps.


I've seen some folks use a spider assembly and a longer pin to indicate/adjust the bore until it is running perfectly straight AND centered in the lathe. Is the general opinion that bore runs close enough to parallel with the OD that just centering the bore is good enough in most cases? Don't know how much the bore is likely to be angled off parallel to the OD........I hope I'm being clear in what I'm talking about, it's a little awkward to explain.

Hopefully to clarify what I'm talking about........ Even though you are perfectly centered at the muzzle, that doesn't guarantee that the bore isn't coming out of the end of the barrel at a slight angle......but maybe that angle is so minute that it is pointless to try and correct for it. I guess that is my question to the folks that have threaded lots of barrels.....how often does the bore point off at a slight angle, instead of straight ahead?

[alemonkey]

Very nice tutorial! I get cruising on a project and forget to stop and take pics until I've skipped over about 14 steps.


I've seen some folks use a spider assembly and a longer pin to indicate/adjust the bore until it is running perfectly straight AND centered in the lathe. Is the general opinion that bore runs close enough to parallel with the OD that just centering the bore is good enough in most cases? Don't know how much the bore is likely to be angled off parallel to the OD........I hope I'm being clear in what I'm talking about, it's a little awkward to explain.

Hopefully to clarify what I'm talking about........ Even though you are perfectly centered at the muzzle, that doesn't guarantee that the bore isn't coming out of the end of the barrel at a slight angle......but maybe that angle is so minute that it is pointless to try and correct for it. I guess that is my question to the folks that have threaded lots of barrels.....how often does the bore point off at a slight angle, instead of straight ahead?

I'm interested in this as well. I've been planning on fabricating a spider for my lathe to use for barrel cutting. I've never thought about just shimming it inside the spindle.

[daviscustom]

If you have the barrel clamped tight in the chuck the only thing the spider on the back end of the spindle is doing is keeping the barrel from flopping around as it spins......the cardboard accomplishes the same thing and was a hell of a lot easier to build .

One way to adjust for the bore being at an angle would be to use a rear spider and another spider assembly clamped in the chuck......but I don't know if you could hold it tight enough in brass tipped set screws to do all the work. You would probably want to take fairly light cuts to keep the barrel from spinning in the fixture. I have seen fixtures made that are just a piece of tubing ( what ever length you can handle in your lathe chuck ) with a spider assembly in each end. The spider in the chuck and on the back end of the spindle would be the best supported in the machine.

If you had soft jaws for your adjustable chuck you could cut them so you just had a shallow ring of contact clamping the barrel......this would allow the barrel to pivot some when you adjust the rear spider....and it should hold more securely than a spider in the chuck.

[alemonkey]

If you have the barrel clamped tight in the chuck the only thing the spider on the back end of the spindle is doing is keeping the barrel from flopping around as it spins......the cardboard accomplishes the same thing and was a hell of a lot easier to build .

One way to adjust for the bore being at an angle would be to use a rear spider and another spider assembly clamped in the chuck......but I don't know if you could hold it tight enough in brass tipped set screws to do all the work. You would probably want to take fairly light cuts to keep the barrel from spinning in the fixture. I have seen fixtures made that are just a piece of tubing ( what ever length you can handle in your lathe chuck ) with a spider assembly in each end. The spider in the chuck and on the back end of the spindle would be the best supported in the machine.

If you had soft jaws for your adjustable chuck you could cut them so you just had a shallow ring of contact clamping the barrel......this would allow the barrel to pivot some when you adjust the rear spider.

Do you need to indicate the back end of the barrel and adjust your cardboard shims accordingly? Or do you just indicate the muzzle end?

[daviscustom]

With the set-up Baffled is using, once you clamp the barrel in the chuck, the position of the action in the spindle will have little to no effect on the part sticking out of the chuck......as long as it isn't flopping around in the spindle causing vibration/chatter.

The jaws are probably around 2"+ deep so they aren't going to allow any movement.....at least that is what they are supposed to do, assuming no significant wear in the jaws. Being a 6 jaw you shouldn't have much ability to tap the part and realign it in the chuck...it aught to be locked in place.

[BeerWolf]

When I had a group of half a dozen AR10 barrels that needed chambering, in lieu of making a spider just for that job, I made a brass bushing to steady the muzzle end of the barrel.
It was slightly tapered on the outside for a good push fit in the outboard end of the spindle, and cut for a loose slip fit on the barrel. I put a little brass shim stock around the barrel to protect it from scratching, and to compensate for any differences in size.
It worked well, and only took a few minutes to make.

[jus2311]

you can thread with lathe running in reverse and it will still have the driving force down on the ways and you can cut from inside near shoulder out...no worries about hitting shoulder

[Historian]

you can thread with lathe running in reverse and it will still have the driving force down on the ways and you can cut from inside near shoulder out...no worries about hitting shoulder

Am I correct in inferring that your chuck has a way to prevent its
unscrewing from the spindle when run in reverse,
such as with 'set screws' of some sort?

The reason I am asking is that with my Atlas 618 door stop, erring
on the side of caution, when I first tried to do this as an exercise,
I placed a large, wide, fat, cedar shingle onto the ways prior to trying this.

Surprise! The chuck started to wind out. Moving faster than
I in my youth had ever done during a jiyu kumite I slapped the shut off switch as the
chuck hit the shingle [ out of deference to my brethren on this Lord's
Day I shall spare them a grotesque follow on play on words ].

Thus I have performed threading the standard way.

[alemonkey]

But threading up to a shoulder is fun! I like to live dangerously.

Actually I've never thought it was all that hard. You just have to pay attention and throw the half nut lever at the right time. Definitely not the time to multitask.

[daviscustom]

Yep, if you aren't paying attention you get to buy new tooling and maybe even learn about lathe repair......or at the very least your threads are going to get a little longer then you planned....or your barrel a little shorter

[rancilio]

All, thank you for the information and discussion.

[jus2311]

Am I correct in inferring that your chuck has a way to prevent its
unscrewing from the spindle when run in reverse,
such as with 'set screws' of some sort?

The reason I am asking is that with my Atlas 618 door stop, erring
on the side of caution, when I first tried to do this as an exercise,
I placed a large, wide, fat, cedar shingle onto the ways prior to trying this.

Surprise! The chuck started to wind out. Moving faster than
I in my youth had ever done during a jiyu kumite I slapped the shut off switch as the
chuck hit the shingle [ out of deference to my brethren on this Lord's
Day I shall spare them a grotesque follow on play on words ].

Thus I have performed threading the standard way.

My chucks are D-lock...I have done it on other lathes with screw and clamp locking chucks...I have done it a couple times on chucks that are just screwed onto the spindle nose...