I have done this multiple times over a 46 year history and still continue to do it occassionally !!!! Not leaving enough to ream, always can surprise you???
Just saw your video on milling out an 80% lower. Again the finished lower looked amazing. I recently got a lot more involved doing machining on my own. Even though I do not have a CNC machine, there is a ton of valuable information that you share in your videos that everyone can benefit from. Thanks for your time in effort.
Just watched all three videos with my son who is a junoir in high school....he just started a Autocad class in school and loves to shoot. Do the math he wants to build one for himself, best of all the school has a Tormach at school. thanks thanks so much
Must say (although it is pretty late) Happy Thanksgiving to you sir. I just found your work a few days ago, and the more of it I watch the more I appericate YOU. You don't slur your speech like sooo many you tubers, you don't drawl out the conversation to put everyone to sleep, you don't speak so fast that no one can understand you, you cover the subject matter perfectly not too deep but surely deep enough to convey the information, which is the objective. I love how you are so excited about your move to your grand-dads. You are surely a blessed man and from what I have seen you deserve it.
Awesome job john. I'm always impressed with your videos and learn a lot, but what gets me most is shooting in your own back yard. Great stuff! Keep it coming!
I love your vids, productions etc.. It's very educational and I appreciate all the work that goes into them. The copper bullet jacket vid series was very enlightening. I have always wanted to know how that was done. Keep up the good work.
You made it look too easy great job as usual glad to see your business growing so well hope you and your family had a wonderful thanksgiving along with Jud I know he got a nice plate of Turkey thanks for sharing
I want one of those for my 9mm AR. I really enjoy watching your videos. I always wanted to do this for a living (be a machinist) but, life put me on a different course. Thanks for you for taking the time to make these videos.
Im a woodworker, and essentially never need machinist skills, but the enthusiasm and joy you have in your videos coupled with the machinery make your videos my most anticipated waits. Thanks for the time you spend putting out these videos.
I guess if you've never really woodworked, you could definitely pick up a lot from your videos, but for me i've already established my methods. The methodology is definitely transferable, for example where you talk about using the wrong drill was a rookie move. I can definitely see how that is transferable: use the right tool for the job and you'll get the best results. Cheers! Also, I love how you reply to almost all of the comments, it makes you much easier to relate to.
AWESOME John I feel your excitement. It is such an empowering feeling after making something from scratch like that! I know that feeling! Can't wait for your suppressor video! BTW powder coat might be OK on a 9mm for awhile but my guess is it would burn off over time. It's complete overkill, but if you make another one without the goof up and want to make it indestructible send it to me and I'll put it in with my next run of gasblocks and have it salt bath nitrided (on the house).:)
NYC CNC Haha, yes I want to throw off your tolerances so I can keep it. Lol. The nitriding grows the part 0.00015" to 0.0002" hardly any but it does seem to build up on sharp edges so tumbling before nitriding is a good idea. I haven't done ceracoating but I have done Norrell's moly resin many times and is the same process. That is what AAC used to use on there suppressors so it is very durable and stands up to heat well. Now I'm pretty sure they are nitrided. I think ceracoat is even better at standing up to the heat and maybe more scratch resistant than moly resin. When these spray and bake type coatings burn off they leave a nice FDE color. I doubt you would burn it off on a 9mm brake though. The part needs to be sand blasted first and for better durability Parkerizing first as well, but not necessary. You would follow a similar prep to powder coating, clean, free of oils, etc.
Looks great, John! A couple weeks ago I actually turned and milled a muzzle brake from 316L for mounting a YHM suppressor since I wasn't happy with the brake that YHM offers, it came out great! I did a .250 bore for a .223, so it's more overbore than yours is and I think it's fine. Huge concussion without the suppressor on my 10.5" pistol, it's definitely stripping the gas away.
This was a very well executed series and the outcome truly speaks for itself. I've been looking forward to this for a while and it sure didn't disappoint. Congrats and well done!
Loved the videos. Think you should make another Chanel to showcase the full length machining with out being speed up. There is just something satisfying about watching something being created out of nothing. And also perhaps some slower CAD/CAM videos for those of us still learning. I know your deft at it, but I'm like what did you just click. Keep up the good work.
Thanks for posting this today. Congradulations! Great looking design that works! Not that it means much but, my opinion is powder coat. The only issue with that is the dimples will need to be deeper. Ether way, great video. Please keep making them and we'll keep watching!
Came out really nice. Goes to show that spending time in the planning process does good for the actual machining/or other work done. One thing you could try for the camera since you have the enclosure now is to get an articulated arm, like the cooler lines and hang it from the enclosure's top, down on the work area. You could make two such mounts that would allow you perfect coverage of the job. If you get really beefy articulated arms it shouldn't have issues. You could also make a base and mount 3 of them like a tripod with suction cups at the end and "glue" yourself to the walls of the enclosure. Just throwing some ideas for simple "out of the way" solutions.
NYC CNC You don't need to go GoPro first. IMO, you should get a cheapie camera for some tests, something for your eyes only, if you have a webcam, perfect, put it in various places and see how it looks, if it affects the motions of the machine etc. In the end the idea is to get yourself acquainted with what your enclosure lets you do. UA-cam is obviously a good part of what you do so there's some thinking to be done. One other thing that comes to mind is something like the lamp arms. Those if tightened really hard at the joints can hold a heavy load. I know because in a pinch i had to use one to hold my DSLR with one. I had to repeat the same shot a lot of times. Problem with those is because there are springs in it, resonance might work against you and when the mill starts vibrating they might too.
