Help me set up a home shop for gunsmithing.

[jumps4]

i'm not trying to be sarcastic but you guys are posting to someone who has not posted in hobby machinist since the 8th of august
?
steve

that did not come out right at all and served no purpose
sorry guys
steve

 

[ranch23]

Ok, Ill go, as far as a lathe I have an American Turnmaster 13 X 40. Froneck is right, that is the relatively inexpensive part. It has a 3 jaw, 4 jaw, collett chuck, a chambering chuck that I built for it, an Aloris toolpost with a rather large assortment of toolholders, an outboard "spider chuck", coolant system, dead centers for each end, drill chuck for the tailstock, 2 axis Mitutoyo DRO, live center, various plates screwed and bolted to the lathe to hold indicators, Im setting up to chamber with a chamber flushing system. I bought this lathe because of the range of threading, size, weight and a foot brake. You can thread and chamber with a lot less goodies, however I am always looking for a more accurate, efficient way to do things. And like most of us here I am a confirmed tool and gizmo collector.

 

[twowheelinjim]

Ranch 23, it's interesting you mentioned the spider chuck. I ran into a situation where the four jaw chuck was not very effective in holding a barrel where it tapers in the spot where I needed to hold it. I had to make a spider chuck and it worked as intended. I actually got the idea while visiting a friend that owns a machine shop close to where I live. This guy is extremely tight lipped about his process of building bench rest rifles. Him and his partner compete at top level and they got there by bringing all operations ''in-house''. Plus they are compulsive about their rifles and the sport. So we were walking through the shop to show me his newest bench rest design that they were manufacturing. I glanced at a lathe that was set up with a barrel poking out of the chuck. I asked what he was doing and he simply said that they were chambering a barrel; and then changed the subject. I made a quick mental note and proceeded to gather materials to make such a contraption. Since I don't have the luxury of space or machine travel, I decided to make a chuck that utilized the2 1/4-8 treaded portion of my lathe. His spider chuck was held on using a four jaw chuck.

Not a very good picture but it shows the spider chuck attached.

 

[OakRidgeGuy]

Ranch 23, it's interesting you mentioned the spider chuck. I ran into a situation where the four jaw chuck was not very effective in holding a barrel where it tapers in the spot where I needed to hold it. I had to make a spider chuck and it worked as intended. I actually got the idea while visiting a friend that owns a machine shop close to where I live. This guy is extremely tight lipped about his process of building bench rest rifles. Him and his partner compete at top level and they got there by bringing all operations ''in-house''. Plus they are compulsive about their rifles and the sport. So we were walking through the shop to show me his newest bench rest design that they were manufacturing. I glanced at a lathe that was set up with a barrel poking out of the chuck. I asked what he was doing and he simply said that they were chambering a barrel; and then changed the subject. I made a quick mental note and proceeded to gather materials to make such a contraption. Since I don't have the luxury of space or machine travel, I decided to make a chuck that utilized the2 1/4-8 treaded portion of my lathe. His spider chuck was held on using a four jaw chuck.

Not a very good picture but it shows the spider chuck attached.

That cat is the meow when it comes to working bbl's and actions. Ever look at this site?

http://www.gretanrifles.com/

 

[ranch23]

You bet, I have built a couple of action holding jigs like Gregs and have watched all of his videos.

 

[OakRidgeGuy]

Yeah, he does have some really good vids to watch. It has been a while since I have seen any of them. But it would not bore me one bit to see them again and again..