- Joined
- Mar 21, 2013
- Messages
- 4,082
Well, we've been relocated back to AZ for a couple of years now. It took a while for me to realize that no one wanted to hire a old/expensive engineer when they can hire cheap/hungry kids right out of school. The fact that they don't know much is immaterial I guess. Oh well.
So I had to take early SS which on top of the premature 'forced retirement' has been a significant, life-altering experience to say the least. But what the heck, our little house on an acre is paid for, and my garage has my machines (which I had the foresight to get before I lost my job) in it. Things could be worse.![Smile :) :)](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
I built a 2011 in 10mm before we left CO (thread lower down the list), and while it was a very functional/accurate pistol it is a bit of a hog leg with the full length slide and 3-port comp attached to it's nose. So I decided to make some changes. My goal is to have a 6" OAL pistol that fits in a more readily available holster and is somewhat easier to carry.
I've gone through several iterations of modifications, from attempting to use the original 3-port comp, to making a two-port comp with 3/8" chambers, to what I believe (hopefully) will be the final iteration.
I'm awaiting my four-jaw chuck from PM to arrive next Tuesday to do the final boring and threading as I found the original Chinese chuck that came with my lathe to be woefully inadequate to the the tasks I asked of it.
A bit of backstory: I had settled on sticking with the two-chamber comp for now and for some unknown reason I decided that doing a electroless nickle on the gun would be cool. I should have done a bit of practice before attempting to plate my 2011. Oh well. Lesson learned. Now I needed a new barrel, and while I'm at it I might as well make a new more accurate compensator to go with it.
Here's a few in-progress pics:
Shortening the barrel slightly and re-crowning.
![IMG_0212.jpeg IMG_0212.jpeg](https://www.hobby-machinist.com/data/attachments/252/252355-58cfc5099e7d7c52de81c0db94c0dc76.jpg)
![IMG_0213.jpeg IMG_0213.jpeg](https://www.hobby-machinist.com/data/attachments/252/252356-581868176f1654eacc79d97f26ca3809.jpg)
Threading the new barrel at 40 TPI
![IMG_0214.jpeg IMG_0214.jpeg](https://www.hobby-machinist.com/data/attachments/252/252357-bd15f99b74dd0b0c9f132b4d6b244ea8.jpg)
Barrel threaded and sitting next to the old comp (which fits BTW).
![IMG_0215.jpeg IMG_0215.jpeg](https://www.hobby-machinist.com/data/attachments/252/252361-892bb9512b9d2f8157d4641e471d99b6.jpg)
Cutting the 1/4" chambers in the new comp.
![IMG_0218.jpeg IMG_0218.jpeg](https://www.hobby-machinist.com/data/attachments/252/252366-54c897fd0461cb063c2162d995f4eefe.jpg)
Deep drilling a .4" hole that I'll use to set up the comp in the four-jaw for boring/reaming/threading.
![IMG_0219.jpeg IMG_0219.jpeg](https://www.hobby-machinist.com/data/attachments/252/252368-53ad40459b480b6a3a7e7b5460646c48.jpg)
And here's the new comp and barrel awaiting my new chuck.
![IMG_0220.jpeg IMG_0220.jpeg](https://www.hobby-machinist.com/data/attachments/252/252370-fe1cb898dc114eb891e10bf59b81f1ae.jpg)
I don't know who might be interested in this stuff, but thought I'd post it here as this sub-forum doesn't seem to get much love. I will be honest though and say that I spend way more time on the 1911 Addicts forums as there are a bunch of folks there (including many custom pistolsmiths) with whom I enjoy conversing, sharing ideas, and posting projects with.
Take care,
So I had to take early SS which on top of the premature 'forced retirement' has been a significant, life-altering experience to say the least. But what the heck, our little house on an acre is paid for, and my garage has my machines (which I had the foresight to get before I lost my job) in it. Things could be worse.
I built a 2011 in 10mm before we left CO (thread lower down the list), and while it was a very functional/accurate pistol it is a bit of a hog leg with the full length slide and 3-port comp attached to it's nose. So I decided to make some changes. My goal is to have a 6" OAL pistol that fits in a more readily available holster and is somewhat easier to carry.
I've gone through several iterations of modifications, from attempting to use the original 3-port comp, to making a two-port comp with 3/8" chambers, to what I believe (hopefully) will be the final iteration.
I'm awaiting my four-jaw chuck from PM to arrive next Tuesday to do the final boring and threading as I found the original Chinese chuck that came with my lathe to be woefully inadequate to the the tasks I asked of it.
A bit of backstory: I had settled on sticking with the two-chamber comp for now and for some unknown reason I decided that doing a electroless nickle on the gun would be cool. I should have done a bit of practice before attempting to plate my 2011. Oh well. Lesson learned. Now I needed a new barrel, and while I'm at it I might as well make a new more accurate compensator to go with it.
Here's a few in-progress pics:
Shortening the barrel slightly and re-crowning.
![IMG_0212.jpeg IMG_0212.jpeg](https://www.hobby-machinist.com/data/attachments/252/252355-58cfc5099e7d7c52de81c0db94c0dc76.jpg)
![IMG_0213.jpeg IMG_0213.jpeg](https://www.hobby-machinist.com/data/attachments/252/252356-581868176f1654eacc79d97f26ca3809.jpg)
Threading the new barrel at 40 TPI
![IMG_0214.jpeg IMG_0214.jpeg](https://www.hobby-machinist.com/data/attachments/252/252357-bd15f99b74dd0b0c9f132b4d6b244ea8.jpg)
Barrel threaded and sitting next to the old comp (which fits BTW).
![IMG_0215.jpeg IMG_0215.jpeg](https://www.hobby-machinist.com/data/attachments/252/252361-892bb9512b9d2f8157d4641e471d99b6.jpg)
Cutting the 1/4" chambers in the new comp.
![IMG_0218.jpeg IMG_0218.jpeg](https://www.hobby-machinist.com/data/attachments/252/252366-54c897fd0461cb063c2162d995f4eefe.jpg)
Deep drilling a .4" hole that I'll use to set up the comp in the four-jaw for boring/reaming/threading.
![IMG_0219.jpeg IMG_0219.jpeg](https://www.hobby-machinist.com/data/attachments/252/252368-53ad40459b480b6a3a7e7b5460646c48.jpg)
And here's the new comp and barrel awaiting my new chuck.
![IMG_0220.jpeg IMG_0220.jpeg](https://www.hobby-machinist.com/data/attachments/252/252370-fe1cb898dc114eb891e10bf59b81f1ae.jpg)
I don't know who might be interested in this stuff, but thought I'd post it here as this sub-forum doesn't seem to get much love. I will be honest though and say that I spend way more time on the 1911 Addicts forums as there are a bunch of folks there (including many custom pistolsmiths) with whom I enjoy conversing, sharing ideas, and posting projects with.
Take care,