NYC CNC If you make camera mounts as a business then that qualifies you as an expert, no question about it. Well that makes things easier going forward since you know what you have to do. IMO it's all in the testing. See what works and what doesn't. Yeah, fully agree, when i took pictures even with the tightened nuts i had to be extra careful not to induce movement in the arm. Didn't have a remote at the time. :)
Hi John What a great project and how you have progressed since the early days back in your apartment. Great to see you come of age so to speak with this project and the 4th axis very nice job. Over here in the UK don't really have anything to do with guns the laws are so strict but can completely apreciat the work you have done with the brake and how much of an improvement it has made. Thanks for sharing as ever. Regards Mark Over the pond in the UK. Ps I do a lot of video work with camera's in confined spaces if your are still using the canon dslr which is a great camera I have several myself could I suggest a GoPro or similar camera on a heavy magnet mount would be perfect for in the tormach enclosure as weatherproof good quality for close up shots and would likely survive a random chip impact or spray or flood coolent incident without risking your much more expensive dslr. Mark
If you are prototyping muzzle brakes again. Best thing to do to test its efficiency is make a 1/2x28 adapter that threads into the brake and attaches with a quick adapter to a pressure washer. Turn on the washer with the brake attached and you can view how the gas would vent due to the directional throw of the water. Loads of gunsmiths prototype brakes with this method
I have watched all three videos. I went back to the first and watched it and compared it to the new break. Watched both several times. There was a slight difference in muzzle rise with the new break. We all know that every little bit helps in competition shooting. I really enjoyed the videos but this cad cam stuff is way over my head. lol I am sure I could make one of these it would just take me a whole lot longer to do. You can now crank them out pretty quick if you want to do more. I have 2 ARs right now a 5.56 and a .300 blackout. I am working on another 5.56 and want to build one in either .204 Ruger or .17 Rem. for coyote hunting. I am about ready to start the build videos on the latest build. It is going to be different than anything I have ever seen.
Hi John, Looking good, this stuff is so much more efficient on CNC machines, you came up a long way since your New York basement experiments, wonder how you make the time for all of it, just keeping up with the work day and the UA-cam channel, I barely keep up just watching... Now posting.....!!!! Take care, Pierre
Hey John! Nice job on the brake and nice shootin too! I always enjoy seein gun related machining. Keep up the good work and thanks for sharin it with us.
muy buen trabajo ese freno de boca quedo espectacular se nota cuando dispersa la salida de gases hacia los extremos dejando libre el vuelo del proyectil. Se nota la dedicación y el profesionalismo de tu trabajo realmente me agrada ver tus videos cada ves aprendo cosas nuevas, gracias por compartir tu trabajo realmente es un agrado un saludo
John, a local metalworking list had a recent thread on Cerakote. One hint that got mentioned was to make sure that parts are completely clean before coating. One guy suggested soaking parts in acetone for a couple of hours to make sure there's no oil left anywhere, even microscopically. Apparently Cerakote is sensitive to cleanliness if you want it to last. I've never used it, so I'm just passing along what I heard. Hope it's helpful. -- Mike
Great set of videos. Maybe another way to do the dimples is to forget about worrying about circles in Sprutcam. Instead could you draw points at the circle center and use that point for a simple drill operation with a ball endmill?
For the clocking, I didn't read all the posts to see if anyone else came up with this method or not but what I plan to do is to shave the end/neck where the threads are. This will give you a new thread start position. Thread pitch / 360 * degrees of rotation gives you how much you have to shave off for the number of degrees you need to 'clock' the item. (I didn't have the barrel at my disposal either when I made the part.)
Next thing on your shopping list should be a tool presetter just a bench mounted one don't need nothing fancy or digital just one that works this will save you a load of time and help with precision repeatability and basic cycle time now your starting to power through work it's the next step my apologies if you already have one just ignore me
very cool, nice. love the 4th axis, and the part turned out great. No close up shots of the flames ? :) few suggestions (not that I'm an expert but I'll throw them out there anyway): - maybe gunblue instead of powdercoat? - put a chamfer at the far end, maybe 30 or 35 deg (so more on the length) and leave some meat (1/2 way) between that and the bore line - probably save you from cuts and I think (my opinion) would finish it off a bit more (but then you'll have to play with the dimples so not sure how would turn out in the end) - have more meat on the bottom to deflect gasses upwards more, maybe leave a lip as well on the left side (see below). - on the AK47 there was an add-on brake that would direct the flames/gasses up and to the right if my memory serves me well (for right handed shots) as when the recoil hits apparently it would push the end of the barrel up and to the right with the bullet pattern following the same line on full-auto so it is meant to correct that somewhat (by pushing the end of the barrel down and to the left) - the AR has less recoil so I don't know if it will make a difference or not (never shot one) Nice shooting btw, good marketing for you targets too
NYC CNC I found this that explains it better then I did, look at the slant muzzle brake (for the concept not the looks :) www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2012/12/chris-dumm/ak-muzzle-device-test-part-1-recoil-reduction/ Would love to see you make one for AK :-) And don't foget to do some slo-mo on the flames coming out :p BarZ Stan (ShadonHKW) had a vid with a cold blue review, turned out great but dunno how well it lasts,
Cerakote is great, I apply if for a living, but if the part has scale then the Cerakote may not cover that up, I am super impressed that you got it done though mate! looking forward to the supressor next!
