Well...I Blew My First Design

[behemoth]

One Night a lonely 15yr old kid was in his room thinking...he came to the conclusion that he could start making custom dropfrowards and metal parts, using the scrap stainless and scrap aluminum from his family business (H.V.A.C services and Industrial Sales and Custom Metal Work) using a peice of .25 inch thick (i dont know the gauge of that off hand) and i drew out a blueprint on a peice of notebook paper, and well...i got my calculation a little wrong...so now i had the shop foreman use the pressbrake and brake the metal while i was at school. I have a drop forward with a 80degree drop...hehe not good...so i have to heat it up and hammer it out to a 45degree to make it look like a real drop. and after that is finished...i can drill it for the gripframe holes, and my friends grandfathers engraving shop can mill out the screw holes to fit a cone shaped screw head...BUT, i dont know what to do to attach a bottom line...any help would be apreaciated!

[cphilip]

No biggie Fire...nothing ventured, nothing gained. You learned something. I bet Toms first Mag went that way. Keep experimenting.

[redlaser666]

Drill the bottom holes bigger than the scrwews and use nuts to secure them, that way you dont have to tap the holes.

[behemoth]

thanks for the support phil...

this one is just a proto, but it might go on my friends gun cuz hes too poor to afford a nice drop..hehe, but then i might start making alot of them, and trying to sell em cheap...i dont know... with just a press brake i cant make em as nice as those with mills!

[JEDI]

Originally posted by redlaser666
Drill the bottom holes bigger than the scrwews and use nuts to secure them, that way you dont have to tap the holes.
Most drops dont have threads any way. The screw goes through the drop and threads into the grip frame. Counter sinking is the only addition to the hole, and he mentioned that already:)

[Cort95]

That's a pretty nice looking first try there FiRe. My hat's off to you for your ingenuity and willingness to try. I've been shopping around for a drop forward. Keep us posted, I'd love to buy one of the first production FiRe drop forwards :) Here's to another "It all started here" story.

[behemoth]

i thought this would be a good idea, because i could get the scrap metal for free and i could sell em cheap (like 5-10 bucks) hehe...id be happy to get you one cort, but i gotta get teh design down first

[paintballbeaver]

i've been making custom drops for a while 1st you have to thread them other wise people moan and complain

2nd take some time and also try aluminum much easier to work w/ and nicer to tap and bend i know from experiance go aluminum

[Blazingace]

Lookin' good for a first try. Keep at it. You might have the makings of the next PB empire. You could be like KAPP or CP and do alot of milling and things like that. That would rock.

[behemoth]

all im using is a brake press to bend the metal, i dont have a mill, and taht would be kinda cool if i could be like kapp or someting, but i would need some more expensive toys.

one thing i would like to do...is learn how to use our family's business's plasma cutter, you can program a certian shape in it, and then cut multiple peices out...i could get a buncha scrap, and cut the drops out of 5/8in metal, instead of braking 1/4in peices...but with the plasma cutter...i would have to clean up the edges with the grinder (they become all blackened and have burnt metal peices hanging off the edges.)

i dont know...thise was all just a little idea for some scrap stainless

p.s. i just finished marking the drop for where the holes will be drilled... they can be drilled tomarrow (any one know the universal b/l screw size?)

[Badabing]

I did this with a one inch wide piece of iron, i just stuck it in a vice and pulled. It was my drop for a while then i got a new gun.

[irbodden]

Where in Cleveland are ya?

[Kevmaster]

bottomline screws are 10-32 unless you have a spyder in which case they are M4 i believe