Mark, you out there?

Or can somebody tell me how to contact him. I need a copy of "the book".

Rusty

On the front of mine it has...
www.gunmaker.net
hope this helps!

Well, that didnt work, so off hand i dont have an answer! Sorry

Rusty, try to email him at octbarrel@aol.com

Rusty,

tell us about the book.

Rich
DRSS
Knowledge not shared is knowledge lost...

If it's the book I have, it was done by Mark a couple years ago and in it he divulges many of his secrets. Lots of mechanical drawings of jigs and fixtures. Lots of photos of his setups--even a CD full of even more setup photos. I got mine by calling him. I got his number off his website and ended up talking for over an hour. The bookmark I have for his website isn't working anymore. I bet someone here has his number; maybe Duane has it.

That's the one, Toomany. I was going to buy it for a Christmas present through MidwayUSA. It was available a month ago, now its listed as "discontinued".

His email is octbarrel@aol.com

I talked to Mark this evening and he still has some books available.

The book is great. There are some fixtures that I'll probably never build but it's always nice having the information. Most are really easy to build and very useful. If you own a mill, lathe, surface grinder or any other machine that removes metal, this is a great book to own.

Merry Christmas, RM.

-- ale

Rusty, I will pm you with his phone number

The e-mail addy worked, Mark contacted me and provided his phone number.

Thank you gentelmen for your assistance.

I had two semesters of drafting in the 9th grade in 1965.

If only mark had just a small part of that course, he could have made a much more useful three ring note book:
1) construction lines
2) dimension lines
3) dimesioning.

Just few minutes of advice could have taught him so much:
If he had shown it to a 9th grade drafting student, or faxed it to the people who sold him the CAD program, or shown it to a machinist neighbor, then he could have changed his drawings to be useful.

Clark,
Mark is a CNC machinist and that is his primary vocation. The gist of his book was the items themselves. I have seen the same petty criticism of yours and it just strikes that the we have someone who wished he had done what Mark did with in this book or had the talent to do it.

Hi guys I'm back. This last year has been the pits.. Just about everything bad that could happen to a person did... Even Jury Duty..

I'm glad you (almost all) liked the book. I sold a lot of copies and I have had 2 complains. The first one was the customer didn't like the boxes it came in and the second was tnekkcc who didn't like the drawings. I guess you can please everyone.

Chic, do you remember when you and I were doing a thread on the old America On Line? There was this guy who was always compaining about my text and the grammer. He, more than likely didn't do any checkering and missed the importance of the advice being given. This is imformation that you can't find elsewhere..

quote:

Originally posted by tnekkcc:
I had two semesters of drafting in the 9th grade in 1965.

If only mark had just a small part of that course, he could have made a much more useful three ring note book:
1) construction lines
2) dimension lines
3) dimesioning.

Just few minutes of advice could have taught him so much:
If he had shown it to a 9th grade drafting student, or faxed it to the people who sold him the CAD program, or shown it to a machinist neighbor, then he could have changed his drawings to be useful.

Huh!?

What is the book Mark wrote?

quote:

What is the book Mark wrote?

"Tricks of the Trade, Custom Rifle Metalsmithing"

Mark, you had to bring that character back up in my memory, lol.

You did describe him well.

Glad to see your are back on here.

Sounds like "quality Control", the twits couln't make sharp stick if thier lives depended on it; but they sure as shit can tell you yours has its point off center.

Mark, if you're following this thread I've sent you a PM.

quote:

Originally posted by Customstox:
Clark,
Mark is a CNC machinist and that is his primary vocation. The gist of his book was the items themselves. I have seen the same petty criticism of yours and it just strikes that the we have someone who wished he had done what Mark did with in this book or had the talent to do it.

Chick,
I don't think the $140 + shipping was too little to mention.


Dimension lines the same width as construction lines and no dimensions on the dimension lines is intolerable. It renders half the pages in the book useless, and it would take so little skill and effort to fix it.

I point it out, and get less than thanks.

What is going on?
Anything goes with Mark?

I have yet to get any apology from Mark about this. No corrective action. No offer of refund. No promises to fix the book.

And then I get comments like yours.
This not funny.

How can anyone trust gunsmiths that behave and post like this?

I also bought a copy of Mark's book. Probably will never make an fixtures using the book, but it's a GRERAT reference for me, for future rifle builds.
Besides, I like supporting guys here on the forum.

Don

quote:

Originally posted by tnekkcc:

quote:

Originally posted by Customstox:
Clark,
Mark is a CNC machinist and that is his primary vocation. The gist of his book was the items themselves. I have seen the same petty criticism of yours and it just strikes that the we have someone who wished he had done what Mark did with in this book or had the talent to do it.