It's not scale particularly because hopefully the oxides should have been removed when you blasted but the Cerakote is only applied a couple of microns thick so any surface imperfections stick out like a sore thumb. It all depends on how tidy the surface is. if there is any problems you could bake at 300f for around 15 minutes then reapply another coat, so long as it's still tacky then it should be okay but there is a higher chance that it may not adhere. Little trick I found is that if there is anything that just will not cover well eg. deep pitting or bad casting is to use car body filler to patch over anything that needs be. It's the only way I can find to make the most out of a bad job. I'm biased but Cerakote would look much better because it'd match your barrels finish more than powder coat. Good look I look forward to seeing how it goes :)
Hello John, I'm sure you've figured this out in the 2 years since this video came out, but for everyone else you want to use a drill that is a 1/64" (~0.015" or ~0.4mm) smaller than the finished reamed hole size you are aiming for. -Joe
Purpose of a muzzle brake is to keep the muzzle level. It does this by diverting the blast so some of it points in any direction except upwards. I can see how that design with the three bits of stuff taken out of it (new muzzle) tends to do that; no matter how it winds up screwed on to the rifle it will cut the upward component by 1/3. Maybe better. Depends on the orientation. So far so good. Now why the dimples? No idea. They might be there to create some turbulence. That might be useful to randomize the flow, but my first cut on it is that it is a frill. Why bother? Well, experiment. If It works better with dimples then I eat my C.C. Filson hat, but I think it's a frlll. The flow is already turbulent by the time it hits the brake, so I don't understand why the dimples are there, and as a machining exercise it is useful, but I would omit them. Time and money, after all. Keep 'em coming.
awesome series. can you explain or point me in the right direction for designing the threading to get the alignment you want when threaded on. That way the up side of the compensator is up when threaded on
I really enjoy your videos man. I work on large scale CNC routers, but I really would like to move towards the smaller, more intricate work that you are doing here.
I am always watching your videos and they're very helpful. Thank you for taking your time to created all these videos. How many thousands of material do you normally leave on ID before the reamer cuts? What speeds do you normally run on CNC Mills for taps? I always tap at the speed of 200 rpm on stainless steel and these taps don't last long. Therefore, I have a difficult time to drill the broken tap out. Also, any suggestion on how to remove the broken tap from tap holes?
Looks great, John! This makes me extremely curious to see what a 4th axis might do for milling blade bevels. Currently I take about 18 minutes per side (4 minutes to rough, 14 to finish) to do about 24 z-level passes with a 1/4" 2 flute carbide endmill. That plus finishing manually with a belt sander when the order calls for it. Getting those little grooves out is a pain.
NYC CNC That might be possible. I might have to check to see if John G has done that yet. I think he still uses a button cutter for his bevels and I know he has tried custom tooling to shape the cutting edge after heat treatment. Ideally I'd like to run a big batch with CNC grinding outsourced. I've never found a company willing to quote that though. So many people see "knives" then don't respond, thinking I want 300 parts meant to compete with walmart knife prices.
Very nice. Great shooting stance trigger control and target acquisition. I am a very avid shooter. I have a range about a mile from my house and shoot every day. (1,000 rounds a month rifle and pistol combined) its getting harder and harder to participate in the shooting sports here in New Jersey and throughout the US. I think it is AWESOME that you are doing gunsmithing projects on your channel. Great job on it all!
I have been seriously thinking of moving from the north east. When you where in NY, did you shoot at the ranges in the area? I am close to a range called Cherry Ridge. Just curious if you had a chance to break a few there.
On my way out to the 'rent's house for T-day, but had to watch this first. Great vid! Is that a Bushmaster with a 9mm conversion kit? Also not that it matters what I say, but my vote is to try the serracoat out.
Dang! I was watching all of your earlier videos with the dye's you were making and I finished them. I was looking for more when I found this, you have advanced a little to say the least look at all the cool toys you have now! Are you going to get some more up on jacket making? I'd like to use some for making 22lr into .223 jackets.
The Hole is 0.377 Inches = 9,6 mm, the Bullet is, because its the german 9 mm Para Bellum - exactly 9 mm so there is 0,3 mm gap. what I think is the absolute minimum. I have a H&K G 3 Muzzle Break for 7,62 X 51 or .308 here and the hole is exactly 8,5 mm, the bullet is astonishingly 7,8 mm because its american so there is a gap of 0,35 mm. But the same Muzzle Break is used on a H & K G 36 what has .223 or 5,56 mm seems a little more gap is no problem.
Woot Im the 888th like. Great shooting too BTW, much less muzzle kick than a standard AR of course the extra weight helps too. Simple physics. Now you need to start producing commercially. I have some links to sites with calculations. I'll post them if I can find them.
Excellent series. Subbed your channel a couple weeks ago and was thrilled to see this project come up not long after. A co-worker and I recently had the opportunity design and mill a new product for our employer so I totally get that swell of pride you are feeling. Kudos on a job well done. For those dimples, can your software recognize the midpoint of the arc (thus the lowest point in the dimple) and use that as "drill" point for a ball mill? Keep in mind I am asking this out of complete ignorance of your software, having only used MasterCAM, myself. My only other thought would be to add a chamfer to the thread entry (before running the thread mill) as this will make it easier to thread the brake onto the adapter and lessen the chance of accidental cross-threading. Incidentally, my wife and I just moved to Seattle FROM Ohio about 3 years ago. Oh and... Nice shooting. :)
My wife is from the Lebanon area. I grew up in the Seattle area but graduated from the University of Cincinnati and stayed in the area for a total of 10 years. Whereabouts are you now? From the view of your backyard my guess is more central, say just east of Columbus? Or am I way off? :)
Congrats on knocking this one out of the park! Nice shooting too BTW! I've been looking at building an AR dedicated to 9 mm myself for plinking and mid-size pest control. Taking out woodchucks with a 7.62x39 FMJ round just doesn't feel sportsman-like at 70 yards- and I have to squander all of my .22 LR so badly these days! What did you use for the 9mm upper and were there any key ah-has and/or watch-outs on your 9 mm AR build. I plan on making my own lower out of some 7075 aerospace billet I got left around here from another project.
