A few of my projects in gunsmithing school(pics)

Here are a few of my projects I have done while in my Basics class at gunsmithing school. Just starting to learn the ropes learning how to use simple hand tools, measuring devices, metal polishing, blueing precesses, and simple wood finishing. Currently I am in Cycle operations class which I will be finishing in two weeks, then it is on to machine shop...

Here are a few tools I made using only files, a drill press, and lots of sanding:
The Model 12wrench is to within .010" of the blueprint. The 1911 wrench is .005" of the blueprint, and the recoil pad fixture is too withing .005" of the blueprint.

Here is a tapping project. Only tools used are files, drill press, and taps. Its within .003" of the blueprint. If you can see, there are two plates in the picture. The top one is mine, and the bottum one is the techers which is drilled. My screws must all go into his to prove that I drilled in the right spot.



I truly hated these last two. The choke tube wrench is to within .002" of the blueprint, and the dovetail is the same.
Same tools used to make these. Scratches you see in the finish is from sitting in my tool box, I assure you they were perfect when I turned them in...

Next was applying what I learned about polishing and blueing to a gun. I have a well used 1970's Remington 1100 that was pitted and the blueing was well worn. I didnt get any before pictures of the gun though...foolish.

Polished to a 400 grit, if you can tell, the top and bottum is beadblasted to give it a matted look:



After blueing:



Here is the pitting and rust on the barrel, I planned on just polishing it out and blueing it, but the pitting was pretty deep, so I ended up beadblasting and blueing it.


Here are a few more pics which include all the metal after polishing and blueing:

That is awesome man! I assume you're going to the Colorado School of Trades? Where you planning on working?

The trigger guards are aluminum and come from the factory anodized. The school doesnt do anodizing, so I had to deal with beadblasting and painting the visable surfaces:


The checkering on the forend was very worn, but the checkering on the stock was OK. Due to Remington using a press checkering I cannot duplicate the same look on the forend, so off the press checkering goes. i plan to rechecker it later in class after I learn how:



You can see here where a sling stud was ripped out, this was repaired:

Here are the finished pics:

Here are some pics of a stock blanks I picked up. Plans are to make this into a fitted sporting stock on my Winchester Super X-1, and make an adjustable rib for it:

Lastly i picked up this little Remington produced Browning A5 20 gauge for a restoration project later in the year. Plans are to refinish the wood and metal, and possibly install choke tubes:

Impressive !! Awesome looking work !!

Sorry, missed your reply in there...

Yes, I am at CST.

Dont know where, but I want to work with shotguns, specializing in doubles. Hunting and sporting guns alike. Also want to do stock making and fitting. I plan to work or apprentice with someone doing this after school, and it just so happens I have a lead on a fine shotgun manufacturer up north; a dream job so to speak...We shall see.

Wow...I got my numbers mixed up on my tolerance on the tools. I had to go back and add a "0".

Great job! That 1100 is beautiful.

x2 very nice. That's great looking wood you have for your stock too. Post up the finished pics on it when you're done.

I plan to take lots of pictures of the stock building process for the Super X-1. Im currently working on designing an adjustable rib to change POI. In the end it is going to be a really cool clay gun.

Here in the next few months I also am starting a big rifle build. I am starting with a Howa 1500 action, rebarreling with a Shilen, then fitting a wood stock and a synthetic stock to it.

I am also either wanting to do a "Tactical" 308 HB build, or a bobtailed 1911 Commander sized pistol. We shall see if I can get the money to do it.

Great work. I wish there was a school like that around here somewhere. I would love to learn how to do some of those things just for personal knowledge.

If I am not mistaken there is one on Oklahoma. Dont know where or what it is called though. Closer than Colorado I suppose.

Another option is going through the at home AGI Gunsmithing courses if you want to just learn the trade for your own use. It will not be at the same level as an actual school, but it will teach you a lot. Then you can also take a machining class if there is one at a local college or trade school on the side.

Great job TDK you have some talent

Great pics. Keep posting pics of future projects.

