So I made my own single stage press from scratch ...

[smokeywolf]

I finished the basic press with no "clear" idea of how I was going to get the piston attached, and I wasn't sure exactly how the 5-port air valve worked. I figured out a lot of the details as I got to that particular stage: sometimes that meant walking away from the pile of parts while I thought of possible ways to make things work.

I've done a fair amount of engineering this way. I refer to it as, "engineering on-the-fly"

Many is the time I've made a rough cartoon of what I wanted to produce, modified as I went and produced the official blueprints after the prototype proved out.

 

[Paul Gauthier]

Wguiles, you get top marks for execution on that press. great job.

 

[wquiles]

Well, you'll fit right in here. A fair number of us here are amateur machinists being helped tremendously by Keith and Smokeywolf. For the most part, getting into machine work was borne of the desire to do more with guns and handloading tools.

Please post about your latest Form 1 build when you get to it, I've done a few of them myself, all before I had a lathe. Here's the last one I did: https://www.artfulbullet.com/index.php?threads/my-latest-silencer-project.2512/

Thanks. My "excuse" to get into machining was to modify and make LED flashlights and parts out of your ordinary Maglite. That was back in 2006. That led to an 7x14, then an 8x lathe, a table top mini mill, then the PM12x36 lathe (current), and the 8x30 knee mill (current). I wanted to modify the bandsaw, which took me to learn welding, etc.. I would love CNC gear, buy I can't afford it.

I started reading about your F1 can. Wow. I need to go back and re-read it a couple of times before I start my 3rd can as I clearly still have lots to learn

When I took my daughter to the range for the first time, I had her try a 1911 with a 22 top, a custom Ruger MkIII, and a custom 10/22 with my F1 can (steel with aluminum baffles). Of course, that 10/22 with the can became "her" rifle

I have been using my 45cal can (designed for a 45-70 Handi Rifle, using a titanium tube, and a mix of SS and Ti baffles) with standard 5/8-24 threads for a 30-cal rifle, which is what I use on my Savage model 10 police rifle (308 cal). This 3rd can will be a true 30cal can, so it should be a little more effective with my subsonic handloads than using the larger cone ID on the 45cal can, plus I am going from 1.5" OD to 1.625" OD so it should do better with high power rounds as well (this will also be Ti & SS).

I've done a fair amount of engineering this way. I refer to it as, "engineering on-the-fly"

Nice! Glad to hear I am not the "only" one that wings it and hopes for the best

Wguiles, you get top marks for execution on that press. great job.

I still have much to learn, but thanks much Paul for your kind words

Will

 

[flint4570]

Very cool press.

 

[wquiles]

Thank you

 

[FrankCVA42]

Watched the whole post and videos. All I can say is WOW I'm seriously impressed. You sir are one xtremely talented man. To start out with some pieces of steel and end up with a precision press of that caliber says a lot about you and your capabilities. I seriously regret not being able to go to the machinists courses at work (boss wouldn't let me go due to being shorthanded with the other supervisors on my job.) and getting to attend the welders certification courses. So basically I'm self taught with lathe and drill press. What's next on your list of things to build??. Frank

 

[wquiles]

Thank you Frank. I have been working on a new idea for a Titanium low back-pressure, user-adjustable form 1 suppressor (35 caliber). Idea is in my head, although I have a couple of hand drawn drawings already - I will post pictures once I can make make progress on it.

 

[Ian]

Like the "jet engine in reverse" suppressor?

 

[wquiles]

It is a similar concept, although I don't have 4/5 axis CNC stuff to make mine, so I am limited to a manual lathe and milling machine. In my idea the inners are reconfigurable/adjustable (unlike their fixed vanes) to allow an adjustable gas path. I don't have a class 7 to manufacture nor test, nor experiment, so by making my inners adjustable, I can keep a fix number of parts and stay legal per guidelines for a form 1. I don't know yet of any adjustable suppressor, so I don't know if this will work well or not. I have to built one to see how it works (or not), and risk the $200 stamp (already on hand) and of course my time plus parts.

 

[Ian]

You can buy a thick stack of Form 1 stamps for what an 07 costs. The hassle is less, too, and probably faster.

My conclusion was that backpressure is a small problem and easier to mitigate through engineering on the platform than engineering the Title II part, but if someone breaks some ground here for the Form 1'ers.....oh my would that be awesome! Best of luck to you and I hope you will share your progress.