I would like to be a ble to do some very small work on rifles, such as polishing, drilling, sanding, maybe some minor smithing tasks..Alaso something that I could use for everyday house BS. I started to get a drill press, but then I thought someone out there has probably been in my shoes at one time. What would be a good piece of equipment to get so that I could do most things on one machine. A drill press? milling machine? lathe?
How much would they cost, and where would you get it..In other words what piece of equipment would I get the most bang for my buck?

Thanks

Lee

Lee,

If you want to chamber barrels, then a lathe is a must. If you are more into drilling, and making misc custom parts, then a mill would be the way to go. As far as cost, for a machine of decent size and rigidy, you are looking at $2-3k for starters for import (chinease) machines, and can easily go to $10k. This doesn't include tooling, cutters, collets, etc, which can easily double the cost of the machine.

The key is to figure out what you want to do with the equipment, and then tool up from there. One can do quit a bit with a drill press by adding or fabricating some jigs and tooling. One can also accomplish some suprisingly complicated tasks with hand tools, ie files and saws.

Paul,
I was thinking I could do quite a bit with a drill press, but was wondering if there were some out here that had 2 or 3 different machines, but ended up using one of them for most of the work..I would like to be able to chamber barrels, but from what it would cost, to what you can order, or have one installed, it would not be very cost productive..It might be something I gravitate towards later, and was needing some insight as to what some people might use the most..

Thanks

Lee

Lee,

Stay away from the lathe/mill machines such as the smitty, they are, in a word, crap. They don't have the rigidity to do good work, and they don't have the capacity to do the size of work you are likely interested in.

I'm currently using a Grizzly 14" drill press, and a taig 4" lathe. I will eventually get a 12X36 or 13X40 lathe, and a mill. I'd actually recomend getting one of the little grizzly or harbor freight lathes as they allow thread cutting. Do a search for Varmint Al, he has a good write up on the little lathe, and some modifications he made. For ~$1000 you can get started with a drill press, small lathe, and a little bit of tooling.

I recomend you get a series of books called the Machinists Bedside Reader, there are currently 3 volumes, with a 4th in the work. There is some gunsmithing info in there, but mainly all sorts of misc things you can do at home, and many jigs and fictures you can make to increase the capability of the tools you have. There is even a bi-monthly magazene out there called The Home Shop Machinist, and they have a web site.

If our mutual buddy Art hadn't gotten me sidetracked on stock work, I'd be busier with metalwork, and likely have a few more fictures for the drill press and lathe I've been meaning to make, but haven't found time for. Now I'm committing to do some cabinate work for the wife, upside is a table saw and router, downside is even less time for the important projects.

As far as chambering barrels, you'd have to do alot to even break even, and you likely won't get the same quality as a good smith on the first few. But thats not the reason we do it! The best is doing offbeat projects that you'd never pay someone to chamber for you, but you get to experiment with just the same.

Quite a few things you can fix around the house with a drill press and lathe, just don't make yourself too handy with them

I suggest you do what I am currently doing myself Lee. I am taking a couple classes at the local community college for machining. I know the basics of chambering and what not, but the classes help to build a solid foundation of knowledge and experience.

I suggest you find a good gunsmith you trust who has a real background as a machinist. Pay him a reasonable wage to teach you some basics and see what tools he is using and what they can and can't do. If you have a good relationship with them, you can pick up an incredible amount of knowledge in a short period of time. Don't buy tooling and then try and learn on your own.-Rob