I guess its time for an update on the Browning. here are some pictures of it finished. the metal was polished to 320 grit and blended with gray and white scotch-brite. I did a slow rust blueing process to blue it. The wood is a hand rubbed tung oil finish.









I will put up some more pics tomorrow of some machine work and a rifle build.

Man as usual great lookiing work !!

How much longer do you have in sckooling or have you alreday gaduated ? Havent noticed any of your posts in a while so cant really remember.

Well hell, just looked through your posts and noticed you been around I just havent come across any of your posts. Sorry bout that. Looks great none the less !!

Very cool work. Looks like you are on your way to success.
I wish you the best.

Good work man, keep it up!! We need more smiths in this world...

Murray State College in Tishomingo, Okla

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murray_State_College

RWH...he is in CO not OK. Not sure name of his school but he has impressed the heck out of me.

Thanks Judd. Like he mentioned I am going to Colorado School of Trades(CST). I will get some pics of some work on the lathe and mill in a bit...

Great job!

First project was learning how to do various muzzle crowns while keeping things within the blueprinted tolerance level. Every project has tolerance levels I must saty within or my grade suffers. The tolerances range from .005" to .0000". Also, every project started from 1018CR bar stock of varying diameters. Here are some pictures.
Facing the stock to length in a 3-Jaw chuck:

Here are the finished pictures. the left two are recessed crowns, the Middle is an 11 degree target crown, and the right two are polished hunter crowns:




Practice Barrel 1
The next project was learning to turn down selected dimensions with the workpiece between centers. I also learned how to cut 45 degree shoulders. I drilled all the way through for future projects. This started as 1.250" stock:


Then it was on to getting a straight taper. The taper was made by off-setting the tailstock to a specified length according to formulas. This also started as 1.250" bar stock:

didnt get any assembled pictures of the tap guide assembled for some reason, but here it is non-the-less. Everything including the spring and screw were made on the lathe:


This one was a booger. This little tool is a firing pin potrusion gage. Not very hard to make, but the tolerances on the overall length were .0000", so basically we had no room for error using the micrometers we have. It was faced to length on the lathe to within .001", then the last bit was taken down by hand using 600grit sand paper and a flat honing stone.

Now it was finally time to learn how to thread on the lathe. All dimensions were first turned down to the major diameter of the threads, then a necking cut was made to the minor diameter. then chamfers were cut and the threading started. The two smallest diameters are metric threaded, the middle is left hand ISO Inch Unified, and the two largest are right hand ISO Inch unified. Part of the reason they look a little rough is because of the steel(1018) used. This started as 1.250" stock. Threaded-to-fit:



Time to start applying this stuff to simulated firearms. On this project I made a simulated muzzle brake and attached it to one of the barrels I made earlier. The barrel muzzle was threaded to fit my muzzle brake which I also made on the lathe. You will also notice some cold blue on the barrel. We had to polish the muzzle brake up to 400grit without touching the finish.

Here is my first attempt at barreling a Howa action which will be a big project as I progress through school. The "barrel" is just a piece of round stock and not an actual barrel. I first turned down the major diameter of the intended threads, and made it to a specified length to form the torque face. Then I made a necking cut up against the face to the minor diameter of the threads. After threading it I cut the bolt nose recess and began the chambering process.

One this project they wanted me to use a No-go gauge in place of a Go-gage, and the field-gage is taking place of the No-go. basically what this is doing is making the headspace purposely long. I will be going back at a later date and learning how to correct this. I guess the figure if we can purposely make the headspace .004"-.006" long we can purposely make it perfect. Just noticed a little chatter on the recess walls...

Pics:



Here is the action installed with the bolt just barely closing on the No-go gage, and the bolt not closing on the Field-gage:

On my next project I did the same thing, but used an Enfield action which means that the threads are square instead of V-shaped, and instead of having a recess to clear the bolt nose, the Enfield uses a cone:
Started with this:

Then fitted the muzzle brake, and finally putting it on an action:


Same story on the headspace. Everything was on purpose, and will be corrected on a later date.

