- Joined
- Mar 15, 2019
- Messages
- 708
He asked me what it would take for me to build it for him. I told him I would teach him how to do it and we could plan it out together. He agreed, so we set off on the adventure together.
Of course we started with planning. I asked him what he wanted his .22 to look like, I explained that a compensator on a .22 isn't really effective so it is just for looks so we might as well make it look cool. So he whipped out his phone and showed me a picture of the compensator on a Barrett .50 cal. This looks cool dad!
I had to talk him back from that, explaining I don't have a welder yet and that style of comp would be really hard to machine from a solid block using a lathe and mill. Plus I really didn't have a suitable chunk of metal to make it out of. So we looked over some other models and decided to make something easier and still cool looking.
So we went to the basement and looked over the stock of metal and picked out a 1-1/4" round bar of 6061 and then a pencil and paper and drew it up roughly. We decided 3" was a good length and cut off a piece slightly longer. Took him to the lathe and we faced off 1 end and he faced the other off on his own. Then I set the drill chuck in the tail stock and put in a center drill and showed him how to use the hand wheel to advance the drill. Then I picked out a 1/4" drill and let him take the center drill out and out the drill in. He did well until the hole got deep enough the chips needed to be cleared by pulling back the tail stock but I helped him through it.
I got a 7/16" drill and showed him how to watch the graduation on the tail stock to only go 3/4" into the part. We bored it to .454 3/4" deep. Tapping was next, 1/2x28. I ran the tail stock while he turned the tap wrench until it got too hard for him to turn, he's 12 so I had to let him run the tail stock while I took it to full depth.
Then we went to the mill and took 1/4" off one side and flipped it and started to take 1/4" off the opposite side but it was bed time for him. He had Scouts all day today so when he got home we finished up the other side and then set up to drill some holes in the sides.
Unfortunately, it rained hard last night and there is some water in the shop so we cut it short after we got the holes in the sides drilled. He wants to do some slots in the sides to dress it up a bit so when the floor isn't wet we will get on that. Now I am looking at ways to raise the level of the floor and create some drainage channels to carry the water away from the "shop".
Of course we started with planning. I asked him what he wanted his .22 to look like, I explained that a compensator on a .22 isn't really effective so it is just for looks so we might as well make it look cool. So he whipped out his phone and showed me a picture of the compensator on a Barrett .50 cal. This looks cool dad!
I had to talk him back from that, explaining I don't have a welder yet and that style of comp would be really hard to machine from a solid block using a lathe and mill. Plus I really didn't have a suitable chunk of metal to make it out of. So we looked over some other models and decided to make something easier and still cool looking.
So we went to the basement and looked over the stock of metal and picked out a 1-1/4" round bar of 6061 and then a pencil and paper and drew it up roughly. We decided 3" was a good length and cut off a piece slightly longer. Took him to the lathe and we faced off 1 end and he faced the other off on his own. Then I set the drill chuck in the tail stock and put in a center drill and showed him how to use the hand wheel to advance the drill. Then I picked out a 1/4" drill and let him take the center drill out and out the drill in. He did well until the hole got deep enough the chips needed to be cleared by pulling back the tail stock but I helped him through it.
I got a 7/16" drill and showed him how to watch the graduation on the tail stock to only go 3/4" into the part. We bored it to .454 3/4" deep. Tapping was next, 1/2x28. I ran the tail stock while he turned the tap wrench until it got too hard for him to turn, he's 12 so I had to let him run the tail stock while I took it to full depth.
Then we went to the mill and took 1/4" off one side and flipped it and started to take 1/4" off the opposite side but it was bed time for him. He had Scouts all day today so when he got home we finished up the other side and then set up to drill some holes in the sides.
Unfortunately, it rained hard last night and there is some water in the shop so we cut it short after we got the holes in the sides drilled. He wants to do some slots in the sides to dress it up a bit so when the floor isn't wet we will get on that. Now I am looking at ways to raise the level of the floor and create some drainage channels to carry the water away from the "shop".
