This sounds like something I want to know more about....Check it out!
http://www.cation.com/c017home.shtml
http://www.surftran.com/cer.html

[ 09-30-2002, 06:53: Message edited by: supermagforever ]

I have not looked at the surftran site, but have sample barrel material from Cation from quite a few years back.

What intrigued me was the potential it offers not so much for making new blanks as it does for reboring!

I could button rifle about 20 blanks per hour, and I doubt you could cut that time by much with the electrolytic process.

But you cannot button rifle existing barrels that have been contoured or that have any sight screw holes or dovetails cut into them. These have to be cut rifled.

The equipment for the acid etch rifling is pretty pricey, as are the electrodes that go down the barrel. BUT instead of taking 2-3 hours scrape cutting grooves to depth in a barrel being rebored, the cycle time for the acid etch process is only about 20 seconds. Neither time is accounting for set up time.

The samples I have look great, but I never pursued it.

I did however have a flash of inspiration and figured out how to make the electrodes myself. The rest is just a matter of basic chemistry and choosing the electrolyte (acid), its concentration, and the DC current to be used.

The process only has to etch to a max. depth of .004." Look at the acid etching used to mark barrels and you will see that it is probably about .003." The depth of penetration is no big deal.

The only problem is the quality of the electrode you put in the barrel. It has to be insulated where the riflings will be and have a conductor where the grooves will be. The finished product would be no better than the consistency of the diameter of the smooth hole to start with and the consistency of the electrode.

It leaves a pretty decent finish inside, much smoother than button rifling which has a lot of sharp jagged edges and burnished down tool marks.

The process has been around for quite some time, but I have not seen it really catch on very well yet.

If I ever got serious about doing rebores again, I'd be taking a hard look at acid etching the grooves in barrels.

Mike