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Old January 11, 2011, 06:34 AM   #51
Doc Hoy
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I recommend....

...not buying the whole kit. The citrus degreaser doesn't work as well as acetone.

I like the oil but can't compare its performance to simple gun oil. I may have more to say on that later.

I found that I almost had to work the finish in with real fine steel wool. The first application looked so uneven I was about to write a nasty letter. But working the finish in with repeated application and then smoothing with fine steel wool while the bluing is drying makes the finish more even.
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Old January 17, 2011, 05:52 PM   #52
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Well I bought a barrel catch from DGW....

...but the more I looked at the barrel, the more I realized that the original owner had taken a file to the dovetail on the bottom of the barrel. There was no dovetail left, only 90 degree walls. I don't know how the guy intended to put the barrel catch into the barrel.

There is no way a standard barrel catch will work because the base of the dovetail (what is left of it) is wider than the base of a barrel catch. Consequently I had to make a barrel catch with an oversized base. I also had to go to town on the barrel with a file to put angles in the barrel to catch the dovetail of the barrel catch.

I started with a piece of 3/4 inch round stock and milled it down to the right profile to catch the dovetail I filed in the barrel.



Next I releaved the catch to allow for the length of the loading lever.



I smoothed the contour of the catch on a belt sander. (Steel gets hot pretty quick and it is hard to hold onto the piece of steel which is roughly 3/8 by 3/8 by 1/2 with ungloved fingers.)

I drove the catch into the barrel .



Notice that the catch has not been finish to accept the lever latch, because I don't yet know where it is going to need to be filed.



I also mate a sight for the pistol. Here it is with both parts in place.

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Old January 17, 2011, 07:02 PM   #53
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It's looking good, Doc. I envy your tooling capabilities. I'm pretty much limited to hammers and bigger hammers.
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Old January 17, 2011, 07:06 PM   #54
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Nice work, Doc. I'm in the same position as napp, except that I have trouble with hammers.
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Old January 18, 2011, 06:52 AM   #55
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The only measurement I took for this part was...

...the dimension of the base from angle to angle. The rest was done with just a comparison of a workable catch.

The fit was good and I had to go to a bigger hammer to drive it in place.

So I am a "bigger hammer" guy too.

If I had it to do over again, I would make it wider so as to cover more of the width (from side to side). Maybe I will try again. One thing for sure, an OEM catch is out of the question.
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Old January 19, 2011, 12:34 PM   #56
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Made the plunger today

I have a plunger on order from DGW. But since the part is so simple in design, I decided to make one. (Always good to have an extra plunger laying around)

Turned it down from 3/4 inch round stock. Milled the slot and drilled and tapped the hole for the screw.













It works pretty good.
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Old January 19, 2011, 12:44 PM   #57
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Doc,

I may have missed something, but didn't the gun have a plunger as you received it?

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Old January 19, 2011, 02:36 PM   #58
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JM1

It did/does have a plunger but the plunger had been worked on using a coarse file. In addition the screw was removed and replaced with a poorly fitting pin.

Since I load with a press almost all of the time the loading lever is really for looks only. But this one seems to be every bit as functional as the original. As I said, I have a plunger on order but just wanted to try making this one.

When working with a mill and small pieces I am learning that there is a strategy in to sequence of steps involved. Both with the lever catch and the plunger, the parts were almost completely finished before I removed them from the waste stock This gave me something to hold onto, gave strength to the piece while I was working it and actually resulted in less scrap.
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Old January 19, 2011, 03:52 PM   #59
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Hey Doc you happen to know what size nipples that gun has? If you replaced them what did you replace them with?
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Old January 19, 2011, 04:32 PM   #60
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Doc, I don't mean to derail your thread, but do you think that the kind of work that you're doing could be done with a drill press and the appropriate bits? I've got a 15" Delta floor drill press and I've always wondered if I could do stuff like that if I had an end mill set and the proper table. What do you think?
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Old January 19, 2011, 05:11 PM   #61
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Meatsaw and Hardcase

MS,

I did not replace the nipples but they are a coarser thread than Pietta. I did not bother to check the threads but I think that if Mykeal is reading this thread he will wade in with a cross reference of nipple sizes for the different Italian manufacturers.

HC,

That is a darned fine drill press. Problem with that press is that there are a lot of variables.