Finished installing the barrel to my Howa action today. This gun is going to be a hunting rifle. Here are the specs:

The barrel is a Shilen Match Grade #4 contour unthreaded/unchambered blank. After the install I cut it down to 24" and machined in a recess crown for the added protection over the otheres.

The receiver face was trued, and the locking lugs lapped for 90%+ contact. The headspace is a little tight, but the bolt did close on the factory ammo we fired out of it, and extracted fine after expansion.

Didnt get any pics of the process, but its the same as the last two projects...

I also made two sets of aluminum pillars, one for a wood stock, the other for a synthetic.

Very cool!!

Thats something I thought about geting into right after high school but I figured it was a trade that might not have much of a demand if they ever banned guns.

With my luck I would have went too school and the day I graduated they would have banned civilian arms.

The vertical mill:

The first project was making a simulated 1911 slide out of a piece of bar stock. I started this by facing off a piece of 1" bar stock to 4.600" in a lathe. Then moved over to the mill and began the learning process. First thing I did was cut the "side flats" onto the slide. I did this by cutting .050" off each side making the piece .900" wide. Then we turned it upside downa and cut .300" off the bottom to represent the area where it attached to the frame. The .300" was only cut a certain length on the slide, but I forget that dimension. Then I cut the ejection port to a specific dimension and finished off cutting a rear dovetail(not pictured)

The next project was taking that slide and cutting the rear to fit a bomar style sight.

Pic:

Next project I moved back to the Enfield simulated barrel and installed sights on it.

After that I jumped back on to the lathe and had to correct the excess headspace from before. Now since I have sights installed I cant just remove a few thousanths. Without going into great detail on this I basically took .100" off the face, recess, and shoulder to set the barrel back into the receiver farther; if you are wondering why .100", it is because an Enfield is threaded for 10TPI. The end result they are looking for is the barrel to index with the sights exactly vertical. Then I had to go back and deepen the chamber again to the now roughly positive .094"-.097" headspace.

Jumping back to the mill I then cut a clearing for the extractor to go into. AKA a extractor cut.

Pic:

The mill portion of class is usually about 2weeks long, I finished that in 1 week. So now I am finished with machine shop, but I still have 2 1/2 week minimum before I move into stockbuilding class.

Now normally they have little projects you can do for extra credit, but after looking at the blueprints for a while I decided I already knew how to build said projects, and I wasnt really learning any new skills. I came to the conslusion that it would probably be a good idea to put some more work into my Howa build to set myself apart so-to-speak.

Here is what I came up with, I wont go into great detail because if you have never used a mill you wont understand some of the things I say. But I can tell you I have learned many new things and although I got a little over my head becuase of the time constraints, I think it will work out.

If you look on the barrel here you will see two small barrel bands. These started out as 1" bar stock. The were turned down and believe it or not the inside diameter is actually slightly tapered. The more I learn...The front band is the beginning of a front sight, and the rear band is the beginning of a sling swivel.





Here is a big hunk of steel that was contoured to fit snug onto the barrel and barrel band. Everyone that walks by has some little snippet to say about how high it is, but none-the-less. The sling swivel and sight metal will be welded and contoured onto the bands, and the bands will be saudered to the barrel. The end result will look like the barrel and "accesories" were cut out of one piece of steel:

Now since we have an open machine I have been trying to do the most "machine" work possible while I have the chance. I started on making some scope mounts that work with Talley QD rings.

These started out as hunks of steel, the bottoms were cutout to fit snug on the top of the receiver yesterday. I drilled them, counterdrilled them and installed them on the action. I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking:





Update: My first attempt at making scope mounts did not work out, but I learned a ton of new skills, and plan to give it another shot later. I do know where I went wrong, it was a silly mistake, but I would not have been happy with the end result. I also was not able to finish the front sight and the swivel because of going out of town, then moving in to stocks class when I returned. I definently want to finish these in the future.

Moving into Stocks class I started with learning how to checker.

I had a feeling that before I even started checkering I would probably enjoy it. Didnt know if I had the skill, patience, or focus, but needless to say after the first attempt things have improved pretty quickly. I have to say I was right about enjoying it.