Chick,
I don't think the $140 + shipping was too little to mention.


Dimension lines the same width as construction lines and no dimensions on the dimension lines is intolerable. It renders half the pages in the book useless, and it would take so little skill and effort to fix it.

I point it out, and get less than thanks.

What is going on?
Anything goes with Mark?

I have yet to get any apology from Mark about this. No corrective action. No offer of refund. No promises to fix the book.

And then I get comments like yours.
This not funny.

How can anyone trust gunsmiths that behave and post like this?

This is a pretty clear case of unmet exectations. The real question is , are tnekkcc's expectations appropriate. I would agree with him if I viewed this as a professional, edited book from any major publisher. However, I view this as a collection of self published helpful notes from a working gunsmith. Those of us who have made things from plans on the back of napkins, paper towels and blocks of scrap wood have no problem figuring out the "missing" numbers and sometimes confusing lines.

The "book" is fine for me and meets my expectations. It is clear that Mr Stratton is not a trained draftsman or illustrator. It takes effort and time to produce clear drawings. I believe the book delivers as advertised and no corrective action, applogy, changes, or refund are warrented, but that is up to Mark.

Roger

Hi Guys,

ALLMOST everyone who has bought a book is happy. Consider this, How many gunsmithing take the time to write down what they do. Most gunsmiths take what they know to the grave leaving each new gunsmith to revent the wheel.

As a rule, most gunsmiths do work and don't show the rest of the trade how the approach their work. More of you should consider doing what I did, the trade would be better off.

Thank God for computers with spelling and grammar check. That's the only way this project got completed.

Mark, as a humble home hack, I want to thank you and every other professional out there that take the time to show us your skills/art. Duane's pics of the Searcy build were awesome, and yes, the check for the Searcy CD is in the mail. Don't sweat it if a few people take exception to how you wrote your book---hell, how many of THEM took the time to write/take pictures of THEIR skills??? I wanted a copy of your book when it came out, lost the address, and STILL want one.... So, what was the cost and where do I send the check?

Thanks, Mark....

MKane160

I still have a few copies of this printing left on the shelf. If you would like a copy, send a check to:

Mark Stratton Gunmaker
PO Box 813
Mukilteo, Washington 98275

OR:

For Visa or MasterCard... cal 425.745.8309
The cost is $75 plus $5 shipping

Precision Shooting did a review of the book in May or June of last year. They gave it a 41/2 stars out of 5. Find and read the review if you have any questions..

I have been signing engineering drawings for 30 years and I might have high expectations for them...

but my complaints about the Stratton book would be relative to the 9th grade tech drawing class I took in 1965 in jr. high school.

None of Mark's drawings would have got a passing grade from Mr Anderson in that room full of 14 year olds.

While I haven't seen Mark's book, I can imagine to some extent as to what your referring to, though opinions like that are sometimes better off being kept to one's self, rather than posting them on a public forum, where the author spends a considerable amount of time..................

I've been working with so-called "engineers" for nearly 20 years, who have neither the ability, nor the intelligence capable of drawing a print that a machinist can work with. They run from spending countless hours of back-figuring, to completely unusable. They are almost without exception, drawn by someone who has never had to make anything, but a solid model or a blueprint.

I began drafting at age 16 and quickly went into CADD. I learned real quick that if I wanted to build something from my prints, I'd best get a handle on how to properly draw and design them.
I've spent countless hours looking over thousands of prints from folks like Boeing, Hughes Aircraft, McDonnell Douglas, Allied Signal, and Pratt & Whitney, to name a few............
It never ceases to amaze me to what lengths engineers will go to make a machinist's life so difficult.

I can easily forgive a few minor errors, providing the information is presented how and where I need it...................

quote:

It never ceases to amaze me to what lengths engineers will go to make a machinist's life so difficult.

That statement made my day...Thanks!
There are some things in Marks book i wont be using, i'll be using a horizonal mill. Some of it i have already done myselfe but i am open minded enough to look at how to skin a cat anyway i can. Mark could have taken this to his grave and i for one wish there was more of this available. As noted in the last of the preface...QUOTE...I spent more time behind a milling machine than in English 101. Thanks Mark, and here's to a better year!

Mark

Please contact me off-list.

Thank you.

You are better off calling Mark than posting here. He has always been there when I called but may take a bit to see your post or email. I just talked to him two days or so so he's not out fishing yet.

_Baxter

quote:

Hi guys I'm back. This last year has been the pits.. Just about everything bad that could happen to a person did... Even Jury Duty..

I hope you hung the bastard. Too many parking ticket scofflaws these days.

If you need a break the ground squirrels are out in force right now, and I'm down to my last 3,000 rounds of .223

JCN