Thanks for letting me know I'll have to perform some more research for the build. Whatever I end up building it WILL have a muzzle brake on it after seeing how stable your lift was on those shots. SO COOL! Thanks again for sharing!
John, that's only half true.. Correctly sharpened (point) and correctly ground drills (flutes) do drill holes the correct size. Drills that are especially ground correctly on the point will drill the right size. Your general or maintenance grade drills are usually made to drill holes +/- 0.003" diameter.
I think you will find the difference being in the different grades being sold on the market today. There is about 3 to 5 different grades of drill being manufactured today. The maintenance / mechanics & homeowner grade probably are the worst as far as diameter tolerance.
the other thing do do is try checking the runout of your drill holding system.. be it a collet chuck, drill chuck, whatever the case may be. The best tolerances we get come out of holding drill bits with some sort of collet or a Albrecht chuck. Runout will effect your diameter tolerances to a percentage to your positional tolerance. Other than switching to a stubby and using the proper point angle in relationship to the material being drilled.
Get one or two for the mill too.. you won't regret it. Oh yes you could use the cordless, but keep in mind unless you have a good chuck and clean jaws won't be near what you would expect out of a collet. Stay away from Dormer/Precision Twist Drill, although the older stuff is great and usually ground on size. Only way to be sure is to mic your drill bits with a micrometer before put to use, and or drill a hole and check it against a nominal size pin gage.
gbowne1 I have no problems with precision twist. Although I usually am stocking my index cabinet with Chicago Latrobe or hertels which seem to do just fine. If I'm looking for an ultra precise hole I'll do it another way than just drilling. :)
Congrats. Great job. Always wondered if brake and flash suppressor could be made in one. Can you take some night shots and see if the flash suppressor is still effective? What effect on the flash does the brake have? Keep up the great work.
NYC CNC I was hoping you could let us know how much a difference the brake makes. Seems how we are inconveniencing you soooooo much;0) Keep up the great work and it's cool to see someone get so jazzed about something. Cheers.
NYC CNC Well this one doesn't say AR specifically but it is a rifle rest and I'm betting you might know a sharp young fella that can adapt that up to make empirical measurements. It does say .50 caliber association was consulted before this was designed. www.ransomrest.com/slmegarest.html
They always use collets ( ER 32 ? ) to clamp the endmill, isnt there not to much risk, that the endmill is pulled out during the process and then the part ( or camera / face of the cameraman ) is ruined ? When the depth is important I always use weldon devices and endmills with this little flat surface on the shank...
Could you make an arm that extends down into your enclosure from the top to mount your camera to, make it so that you can move it anywhere in the enclosure then lock it down to film from there Or magnet mount the camera holder to the wall of the enclosure
NYC CNC Hey John. Our shop sometimes sends parts out for black oxide, a hot process I'm sure. Caswell sells a cold black oxide kit which looks pretty simple. www.caswellplating.com/black-oxide-kit-1-25-gal.html I can't speak to the quality or effectiveness of the system, but it might be interesting to see how it comes out.
John, great videos. Thanks for the all the effort. I'm looking to buy a scotchbrite wheel and wanted your thoughts on them. I followed your link but it took me to a video that was not related? Is that link correct? Thanks.
I have done this multiple times over a 46 year history and still continue to do it occassionally !!!! Not leaving enough to ream, always can surprise you???
Just saw your video on milling out an 80% lower. Again the finished lower looked amazing. I recently got a lot more involved doing machining on my own. Even though I do not have a CNC machine, there is a ton of valuable information that you share in your videos that everyone can benefit from. Thanks for your time in effort.
It put a big smile on my face to see the muzzle in action. Good job man!
Congratulations!!!! That is one bad break!! Isn't it funny how our excitement clouds our though processes at times? Lol.
Just watched all three videos with my son who is a junoir in high school....he just started a Autocad class in school and loves to shoot. Do the math he wants to build one for himself, best of all the school has a Tormach at school. thanks thanks so much
Must say (although it is pretty late) Happy Thanksgiving to you sir. I just found your work a few days ago, and the more of it I watch the more I appericate YOU. You don't slur your speech like sooo many you tubers, you don't drawl out the conversation to put everyone to sleep, you don't speak so fast that no one can understand you, you cover the subject matter perfectly not too deep but surely deep enough to convey the information, which is the objective. I love how you are so excited about your move to your grand-dads. You are surely a blessed man and from what I have seen you deserve it.
NYC CNC
Actually I was resourcing information on building a cnc work assembly and you were in the show.
NYC CNC
But of course. When one gathers all the info they can, compiles it, and then starts through it grading it out you kinda float to the top. ;-)
Awesome job john. I'm always impressed with your videos and learn a lot, but what gets me most is shooting in your own back yard. Great stuff! Keep it coming!
I love your vids, productions etc.. It's very educational and I appreciate all the work that goes into them. The copper bullet jacket vid series was very enlightening. I have always wanted to know how that was done. Keep up the good work.
CNC, ARs & a little humility, whats not to like? Great series.
You made it look too easy great job as usual glad to see your business growing so well hope you and your family had a wonderful thanksgiving along with Jud I know he got a nice plate of Turkey thanks for sharing
I want one of those for my 9mm AR. I really enjoy watching your videos. I always wanted to do this for a living (be a machinist) but, life put me on a different course. Thanks for you for taking the time to make these videos.
Im a woodworker, and essentially never need machinist skills, but the enthusiasm and joy you have in your videos coupled with the machinery make your videos my most anticipated waits. Thanks for the time you spend putting out these videos.