The first project was just learning how to space the lines. Please know that all I am doing here is "scratching" the surface deep enough for the tool to "catch" and ride in the groove. This is the first day I have ever checkered.

Most checkerers would mysteriously lose work like this, but here I am posting it for the world to see. I can pick things up pretty quick, but this is not easy...

Here is a pic of the layout:

Now on to the next project. On this one I am just checkering a triangle pattern on a flat "proof". First step is to space the lines like above, then I go back behind myself and deepen the lines to produce the diamonds you all are familiar with. This took me about 4 hrs of non-stop work.

Laying out and spacing. Notice the "tops" are still flat:




Deepened and bordered:

Here is my second attempt at actual checkering:

To the trained eye it looks a lot better. And for the people that think I put a border around the first one to hide "run-overs", I left the border off on this one. The position of the second attempt changes around in this picture series, just remember that my first attempt has a border, and the second does not. This time took me 2-2 1/2 hrs of non-continueous work.

Laying out and spacing:

This checkering sure is hard on curved work. Had a little discussion with a Chic Worthing, he said that checkering on stuff like this seperates the men from the boys. Its true!

I have to say after 2 weeks of non-stop checkering for 7 1/2hrs a day I am a little burned out. But in moderation I wouldnt mind...

Here is my 4th attemp on a pretty small diameter dowel. I really dont see where checkering on something this small applies in stock work, but I guess they figure if you can do this, you can deal with any stock.

Being a picky person this truly drove me nuts.

On this project I developed a new technique to keep the lines straight. It worked very well for me.

Here I am in the process of spacing the lines. Just though tthis looked pretty cool:




Here it is almost finished. Just need to deepen the lines a little further, and clean it up:

If you dont know why it is harder to checker on curved pieces it is because you are trying to put a straight line on a curve, and the straight line needs to have a line next to it that is exactly parallel. The best way I can explain the forces here is to draw it. The curverature of the wood tries to pull you in.

Something like this:


I definently plan to do a ton more practice at this. I feel it is something I have potential at. Still a long way to go until you see me doing this to a stock...

The Howa "rifle build" stock started as a roughly duplicated stock. There was no barrel channel cut into the the forend, and the bottom metal cutout and action cutout were undersized. To inlet you apply a marking substance, in this case Prusian Blue(PB) on th...e metal first. Then you have to set the barrelled action on its intended resting place. The PB will leave marks where it is contacting the wood, you then go behind with wood scrapers, chisels, and rasps to remove those spots. You do this until the barrel and action have settled down to the half depth mark, or bore centerline. You will see that on most stocks the top of the stock will stop close to the center on the barrel. If done correctly, this will result in good wood-to-metal contact, and hopefully no unwanted gaps. I wished I had taken pictures of the stock before I began working on it...maybe I will take a picture of one of the other student stocks to show what I started with.

Once that is completed you then put 10mm thick tape on the bottom of the barrel, and go behind yourself and deepen the barrel channel again until the tape doesnt touch the stock anymore. What I have just accomplished by doing this is free-floating the barrel. Next step is to glass bed the action area and install pillars at the same time.

No since I am trying to model the gun after the classic American style rifle I had to go by certain proportions and standards. One example is determining forearm length. To do this I take the barrel length, in this case 24" and divide that by two, to get a length of 12". Now I subtract 1" from that and get the maximum length of the forearm; 11".Any longer than this the forearm will look long. The next step is to look at the rest of the stock; the measurement from the front of the action to the point of comb, then take the measurement from the point of comb to the heel of the stock. These two numbers should be relatively close. You then take the average of those two numbers and make that the forearm lenth. In this case we came up with 9 1/2" which is what we made mine, but obviously you have room to adjust it if need be. Balance is another way to determine if you have correct propertions, my guns center of balance is directly under the front ring of the action.

