This [...]]]> With this post I am happy to note that Axel, a friend of gun lab, is back for a visit and as always we put him back to work. And unlike what most people think of me we did actually allow him some time off to go to the local gun show and stores.

This post is about the continuing work that is being done on the VG1-5.

This weekend was spent working on a number of projects by different people and in different shops.

Axel spent most of his time working on making a stock pattern for the rough cut and the finish router work.

Before I go into great detail on making the stock pattern I have to stress that some people just do not like to change there ways. We have a rather complete machine and wood working shop. So when you see the method that the pattern was make it is all Axel.

It started with a wood blank that was roughed out on the old stock fixture plate.

This a really scary fixture to use with a 3/4 horse power router especially toward the grip of the stock. Even though there is a bearing riding against the fixture

it was still an interesting experience.

Axel took the rough shaped stock and fitted it to our test rifle.

A close up of the fit up.

Then it was off to make a pattern that would make the same thing over and over but still allow for the minor differences that we are going to encounter.

Now this is the point where German stubbornness comes into play. We will just go back to the fact that we do have a couple of nice work shops and in the saw room is a really nice band saw.

Did I mention that this tool works great on cutting Aluminum?

He did it the old fashion way  and when you don’t have much in the line of tools you use what you have and become expert with them. This is what Axel did.

He started by attaching the stock to the aluminum plate with the two stock screws and then a third point on the stock to firmly hold the blank to the plate.

He then marked out the stock out line.

Then he went to the drill press and drilled about a thousand holes,that may be a little exaggerated, but the number is close.

Then he put the stock that he previously fitted to the rifle and and spent quite a bit of time, between guns shows and gun store visits, and files everything away that did not look like the stock.

When it was all said and over this is what it looked like.

So now the new process for making the stock will be to lay out the stock with the aluminum pattern, cut the stock out with the wood shop band saw.

Then using the pattern cut the shape out on the router table using a straight cutter with a ball bearing guide.

After the shape is cut out go back in with a radius cutter to cut the couture.

The final set will be to plug the third hole with a wooden dowel.

Many thanks to Axel for his help this last weekend and we are a step closer to getting done.

I have [...]]]> This last weekend between working on the kitchen and the router table I started on a project for a couple of friends. Axel is back in country and will be here for awhile and needs some stuff for his new shop and Paul ,from the flintlock site , need an anvil as well.

I have had an old truck at the house that I gave a loan on. Well he can’t be found after a decade so a while back I decided to use it for other things. This is part of what it went to.

I had more fun then you can even imagine taking this front end apart.

Nothing came off easily. Every thing was a battle. starting with the break drum. None of the bolts would come loose without an impact wrench and heat.

The only way to get the break pads out was to cut them out.

The same goes for everything else as well.

All the bolts on the drum had to be beaten out with a sledge hammer.

At the end of the day I was left with both drums.

The cross member

And a pile of scrap to be used in forging projects.

Now came the fun part. With Axel’s help I was able top move the cross member to the band saw room and cut it into usable lengths.

Then after some time of the mill I finally cut the first one down to the rough shape necessary to work it into an anvil.

The horn still needs work but that will have to be done with a grinder.

This procedure was a little [...]]]> When we made the first couple of stocks for the VG1-5 we used a fixture to hold the stock. This fixture held the wooden blank that we cut using the bandsaw and then using a hand held router we cut the radius on the out side edge of the stock.

This procedure was a little harry to say the least.

The router bit and ball bearing guide.

The fixture that the router bit would run around on using the bearing as a guide.

After doing a couple of stocks this was it has been decided by me not to do this again. I have a cnc router that I have been working on and will use it for the hand guards, but for the stock it was not going to work real well.

While at a job I saw this in a guy’s garage and knew that this would be perfect for my stock project.

This last weekend I started working on it. I managed to get all the wood cut for it and the real good news is that most of it came from my scrap pile.

All the wood is cut to size and next weekend I will start cutting the groves and rough assembly.

This weekend I started wiring up this block. I first tried using solder connectors. With out the proper soldering iron that turn into a disaster. After ruining a number of 9 pin connectors [...]]]> In the last update on the router I showed a picture of the milled angle plate that was made here.

This weekend I started wiring up this block. I first tried using solder connectors. With out the proper soldering iron that turn into a disaster. After ruining a number of 9 pin connectors due to excessive heat I gave up.

The next approach I tried was using crimp connectors. For this I bought a crimp tool, special wire and insulation, and male and female connectors and pins.

For some reason the crimps would just not come out correctly.

Also the female connectors had no stop in them. This meant that if you were not careful the wire would go into the connector  thus not allowing the male plug to go in all the way.

This process was more aggravating then the first one. So, it was off to Fry’s electronics to buy a new crimping tool. No such luck. There was no crimping tools at all, however they did have a large selection of pencil tip soldering irons.

With a new pencil tip soldering iron in hand I set up a little work area on the dining room table. Not really to my wife liking, however it was hot in the shops so she did not fight it much.

After a couple of hours trying to get in a mode and working out all the bugs in the procedure I finished 1/2 of one plug. With 12 plugs to do I couple be dead for really old age before I finish this one step.

A new system needed to be implemented.

I first cut wires to length and strip the ends

Then I soldered the ends

Then I installed and soldered them in the plugs.

This whole process was a little nerve racking and when I finally got a procedure that I liked the tip went out on the soldering iron. Now new tips have been ordered and I hope to be back on schedule this next weekend. Only 12 more sets to install.

I also made up the first of four wire hook up circuits to go from the control panel to the angle junction block.

This coming weekend looks to be a fun one. By the way no video on this phase of the project, the foul language would have given me an X rating

In this post Pete goes over making the replacement pieces for the lower receiver area.

As with everything in the making of this rifle there is a great deal of trial and error.

It is interesting to see the tooling [...]]]> This is another update on Pete’s project of making a semi auto MP-44.

In this post Pete goes over making the replacement pieces for the lower receiver area.

As with everything in the making of this rifle there is a great deal of trial and error.

It is interesting to see the tooling that Pete make to do the work necessary to complete the task.

There is a great deal of hand fitting and filing in this project.

It is looking better and better.

Pete is a master metal smith. I am impressed with the quality of the work that he has done on this project.

Here are [...]]]> Some work was accomplished on the CNC router over this long weekend. The angle bracket was machined for all the connectors to attach to. I was going to wire the plugs up but found out that the wire we have is not the correct type, it is on order no for next weekend.

Here are the pictures of the angle bracket that was made.

Just as a reminder this is where it will set on the side panel of the cnc router.

The next step was to design the tooling necessary to bend the springs for an AR-180B rifle. A couple of pictures of the tooling necessary to [...]]]> A while back we showed you the springs that we obtained for the AR-180B safety and bolt hold open. We bought these with out the tabs pre-bent and trimmed.

The next step was to design the tooling necessary to bend the springs for an AR-180B rifle. A couple of pictures of the tooling necessary to bend the spring at a proper angle

Not as simple as it looks.

The spring wire put in for the first bend.

The tool necessary to bend the spring.

After the first bend

Pivot pin moved to second op position.

The bending handle re-installed.

Second op completed.

This is where and how the spring is installed.

A quick video showing how it’s done.