How 'bout some stainless mag bling?

[Spider-TW]

Bringing the bling on the stainless bodies!

I need some daylight for a better set of pictures, but here's my first attempt at jeweling, engine turning, or damascening a stainless mag body. I figured I would start on a standard body before I tried a minimag body.

I started on the valve end, after practicing. I still got into a fight with the abrasive tool early on. That particular tool part now looks like one of Maghog's SP works of art.

The pattern change at the valve end is kind of creepy in the dark. Since the reflections change differently than the rest, it gives it some movement.


http://www.mcarterbrown.com/gallery/data/1122/medium/lessbling.JPG


http://www.mcarterbrown.com/gallery/data/1122/medium/allbling.JPG

<a href="http://www.mcarterbrown.com/gallery/data/1122/closebling.JPG">
<img src="http://www.mcarterbrown.com/gallery/data/1122/closebling.JPG" width="600" height="450"></img></a>

[WUNDERWAFFEN]

Thats pretty cool!

[georgeyew]

Indeed, that does look very cool!!!

[Ruler_Mark]

very hot

[MoeMag]

I like.

Who did your feedneck? luke? Thats pretty classy.

[chafnerjr]

That's damned sexy :cheers:

[luke]

I thats cool, I never thought about do that to a mag body before. Did you use a drill press, mill or hand drill? What kind of tooling did you use?

[Smoothice]

where do I send mine?

Seriously you better patent that before SP does...

:hail:

[spectre184]

wonder that would look with a matching dye SS barrel :wow:

[Chrome]

Almost looks like carbon fiber.

Okay, now a barrel and the valve. . . :D

[Spider-TW]

That is a Luke's vert feed neck mod, with a 05 ego feed neck. There's a shim of 0.023 (0.024?) brass between the body neck and the feed neck. Very nice fit.

I used my drill press and a Menck damascening tool from Brownell's. I think MidwayUSA has them also. I'm not sure it was the right choice. Brownell's also has some metal brushes and compound that I would be tempted to try. The Menck tool tended to bind up and took a lot of stopping for adjustment.

I made a traversing rack just for mag bodies out of , uh , hardware. Well, the base is two feet of 2x6 and two pieces of bed frame. The rack is two , oh bother. Let me get a couple of pictures.

[Smoothice]

Let me get a couple of pictures.

Get us some prices too...for your services. ;)

[zondo]

Get us some prices too...for your services. ;)

+


wonder that would look with a matching dye SS barrel :wow:

=

ME! :dance:

[luke]

That is a Luke's vert feed neck mod, with a 05 ego feed neck. There's a shim of 0.023 (0.024?) brass between the body neck and the feed neck. Very nice fit.

I used my drill press and a Menck damascening tool from Brownell's. I think MidwayUSA has them also. I'm not sure it was the right choice. Brownell's also has some metal brushes and compound that I would be tempted to try. The Menck tool tended to bind up and took a lot stopping for adjustment.

I made a traversing rack just for mag bodies out of , uh , hardware. Well, the base is two feet of 2x6 and two pieces of bed frame. The rack is two , oh bother. Let me get a couple of pictures.


I was thinking that a milling machine with a rotary table and tail stock would work perfect. ;)

Would you by chance have a link to the tooling? (OK I know I'm being lazy. :) )

I would love to see your set up! :cool:

[Spider-TW]

I was thinking that a milling machine with a rotary table and tail stock would work perfect. ;)

Would you by chance have a link to the tooling? (OK I know I'm being lazy. :) )

I would love to see your set up! :cool:

Yes, a mill would be perfect. You will see why I didn't offer to show you my setup...

I'll be re-mounting the spring/worm gear before I do another body. The slide works very well, it's a 3/8-16 all thread with a coupling in the sprocket end block. Two turns is 1/8". :D The sprocket turned out to be almost the exact angle (28 teeth) needed to get 1/4" on the body for two turns on the "drive".

It all bolts through the body, so I will have to make some modifications to do a valve. I hadn't really thought much about a barrel, but I do have a 32 degrees 14 inch stainless with no marks on it....I would have to do half and flip it around. That would be interesting.

I picked your vert feed because I could get around the stack with the tool. A power feed would leave more unturned space.

The body below is mounted just for orientation. You start turning with a POLISHED BODY. The more the mirror, the better. The jeweling doesn't cover up as much as you might think. There were a few wheel marks on my body, so I started back on 320 grit sand paper and brought back to 1500 grit a few times. Getting from 600 grit to 1500 grit paper is a pain. I had to get my dremel and polishing compound out to get the mirror back on it. That effort was probably a waste considering my tool problems later, but it was good practice. :rolleyes:

It took a few hours for me just to do the turning. With a real shop and some practice, it might be profitable. Since I'm in my garage, the fall and winter will be good for me to do much more. It takes too much attention to do while hot and sweaty. I can count to four really well now.

The tool is here. (http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/store/ProductDetail.aspx?p=8870&title=DAMASCENING%20TOOL)

The base is lag bolted to the drill press table.

http://www.mcarterbrown.com/gallery/data/1122/medium/tableleft.JPG

http://www.mcarterbrown.com/gallery/data/1122/medium/tableright.JPG

[Spider-TW]

It looks the same in the daylight. I was worried it might loose some of the edges.

http://www.mcarterbrown.com/gallery/data/1122/medium/sunnybling.JPG

[luke]

Thats cool as hell!

