I'm fairly close to starting to turn/contour my first rifle barrel. I've done a lot of lathe work over the years but, the intricate stuff was 50 years ago.

I just recently turned a blank for a Blackhawk 7 1/2" with the taper just guessed at. It turned out so close it didn't need any touch up by my gunsmith. He's retired enough that he don't want to turn a barrel down or undertake a full rebuild again.

IF I can get it turned and contoured fairly close I believe he'll finish it up for me.

I have a nice 13x40 Enco with two center guides for turning shafts and such. I've never used them and not sure where to start.

Any suggestions on books or where to look for this info would be appreciated.

Thank you,
George

Tool bit grinding is the key issue otherwise it is chatter city.

I use carbide that I custom grind. I will look in my notes for feeds & speeds.

I have turned them down to much smaller diameter than shown with no problems.

Lots of cutting oil!



Sometimes a follower rest is needed:



By center guides do you mean centers for the tailstock and headstock? A photo is worth a thousand words.

Both barrels in the photos are between centers, note the dog for driving the barrels.

Dogs:



A long taper attachment is best, but I have not got around to building one yet. Next on the project list!

Thanks for the reply, been late getting back to this as I spent a week in the hospital again.

What I was talking about is the "Follower rest" I have two, never used one or seen them in use until your picture. Thank you sir.

I've wondered how they fastened to the bed, now I see they go on the rest.

I almost always use carbide and self grind them too. Quite often need to touch them up though. Once in awhile I get chatter, good to know what causes that.

For taper, I used the tailstock adjustment. Half turn in 10" made .017" taper. Am unsure how much that would be on a 26" turn. Any info on that would be appreciated too. I'd guess about .040-.050", but, ---?!

Thanks much,
George

I don't use a taper attachment, just offset the tail stock, making it impossible to use a conventional steady or follow rest. In Mark Stratton's book on setups he has a design for a follow rest that can self-adjust for taper but I never felt I needed anything like that.

I cut using a 5/8" HSS tool, and as has been mentioned already the grind is critical. Speed/feed selection is just as important to smooth cuts. It can take a lot of trial-and-error to get the cut you want. I use a Kool Mist system to keep the barrel cool, helping maintaining constant pressure between centers.

.

If you're going to turn a barrel by all means use a follower rest.

I wouldn't try turning a tapered conture with a follow rest. That has been tried a time or two! It doesn't work well, turning large to small. Works a bit worse going the other way. Just sayin.
Dontchaknow.

quote:

Originally posted by D Humbarger:
If you're going to turn a barrel by all means use a follower rest.

Pardon my ignorance, how do you use a follower without making marks on the work?

It's not the marks that are a problem, follow rests most often use a brass nub and any marks are easily removed. The problem lies in the fact that a standard follow rest can't deal with a taper.

quote:

Originally posted by Toomany Tools:
It's not the marks that are a problem, follow rests most often use a brass nub and any marks are easily removed. The problem lies in the fact that a standard follow rest can't deal with a taper.

I took a closer look at the follower on my lathe, it does have brass nubs. They are darkened and don't look like brass from a distance.