I hope I'm not overdoing it with the amount of videos posted on here
https://youtu.be/3UaPfRsXnkM
I had to make a barrel for a customer's project last week and decided to make a short video of the process. Express sights, recoil lug, and sling swivel are all integral. The barrel profile and sight locations were to customer's specs. I patterned the sight and sling swivel designs on what I've done in the past.
Machine work was done on a manual lathe and mill. My theory when doing barrels like these is to remove as much material as possible quickly and rigidly before making the precise cuts. This is why on the lathe I step the contour of the barrel in before offsetting the tailstock and running between centers for a final cleanup pass. On the Mill I do as much work as possible with a vise before making light cuts between centers with an indexing head. Not a lot of difficult math on a barrel like this, just time. Integral quarter ribs and full ribs are a bit more work with far less lathe time.

Wonderful work. Not only are you extremely talented, you must be extraordinarily patient!

That mill work between centers looks to be immensely time-consuming. Some guys have multi-axis CNC for these jobs, but I can really appreciate the amount of effort that goes into the set-ups for this on a manual mill!

Thanks for the enjoyable post.

Here s a barrel I mlled to octagon from round with a manual machine.. It's from a stainless steel 1 .25" blank first left round a short distance then a straight octagon section for about 1 1/2" and then a tapered octagon for several inches and to a rear sight island. The barrel terminates in a vent rib secton with the underside again turned to round. This has no welding at all....it's 100% milled from the 1.25" barrel blank. It's only one of two I've done in a lifetime...this one a walking gun in .30-06 and the first a "window" gun in .222










Now if a "peon" like me can do it, then anyone should be able to do it......right?

OH,,,,BTW....the round section under the vent rib is tapered as well.....

Outstanding work. Thank you for sharing.

You're not over doing it. Keep the videos coming!

Lee

Thank you guys.
Vapodog - That's a very interesting barrel. A lot of hours went into that!

Please keep sharing. I like seeing the different machine setups and fixturing used for unique and one off operations.

Great work.

Jeremy

Excellent video and superb craftsmanship.

Thanks for posting that. Is that a Grizzly lathe? If so, yours sure runs smoother than mine!

Your video production is just as well crafted as your barrel.

WELL DONE!

Thanks from a 'Wannabe machinist. Be Well. Packy

Impressive.

Dave

It sure is. It's been a decent lathe. Like most things Chinese there's parts on it I've had to fix or keep adjusting, but it runs true enough.

quote:

Originally posted by Woodhits:
Thanks for posting that. Is that a Grizzly lathe? If so, yours sure runs smoother than mine!

Glad to hear it. I struggled with mine for years due to excessive vibration and finally ended up trading the factory motor for a three-phase WEG. Problem solved.

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