I actually had to cut the forearm to 7 1/2", then added the Ebony forend tip to make it 9 1/2". Some guys like to put exotic woods on their forends, and cut them at 45 degree angles...Just doesnt belong IMO. I went with a 90 degree joint, and classic black ebony; eventaully rounded. We also had the choice of doing a wood grip cap, or metal. I went with metal in this case. Just really like the classy look.

The outside dimensions of the stock are oversized from the duplicator, so we can shape it to out desired dimensions or style. I wanted something relatively slim, and had to remove a lot of wood in the process using files, rasps, and sand paper.

There are a lot of other propertions in the comb and grip area. I really cant describe them without a picture...Maybe one of these days I will write a short publication with pictures for my future reference, and to help others.

There is more to it than just "removing the wood that doesnt look like a rifle stock". A lot of proportions and standards to follow. As you change styles you also have to change proportions. If you ever look at some of the English style rifles the proportions will be different. I would love to do one after this style near the end of school if money allows...

Here are some pictures of the stock I am making for my Howa build. It started out as a roughly inletted stock. The insides were undersized, and outside oversized. I didnt get any pictures of the inletting, but have plenty of the shaping.

Here are the "lines" drawn out before starting to shape:

I wet down the wood right before taking this pic:







I still need to cut the ejection port clearing, bolt handle clearing, and I want to shape the rear tang to get rid of the angle Howa has and shape the wood to match. Then its on to doing the oil finish...

Here it is in the beginning stages of finishing. Sadly we have very little say on what we can use for finish, so I personally would not do it this way. Anyways they had me apply one coat of verathane(yuck) to seal it, then after drying I did one mud rub. This is where I got in trouble. The main instructor was out of town, so I asked the other teacher if I could use Daly's Benmatte for the mud rubs and hand rubs. No problem. A lot of top notch stockmakers use Daly's products; Chic Worthing and Duane Wiebe to name just two. I really like how it works and the look it gives.
Here it is after removing the mud rub:



Let that dry for a few days and picked it back up today. I start to remove the mud rub and the teacher asks what I am using...busted. So it looks like I am back to using Velvet Oil. Im a little disgusted(to put mildly) I have no say ON MY GUN. But i will suck it up and do it the way they want.

Its getting stripped and re-done with Daly's at home after being graded. I do not like Velvet Oil.

TDK,
This really is interesting.
Thank you for posting it.
Nice looking work.
Hang in there and good luck with your career.

Here is the Howa barrelled action polished. I hand polished it to 400 grit, then took it to the matchless wheel. Lastly I tamed it back down with a gray scotch-brite pad to give it a satin look. It not completely done, but close. Got a few spots that need attention.

TDK,
I second jeffbird's comments. Please keep posting your work. You may be creating a client base before you get out of school. Was the picture of the A5 taken at Colorado Clays? I hope you are enjoying Colorado. Been missing it for 5 years now.

Yes, it actually was taken at Colorado Clays LLC.

Looks awesome!!

Great work!

After hot caustic blueing. Covered in oil in the pic:

This has to be the best thread/post on this whole forum Keep up the good work

Very nice work..

Thanks. If anyone has questions feel free to ask. I will try to answer them to the best of my ability.

+1!!!!!

I love looking at your work.

Thanks for posting TDK!

Here are some non-official cellphone pics of the finished rifle:

I also had to do one of those dang synthetic stocks...

This one was also inletted, glass bedded, pillared, bondo'd, primed, painted, and recoil pad installed(not pictured).

A 1911 I recently finished:
Before:


Found this little surprise when I took off the rear sight. The sight was loose in the dovetail, so someone drilled and tapped the slide:


I filled the hole and then flat-topped the slide:



New grip safety installed:


Work List:
-New grip safety
-New ambi safety
-slide flat topped
-new sights installed
-lowered and flared ejection port
-polished then bead blasted and blued slide/assorted parts
-polished then bead blasted and parkerized frame

After:

Good stuff!! Keep it up!!!

Congrats, looking awesome.

I have also been working on a 1917 Enfield lately. It is chambered in .338 Win Mag. Ton of metal work, plus I am building a stock from the blank for this project.