1. The head needs to be tightened down real snug
2. The table needs to be snug too and squared with the spindle (which I think is easy on that press.)
3. I have not found a good two axis vice for less than about three hundred bucks. The vice needs to be held very tight onto the table. This arrangement actually simplifies milling slightly because the axis of the jaws is automatically at quadrature with the movement of the vice in its two axis of motion. Clamping a vice to a milling machine is a set-up process in its own right.
4. A drill press chuck is not generally designed to hold cutting tools but you can make it tight enough it you jack on the chuck key enough.
5. I do not know if the spindle of the drill press can be locked in a fixed position. This is important unless you have three hands.
6. Drill presses are generally not substantial such as to withstand much side force. A lathe suffers from the same deficiency. (This is why bump knurling is not recommended using a lathe.) So if you try to do much milling it should be only light duty milling. The nice thing about your particular drill press, is that it is a very good one and if any press can take it, yours can.

My recommentation is to get yourself a cheap vice like one from Harbor Freight and get some cheap general purpose end mills. Set up some scrap stock and see how you feel about the noise coming from the drill press.

Then, once you are comfortable with the way your set up is performaing you will know whether or not to put more money into a better vice.

BUT

The cost of the milling machine is only a small part of the investment. You can easily have as much money into trying to use your drill press as a mill as you would have just going out and buying a used mill.

I gave $400.00 plus two old rifles for mine. It is a Grizzly two horse bench model. It is the biggest mill they make for a bench and I would not want anything smaller. Weighs seven hundred pounds. The lathe is a Grizzly 10 by 22 which I bought new. Neither of the machines are extremely precise but for what I paid for them I can get used to it.





Do not....I say again.....Do not make the miostake of buying a combination lathe mill drill.
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Old January 19, 2011, 05:46 PM   #62
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Thanks, Doc - it's another thing to add to my list of stuff that I want to do when I come across that mythical free time that I hear other people talk about.
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Old January 19, 2011, 07:26 PM   #63
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A nipple cross reference by manufacturer? Hmmm. I haven't actually done anything like that, but maybe I can...

Here's the chart of all the different nipple threads I've come across:


Now, as to what manufacturer uses which size...

Uberti uses 1/4x28x0.635 (the third number is overall height), aka Treso 11-50-01, TotW RST-A, in the horse pistols - Walker and Dragoons. So does ASM.

Uberti uses 12x28x0.501 in the medium frame guns like the 1851 and 1860. This is Treso 11-50-16, TotW PCC-A.

I have absolutely no idea what the #@%& Uberti uses in the pocket pistols. On two of them, when I tried to install the TotW listed replacement, it wouldn't start. And the OEM nipples don't fit my Brownell's thread checkers. The tread MD is 0.208". ***??? The third one takes a very short metric 6x0.75.

Pietta uses metric 6x0.75mm for all of their revolvers (I think). Treso 11-50-10,, TotW PIR-A.

Euroarms uses the metric 6x0.75 in everything but the 1860 Army, which takes a 12x28.

That's revolvers only, by the way. Long guns is a whole nuther story. Don't even get me started....
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Old January 19, 2011, 07:34 PM   #64
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I hope ya'll take this in the best possible way.....but

guys with that much talent and knowledge **** me off.

Too cool.....way too cool (as my daughter would say).
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Old January 19, 2011, 09:37 PM   #65
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Tankers

If you are refering to my tinkering, I thanks you but you gotta understand that most of this stuff I am doing by accident.

I am convinced that a machinist would cringe at some of my techniques.

I wish I could even think about calling my self a sometimes gunsmith.
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Old January 21, 2011, 11:32 AM   #66
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Well, Doc....."accidental gunsmithing" or not....I'm impressed.


BTW, I'm originally from right up the road from you.....born and raised in good ole Richmond.
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Old January 21, 2011, 12:26 PM   #67
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Tanker

I hope you relocated to a place where it snows more.

(I like snow)
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Old January 21, 2011, 12:59 PM   #68
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Sorry Doc, but snow here on the Gulf Coast is an anomaly at best. It is a bit cooler today though....only goin' to 54. 'Course, in another month or so, it'll be summer again....I tell my kin folk back in VA that we only have three seasons here -- December, January and Summer....
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Old January 23, 2011, 02:19 PM   #69
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After

Three photos of the finished revolver.







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Old January 23, 2011, 02:51 PM   #70
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BRAVO!
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Old January 23, 2011, 03:23 PM   #71
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Very nice job Doc!
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Old January 23, 2011, 04:15 PM   #72
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Well done, Doc, that's a project to be proud of.
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Old January 23, 2011, 04:20 PM   #73
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Veeery Nice! I like it!
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Old January 23, 2011, 09:13 PM   #74
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...and thus, another "origin unknown; but appears to have been meticulously maintained" pistol is born.

Great job Doc. It's been fun following the project.
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Old January 23, 2011, 09:48 PM   #75
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Thanks fellas

Got a short barrel Remington to work on next.
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