How many rotations do you get from zero to 360 degrees?

[luke]

Thanks for the link. How much life do you get out of the brushes and did you use the abrasive?

I wonder if you would get better life with a high rpm up around 3000rpm. (?)

[Spider-TW]

A full revolution was 28 sprocket teeth, each tooth is one turn of the worm drive (if I can call it that). I used two teeth or two turns of the worm for each spot, which was four turns of my wrist; I counted to four a lot. It took a while to just trust the rack and quit trying to re-align things. Sometimes the light would play tricks and I would try to compensate (BAD idea).

The tool comes with three, two-inch sticks. Now that I've had some practice (!), I could probably do the same body with one stick. I have a little more than three inches left, but I trashed an inch when it got bound up in the sleeve, which dug some marks in the body and refused to come out. I got one two inch stick locked up almost immediately and had to cut it free with a dremel tool. I never could get a full stick to behave and started cutting them in half. The sticks look like they are about $35 for nine, so they need to be counted for pricing. The inner sleeve is 5/32" K&S brass tubing, so I replaced it a few times.

The worm drive is a fat spring I found at the hardware store. I figured I needed about four turns per inch to match the sprocket. That mounting could use some sort of tensioner on it to account for my "assembly process" variations. Since it is a worm drive, it holds the rotation well, but my back-lash is ugly, especially compared to the all-thread in the base.

I think the max rate of the tool is 1800 rpm. Since it holds a two inch piece of brass, it may not hold together well. I was running it at 650 rpm. It can build up some heat. I never figured out what would make the stick bind up in the brass sleeve. In some practice runs I used too much pressure and got some discoloration which polished out.

Getting the right pressure and rhythm is pretty nice. The trouble is when you come to holes mounts, necks, etc and have to go around. You might remember the pump slot I put in there. That gave me a something to hop over most of the time. It's not bad, just needed practice. :)

[luke]

I was looking at this>

http://www.brownells.com/aspx/ns/store/ProductDetail.aspx?p=608&title=ENGINE%20TURNING%20BRUSHES

Not sure if it's tough enough for SS though...

[Spider-TW]

I was looking at this>

http://www.brownells.com/aspx/ns/store/ProductDetail.aspx?p=608&title=ENGINE%20TURNING%20BRUSHES

Not sure if it's tough enough for SS though...
Yes. They have a kit with some of those brushes and some abrasive (120 grit I think). I think it just holds the grit (and oil), so I don't think the kind of steel would bother it.

Brushes can flare some as well and I don't know which is better yet. The thing that made me go with the Menck tool was that it has a long reach, which I needed around the feed neck. I might get much better performance over 1000 rpm. It was marking well, so I didn't think much about changing the speed.

I kept telling myself to "let the tool do the work" and don't press too hard, but you have to press hard enough to make it conform to the surface. I think that causes more tool wear on round bodies than something flat.

Here's the kit (http://www.brownells.com/aspx/ns/store/ProductDetail.aspx?p=609&title=ENGINE%20TURNING%20KIT) I was looking at. A smaller diameter tool may last longer. A smaller press (if you have a choice) might also help in being able to feel the pressure applied.

[Ruler_Mark]

im curious, could you do this then anno the aluminum for some really freaky finish?

[MoeMag]

HAHAHA! WOW

:hail: I am in awe at that "tooling" rig.

[luke]

im curious, could you do this then anno the aluminum for some really freaky finish?

You bet! A few years ago i was going to do grips with the jeweling and have them annoed but never got around to it. :)

[XM15]

I gota give you props on your setup. You made yourself a very nice indexing head with just things you scavanged from around the house. To buy a cheap chicom one owuld have cost a couple of hundred bucks. The Jeweling looks really nice on the body too. I was going to do the bolt on one of my AK47's but now I may have to try it on my old minimag body too.

[Spider-TW]

I gota give you props on your setup. You made yourself a very nice indexing head with just things you scavanged from around the house. To buy a cheap chicom one owuld have cost a couple of hundred bucks. The Jeweling looks really nice on the body too. I was going to do the bolt on one of my AK47's but now I may have to try it on my old minimag body too.
Thanks. I actually have a good ACE hardware near the house. I got one of the guys to help me find the black end pieces that hold the body. I explained what I was looking for and we looked through the store until we found a pair of chair rollers with hard rubber ball wheels. I cut one in half and drilled the halves to fit the all-thread. :D

[pump]

mag of the year!

[Freebird]

you should probably do a classic valve. :shooting:

[Spider-TW]

you should probably do a classic valve. :shooting:
Yes, it would be really good for a "field rental" valve, especially after it was drilled out for a lvl 10 bolt.

[Mongoose]

where do I send mine?

Seriously you better patent that before SP does...

:hail:

Dont worry....you cant do that to plastic :D

[secretweaponevan]

That is soooo cool.

Great work.

[Bagheera]

Wow great job! I love to see old world craftsmanship brought back in the 21st century :)