I guess if you've never really woodworked, you could definitely pick up a lot from your videos, but for me i've already established my methods. The methodology is definitely transferable, for example where you talk about using the wrong drill was a rookie move. I can definitely see how that is transferable: use the right tool for the job and you'll get the best results. Cheers!
Also, I love how you reply to almost all of the comments, it makes you much easier to relate to.
AWESOME John I feel your excitement. It is such an empowering feeling after making something from scratch like that! I know that feeling! Can't wait for your suppressor video! BTW powder coat might be OK on a 9mm for awhile but my guess is it would burn off over time.
It's complete overkill, but if you make another one without the goof up and want to make it indestructible send it to me and I'll put it in with my next run of gasblocks and have it salt bath nitrided (on the house).:)
NYC CNC Haha, yes I want to throw off your tolerances so I can keep it. Lol. The nitriding grows the part 0.00015" to 0.0002" hardly any but it does seem to build up on sharp edges so tumbling before nitriding is a good idea. I haven't done ceracoating but I have done Norrell's moly resin many times and is the same process. That is what AAC used to use on there suppressors so it is very durable and stands up to heat well. Now I'm pretty sure they are nitrided. I think ceracoat is even better at standing up to the heat and maybe more scratch resistant than moly resin. When these spray and bake type coatings burn off they leave a nice FDE color. I doubt you would burn it off on a 9mm brake though. The part needs to be sand blasted first and for better durability Parkerizing first as well, but not necessary. You would follow a similar prep to powder coating, clean, free of oils, etc.
Looks great, John! A couple weeks ago I actually turned and milled a muzzle brake from 316L for mounting a YHM suppressor since I wasn't happy with the brake that YHM offers, it came out great! I did a .250 bore for a .223, so it's more overbore than yours is and I think it's fine. Huge concussion without the suppressor on my 10.5" pistol, it's definitely stripping the gas away.
This was a very well executed series and the outcome truly speaks for itself. I've been looking forward to this for a while and it sure didn't disappoint.
Congrats and well done!
NYC CNC George Lucas can't even maintain that standard. Just let 'em rip! You can always make up for it when you do the rifling button. :P
grats on that nice part, really fun to see how far you've advanced in manufacturing
Loved the videos. Think you should make another Chanel to showcase the full length machining with out being speed up. There is just something satisfying about watching something being created out of nothing. And also perhaps some slower CAD/CAM videos for those of us still learning. I know your deft at it, but I'm like what did you just click. Keep up the good work.
I have this same compensator on all of my AR's. It's a PWS. I love them.
Nice Job!!! And WOW.. great shooting! I'm hoping tomorrow to get back to my muzzle brake. I'll let you know how it goes.
Great series John! Hope your turkey day was great! Thanks for all you do.
Holy Crap. This realy is the moment to be proud! What a beautiful piece of work! I can feel your excitement!
Have a nice day John!
NYC CNC
HAHA, I've been carrying around a gasblock I made in my pocket all day too and doing the same thing!
LOL. It could be a new marketing slogan for nitriding "grow your parts up to 0.0002" bigger!"
If you experience hardness above 65 Rockwell lasting for more than 4hrs. contact your metallurgist.
HAHA! Awesome.
Thanks for posting this today. Congradulations! Great looking design that works! Not that it means much but, my opinion is powder coat. The only issue with that is the dimples will need to be deeper. Ether way, great video. Please keep making them and we'll keep watching!
Came out really nice. Goes to show that spending time in the planning process does good for the actual machining/or other work done.
One thing you could try for the camera since you have the enclosure now is to get an articulated arm, like the cooler lines and hang it from the enclosure's top, down on the work area. You could make two such mounts that would allow you perfect coverage of the job. If you get really beefy articulated arms it shouldn't have issues. You could also make a base and mount 3 of them like a tripod with suction cups at the end and "glue" yourself to the walls of the enclosure. Just throwing some ideas for simple "out of the way" solutions.
NYC CNC You don't need to go GoPro first. IMO, you should get a cheapie camera for some tests, something for your eyes only, if you have a webcam, perfect, put it in various places and see how it looks, if it affects the motions of the machine etc.
In the end the idea is to get yourself acquainted with what your enclosure lets you do. UA-cam is obviously a good part of what you do so there's some thinking to be done.
One other thing that comes to mind is something like the lamp arms. Those if tightened really hard at the joints can hold a heavy load. I know because in a pinch i had to use one to hold my DSLR with one. I had to repeat the same shot a lot of times. Problem with those is because there are springs in it, resonance might work against you and when the mill starts vibrating they might too.
NYC CNC If you make camera mounts as a business then that qualifies you as an expert, no question about it. Well that makes things easier going forward since you know what you have to do. IMO it's all in the testing. See what works and what doesn't.
Yeah, fully agree, when i took pictures even with the tightened nuts i had to be extra careful not to induce movement in the arm. Didn't have a remote at the time. :)
Hi John
What a great project and how you have progressed since the early days back in your apartment. Great to see you come of age so to speak with this project and the 4th axis very nice job.
Over here in the UK don't really have anything to do with guns the laws are so strict but can completely apreciat the work you have done with the brake and how much of an improvement it has made.
Thanks for sharing as ever.
Regards
Mark
Over the pond in the UK.
Ps I do a lot of video work with camera's in confined spaces if your are still using the canon dslr which is a great camera I have several myself could I suggest a GoPro or similar camera on a heavy magnet mount would be perfect for in the tormach enclosure as weatherproof good quality for close up shots and would likely survive a random chip impact or spray or flood coolent incident without risking your much more expensive dslr.
Mark
That was amazing, congrats, you are an excellent machinist
Sweet, just got home from work. Been looking forward to this. Hope you're having a great thanksgiving so far!