Here it is when I got it:




First I made a plug to fill the "pond", then welded it in and welded the stripper clip guide area:


Stuck it on the mill and flattened it using a carbide end mill:


I also pushed back the left part of the action where the top of the rail meets the rear ring. I will do the rest of the shaping of this area by file:

Next I surface ground the rear ring to give it a nice radius:


You will also notice I pushed forward the area just behind the bolt stop, and also shortened the bolt stop to closely match a Mauser style:

I milled down the old tang and welded on a new piece of steel. Here is the end result/new tang:

Lets make some blocks for scope mounts. These will be finished at a later date:

Here is a pic of the blank, and a pic of the stock profile drawn out on it before taking it to the bandsaw:

You are a great inspiration to somebody getting started

BTW on the 1911 project please tell me 40 = A+ at your school ???

Great work. When you get done I've got a K98 Mauser action that I want to build something out of. Thinking about a .338-06 with a Mannlicher stock.

The school uses a GPA system. So that 4.0 you see is a A+.

LandPirate. Sounds good. I actually recently barreled up a Mauser to .338-06 for a teacher, no stock work though...Great caliber.

Didn't see the . the first go around, good work and keep it updating this if it's not to much trouble I love seeing projects progress like this.

Please tell me you're moving to the Rockwall or McKinney area when you graduate- we really need a good smith!

Dude...you rock! Keep up the good work!

Longview actually...

Good deal! will be glad to have a good smith close to home

And two weeks later here it sits. Still a lot of wood to remove. No duplicated stock here...:

That stock is beautiful wood, man you are doing a great job. Glad to hear you will be in the East Texas Area

Great work!

Todays progress. I went ahead and wet down the wood before taking the pics. Cant wait to sand it and get some finish on. I still need to glass bed, cut the shadow line in the cheekpiece, install crossbolts, weld on a straight bolt handle, inlet the rear sling stud base, mill scope bases, install banded front sight and banded sling swivel, plus install an express style rear sight...before August 11th.

It never ceases to amaze me how many different talents a good gunsmith must have- machinist, welder, carpenter, painter, and artist. I hate guys like you

We recently had Jerry Fisher up at the school working with students and showing off his work. The master says that there is no art involved in stock making, its a 100% mechanical process...this 21yr old snot nosed kid wasnt going to argue.

He also talked to me for a good hour about the metal work I had been doing on this Enfield. he was fairly impressed and told me if he was 15yrs younger he would have hired me on as an apprentice; said I had a lot of possibility.

Wow what a compliment.

That is quite the compliment...looking good!

I like to do a little multitasking of projects; I may do one project that involves stock work, then at the same time do one that involves machining. So here is my machining project...

This Savage belongs to Judd. After thinking long and hard he decided to rebarrel it to the newish 6.5 Creedmore round. Barrel is a McGowen #7 contour that is crowned at 26".

Here is the action sitting in a mandrel between centers. All I am doing is trueing the action face. This one I had to remove .008" to true it!


Threaded. You notice anything different here?


This will make it a little more obvious. Here it is after chambering with the bolt just closing on a GO-Gauge.


As it sits now. I will be doing the finishing work on it tomorrow.

nice!

That things is gonna be schweet! I can't wait to shoot it, I'm sure you can't either.

Now that I am out of school and working here is where the adventure begins:


Here are my first attempts at checkering on stocks. My boss looked at some of my sample pieces and decided I was much better at it than he, and frankly checkering drives him crazy. You would think a skilled engraver would have no problem checkering...

At the time of doing this first gun I wasnt truly confident in my checkering to be scratching up a gun worth over $7,000...and my boss had to constantly remind me of its value.:z So here is my first "thrown under the bus" checkering job.

Here is gun #2 for me; a vast improvement:

Been a few years, had to bump up one of the greatest threads ever! Any new projects to share?

Wish the pictures in this thread were embedded in the posts and not pointed to Photo****it.

Very much a bummer, a lot of time went into this thread. All wasted.

Wish I could see your photos. Don't have photobucshit.