NYC CNC haha yea, being self-employed isn't all that glamarous, but I didn't need to tell you that :P
If you are prototyping muzzle brakes again. Best thing to do to test its efficiency is make a 1/2x28 adapter that threads into the brake and attaches with a quick adapter to a pressure washer. Turn on the washer with the brake attached and you can view how the gas would vent due to the directional throw of the water. Loads of gunsmiths prototype brakes with this method
I have watched all three videos. I went back to the first and watched it and compared it to the new break. Watched both several times. There was a slight difference in muzzle rise with the new break. We all know that every little bit helps in competition shooting.
I really enjoyed the videos but this cad cam stuff is way over my head. lol I am sure I could make one of these it would just take me a whole lot longer to do. You can now crank them out pretty quick if you want to do more. I have 2 ARs right now a 5.56 and a .300 blackout. I am working on another 5.56 and want to build one in either .204 Ruger or .17 Rem. for coyote hunting. I am about ready to start the build videos on the latest build. It is going to be different than anything I have ever seen.
Great video series John! Your enthusiasm is contagious haha
Cheers
Dave
Hi John,
Looking good, this stuff is so much more efficient on CNC machines, you came up a long way since your New York basement experiments, wonder how you make the time for all of it, just keeping up with the work day and the UA-cam channel, I barely keep up just watching... Now posting.....!!!!
Take care,
Pierre
Love your enthusiasm! Don't see a lot of that in the trades...
Excellent video, great job on the brake, really enjoyed the tutorial, keep up the great work!!!!
Hey John! Nice job on the brake and nice shootin too! I always enjoy seein gun related machining. Keep up the good work and thanks for sharin it with us.
Awesome job john..happy thanks giving.
Great job John, and nice shooting!
Nice work John and good shooting.
muy buen trabajo ese freno de boca quedo espectacular se nota cuando dispersa la salida de gases hacia los extremos dejando libre el vuelo del proyectil. Se nota la dedicación y el profesionalismo de tu trabajo realmente me agrada ver tus videos cada ves aprendo cosas nuevas, gracias por compartir tu trabajo realmente es un agrado
un saludo
You are a Genius. Excellent work.
Awesome, John, as always.
great video, Happy Thanksgiven
I have peeped your vids a lot and never subscribed, but after I realized you shoot, you got a sub!
John, a local metalworking list had a recent thread on Cerakote. One hint that got mentioned was to make sure that parts are completely clean before coating. One guy suggested soaking parts in acetone for a couple of hours to make sure there's no oil left anywhere, even microscopically. Apparently Cerakote is sensitive to cleanliness if you want it to last.
I've never used it, so I'm just passing along what I heard. Hope it's helpful.
-- Mike
Awesome as always, thanks for bringing us along. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.
Great set of videos.
Maybe another way to do the dimples is to forget about worrying about circles in Sprutcam. Instead could you draw points at the circle center and use that point for a simple drill operation with a ball endmill?
Nice shooting man. The range at the back of the shop is a nice touch.
Some thing that I want to try one day. Thanks for the great videos.
AMAZING. Always wondered how they were really made.
ZOMG Cutter comp! once again Cutter Comp.!!
Great video and really cool project. It would be great to bring back the bullet swaging project to continue the firearm theme.
For the clocking, I didn't read all the posts to see if anyone else came up with this method or not but what I plan to do is to shave the end/neck where the threads are. This will give you a new thread start position. Thread pitch / 360 * degrees of rotation gives you how much you have to shave off for the number of degrees you need to 'clock' the item. (I didn't have the barrel at my disposal either when I made the part.)
Next thing on your shopping list should be a tool presetter just a bench mounted one don't need nothing fancy or digital just one that works this will save you a load of time and help with precision repeatability and basic cycle time now your starting to power through work it's the next step my apologies if you already have one just ignore me
very cool, nice. love the 4th axis, and the part turned out great.
No close up shots of the flames ? :)
few suggestions (not that I'm an expert but I'll throw them out there anyway):
- maybe gunblue instead of powdercoat?
- put a chamfer at the far end, maybe 30 or 35 deg (so more on the length) and leave some meat (1/2 way) between that and the bore line - probably save you from cuts and I think (my opinion) would finish it off a bit more (but then you'll have to play with the dimples so not sure how would turn out in the end)
- have more meat on the bottom to deflect gasses upwards more, maybe leave a lip as well on the left side (see below).
- on the AK47 there was an add-on brake that would direct the flames/gasses up and to the right if my memory serves me well (for right handed shots) as when the recoil hits apparently it would push the end of the barrel up and to the right with the bullet pattern following the same line on full-auto so it is meant to correct that somewhat (by pushing the end of the barrel down and to the left) - the AR has less recoil so I don't know if it will make a difference or not (never shot one)
Nice shooting btw, good marketing for you targets too
NYC CNC
I found this that explains it better then I did, look at the slant muzzle brake (for the concept not the looks :)
www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2012/12/chris-dumm/ak-muzzle-device-test-part-1-recoil-reduction/
Would love to see you make one for AK :-)
And don't foget to do some slo-mo on the flames coming out :p
BarZ Stan (ShadonHKW) had a vid with a cold blue review, turned out great but dunno how well it lasts,
Awesome Shooting !
This was BAD... ASS! You have a new sub.
Once again, beautiful work! Thank you!
Cerakote is great, I apply if for a living, but if the part has scale then the Cerakote may not cover that up, I am super impressed that you got it done though mate! looking forward to the supressor next!
It's not scale particularly because hopefully the oxides should have been removed when you blasted but the Cerakote is only applied a couple of microns thick so any surface imperfections stick out like a sore thumb. It all depends on how tidy the surface is. if there is any problems you could bake at 300f for around 15 minutes then reapply another coat, so long as it's still tacky then it should be okay but there is a higher chance that it may not adhere.
Little trick I found is that if there is anything that just will not cover well eg. deep pitting or bad casting is to use car body filler to patch over anything that needs be. It's the only way I can find to make the most out of a bad job.
I'm biased but Cerakote would look much better because it'd match your barrels finish more than powder coat. Good look I look forward to seeing how it goes :)
NYC CNC Haha you've spent all that time making the brake, should have made it out of silly putty! Haha
Nice! Way cool job.
LOL As soon as i saw your logo i thought to myself that Exl wheel is going to rub that right off. Sure enough!
What an awesome project! Congratulations!!
Great job like the design :)
Hello John,
I'm sure you've figured this out in the 2 years since this video came out, but for everyone else you want to use a drill that is a 1/64" (~0.015" or ~0.4mm) smaller than the finished reamed hole size you are aiming for.
-Joe
Purpose of a muzzle brake is to keep the muzzle level. It does this by diverting the blast so some of it points in any direction except upwards. I can see how that design with the three bits of stuff taken out of it (new muzzle) tends to do that; no matter how it winds up screwed on to the rifle it will cut the upward component by 1/3. Maybe better. Depends on the orientation. So far so good. Now why the dimples? No idea. They might be there to create some turbulence. That might be useful to randomize the flow, but my first cut on it is that it is a frill. Why bother? Well, experiment. If It works better with dimples then I eat my C.C. Filson hat, but I think it's a frlll. The flow is already turbulent by the time it hits the brake, so I don't understand why the dimples are there, and as a machining exercise it is useful, but I would omit them. Time and money, after all.
Keep 'em coming.
Amazing job
Looks exactly like the design of the Primary weapons Systems (PWS) FSC556 muzzle device...
ONCE AGAIN THANK YOU FOR SHARING THESE VIDEOS VALUABLE
awesome series. can you explain or point me in the right direction for designing the threading to get the alignment you want when threaded on. That way the up side of the compensator is up when threaded on
Your drills and reamer flex alot when you enter your work piece, you should check your Chucks center vs your tailstock
I really enjoy your videos man. I work on large scale CNC routers, but I really would like to move towards the smaller, more intricate work that you are doing here.
I am always watching your videos and they're very helpful. Thank you for taking your time to created all these videos. How many thousands of material do you normally leave on ID before the reamer cuts? What speeds do you normally run on CNC Mills for taps? I always tap at the speed of 200 rpm on stainless steel and these taps don't last long. Therefore, I have a difficult time to drill the broken tap out. Also, any suggestion on how to remove the broken tap from tap holes?
You should get a backstop for your shooting range. Those saloon targets you use ricochet the bullets upward.
nope
Looks great, John! This makes me extremely curious to see what a 4th axis might do for milling blade bevels.
Currently I take about 18 minutes per side (4 minutes to rough, 14 to finish) to do about 24 z-level passes with a 1/4" 2 flute carbide endmill. That plus finishing manually with a belt sander when the order calls for it. Getting those little grooves out is a pain.
NYC CNC Unfortunately, not possible unless the design calls for a single straight edge
NYC CNC That might be possible. I might have to check to see if John G has done that yet. I think he still uses a button cutter for his bevels and I know he has tried custom tooling to shape the cutting edge after heat treatment.
Ideally I'd like to run a big batch with CNC grinding outsourced. I've never found a company willing to quote that though. So many people see "knives" then don't respond, thinking I want 300 parts meant to compete with walmart knife prices.
Good old NH
NYC CNC I'll send an email
Real nice, you have good reason to be proud. Regards
Very nice. Great shooting stance trigger control and target acquisition. I am a very avid shooter. I have a range about a mile from my house and shoot every day. (1,000 rounds a month rifle and pistol combined) its getting harder and harder to participate in the shooting sports here in New Jersey and throughout the US. I think it is AWESOME that you are doing gunsmithing projects on your channel. Great job on it all!
I have been seriously thinking of moving from the north east. When you where in NY, did you shoot at the ranges in the area? I am close to a range called Cherry Ridge. Just curious if you had a chance to break a few there.
Awesome job! Excellent shooting! Get a tax stamp and design a suppressor!
On my way out to the 'rent's house for T-day, but had to watch this first. Great vid! Is that a Bushmaster with a 9mm conversion kit? Also not that it matters what I say, but my vote is to try the serracoat out.
Dang! I was watching all of your earlier videos with the dye's you were making and I finished them. I was looking for more when I found this, you have advanced a little to say the least look at all the cool toys you have now! Are you going to get some more up on jacket making? I'd like to use some for making 22lr into .223 jackets.
The Hole is 0.377 Inches = 9,6 mm, the Bullet is, because its the german 9 mm Para Bellum - exactly 9 mm so there is 0,3 mm gap. what I think is the absolute minimum. I have a H&K G 3 Muzzle Break for 7,62 X 51 or .308 here and the hole is exactly 8,5 mm, the bullet is astonishingly 7,8 mm because its american so there is a gap of 0,35 mm. But the same Muzzle Break is used on a H & K G 36 what has .223 or 5,56 mm seems a little more gap is no problem.
If you still monitor comments:
*What was the total runtime for this part? Or time for each process?*
thanks! this was interesting to watch.
Good job buddy!
that's awesome good job
thank you . hes a good boy. just over 2 yrs old.
Nice one.
Great job.. Congrats
+NYC CNC Do you have an online store?
Another great video, I would powder coat then dimple.
Woot Im the 888th like. Great shooting too BTW, much less muzzle kick than a standard AR of course the extra weight helps too. Simple physics. Now you need to start producing commercially. I have some links to sites with calculations. I'll post them if I can find them.
Yea i do appreciate your videos, it is educational and instructing, thank you for your insights, im a new sub and i live in indiana
Excellent series. Subbed your channel a couple weeks ago and was thrilled to see this project come up not long after. A co-worker and I recently had the opportunity design and mill a new product for our employer so I totally get that swell of pride you are feeling. Kudos on a job well done.
For those dimples, can your software recognize the midpoint of the arc (thus the lowest point in the dimple) and use that as "drill" point for a ball mill? Keep in mind I am asking this out of complete ignorance of your software, having only used MasterCAM, myself.
My only other thought would be to add a chamfer to the thread entry (before running the thread mill) as this will make it easier to thread the brake onto the adapter and lessen the chance of accidental cross-threading.
Incidentally, my wife and I just moved to Seattle FROM Ohio about 3 years ago.
Oh and... Nice shooting. :)
My wife is from the Lebanon area. I grew up in the Seattle area but graduated from the University of Cincinnati and stayed in the area for a total of 10 years. Whereabouts are you now? From the view of your backyard my guess is more central, say just east of Columbus? Or am I way off? :)
Sadly, no airshows. Zanesville sounds familiar, but I'm pretty sure the closest I have been is Lancaster.
Interesting , entertaining
Congrats on knocking this one out of the park! Nice shooting too BTW! I've been looking at building an AR dedicated to 9 mm myself for plinking and mid-size pest control. Taking out woodchucks with a 7.62x39 FMJ round just doesn't feel sportsman-like at 70 yards- and I have to squander all of my .22 LR so badly these days! What did you use for the 9mm upper and were there any key ah-has and/or watch-outs on your 9 mm AR build. I plan on making my own lower out of some 7075 aerospace billet I got left around here from another project.
Thanks for letting me know I'll have to perform some more research for the build. Whatever I end up building it WILL have a muzzle brake on it after seeing how stable your lift was on those shots. SO COOL! Thanks again for sharing!
Another cool angle be to attach the camera to the table so it moves with the part.
Great vids! I just sub'ed. Keep up the great work.
I would have liked to see a slo mo vid 90 degrees to the barrel/brake, would be awesome.
good job
John, that's only half true.. Correctly sharpened (point) and correctly ground drills (flutes) do drill holes the correct size. Drills that are especially ground correctly on the point will drill the right size. Your general or maintenance grade drills are usually made to drill holes +/- 0.003" diameter.
I think you will find the difference being in the different grades being sold on the market today. There is about 3 to 5 different grades of drill being manufactured today. The maintenance / mechanics & homeowner grade probably are the worst as far as diameter tolerance.
the other thing do do is try checking the runout of your drill holding system.. be it a collet chuck, drill chuck, whatever the case may be. The best tolerances we get come out of holding drill bits with some sort of collet or a Albrecht chuck. Runout will effect your diameter tolerances to a percentage to your positional tolerance. Other than switching to a stubby and using the proper point angle in relationship to the material being drilled.
Get one or two for the mill too.. you won't regret it. Oh yes you could use the cordless, but keep in mind unless you have a good chuck and clean jaws won't be near what you would expect out of a collet. Stay away from Dormer/Precision Twist Drill, although the older stuff is great and usually ground on size. Only way to be sure is to mic your drill bits with a micrometer before put to use, and or drill a hole and check it against a nominal size pin gage.
gbowne1 I have no problems with precision twist. Although I usually am stocking my index cabinet with Chicago Latrobe or hertels which seem to do just fine. If I'm looking for an ultra precise hole I'll do it another way than just drilling. :)
We switched to Nachi or Morse Cutting Tool soon after the PTD brand went to Dormer
Congrats. Great job. Always wondered if brake and flash suppressor could be made in one. Can you take some night shots and see if the flash suppressor is still effective? What effect on the flash does the brake have? Keep up the great work.
NYC CNC I was hoping you could let us know how much a difference the brake makes. Seems how we are inconveniencing you soooooo much;0) Keep up the great work and it's cool to see someone get so jazzed about something. Cheers.
NYC CNC Well this one doesn't say AR specifically but it is a rifle rest and I'm betting you might know a sharp young fella that can adapt that up to make empirical measurements. It does say .50 caliber association was consulted before this was designed. www.ransomrest.com/slmegarest.html
NYC CNC Don't blame you. Maybe a sandbag and a scale with a hold function. But just a feed back on the feel is good too.
Excellent video John, and what shooting! What range were you at?
They always use collets ( ER 32 ? ) to clamp the endmill, isnt there not to much risk, that the endmill is pulled out during the process and then the part ( or camera / face of the cameraman ) is ruined ? When the depth is important I always use weldon devices and endmills with this little flat surface on the shank...
Could you make an arm that extends down into your enclosure from the top to mount your camera to, make it so that you can move it anywhere in the enclosure then lock it down to film from there
Or magnet mount the camera holder to the wall of the enclosure
Awesome
Cool project John. What about a Black Oxide coating?
NYC CNC Hey John. Our shop sometimes sends parts out for black oxide, a hot process I'm sure. Caswell sells a cold black oxide kit which looks pretty simple. www.caswellplating.com/black-oxide-kit-1-25-gal.html
I can't speak to the quality or effectiveness of the system, but it might be interesting to see how it comes out.
John, great videos. Thanks for the all the effort. I'm looking to buy a scotchbrite wheel and wanted your thoughts on them. I followed your link but it took me to a video that was not related? Is that link correct? Thanks.
NYC CNC Thanks. The original link was correct, I just missed it.