Anybody in Nashville do 80% lower AR "build Parties"?

[serbu50]

Looking for a mill to complete a few 80% lowers for my personal collection.... just curious if there were any group 80% builds, as so many other places do.

[Photoguy67]

I would be interested in this as well.

[thundersnow]

Myself as well...

[serbu50]

Lets start the list then....

[Guest WinterWarrior1776]

I am in the Nashville area and am also on the lookout for something like this. I am determined to get it done one way or another but would love to do it this way.

[Guest Kevin8x57]

The real ? Does anyone interested have the proper fixture ? Milling and drilling an at lower is very hard without a fixture to hold it square and not chatter.

[serbu50]

Yes. Mcbride tactical makes an incredibly nice and complete template and block. Don't think that's what prevents chatter. That's lack of cutting fluid and or technique that does that usually. Guess the 80% won't happen.

[Luke E.]

I wish i had my mill and lathe set up. I've been wanting to pick up an 80% and give it a try. Once we get settled in our next warehouse i'll likely have the extra room to get it all set up.

[serbu50]

They post pics on Facebook... But their kit is sweet looking.
http://mcbridetacticalgunworks.com/

[broylz]

I am picking up a mill from a buddy hopefully this weekend. I have tactical machining lowers and a jig. Waiting on end mill bits to be delivered monday. That said, ive never done this before and am not sure how complete the mill is yet but ifbi can get it set up and get one donebin the next couple weeks, maybe we could do a small get together?

[173rdABN]

I have a mill if you'd like to use it. Bring your own jig though. It's a harbor freight and just big enough to fit the lower.

[Luke E.]

 If you guys do end up getting together to do this, I would love to come hang out and watch if whoever the host is wouldn't mind. I also have a mill but no where to set it up at the moment. If someone has the place but no mill I could possibly load it and related clamps, vises etc.. and provide that part of it. Either way i'd sure like to watch the process.

[broylz]

_{got my mill today and it came with a few clamps and such. its just big enough to get the work done I need. its a central machine mill. similar to what HF now sells but an older version with multiple speeds based on swapping the belts...}

 

_{anyway, I got a little impatient and drilled the pin holes and selector hole tonight. worked great.}

 

_{UPS should be delivering my end mills tomorrow and if everything works out in my favor tomorrow, I will most likely try to get this one completed tomorrow. we shall see.}

[KKing]

Hmm looks like I need to be getting me an 80% lower if we're gonna have a party!

[broylz]

OK,well I got my mill set up and started boring holes with the shiny new end mill and then my chuck fell out...

 

it appears to be a tapered spindle that's a friction fit??? got an email out to harbor freight tech support but their online track record looks poor at best.

 

So, that said, if anyone has a decent mill and some experience with it, I have a jig set and would like to hook up with you and finish my lower. I have drilled a couple holes slightly too deep but I don't think they are in critical areas and hope I can make it work since my dumb...self started with my engraved piece instead of something else. if not, I got 3 more and this will be an expensive learning mistake. I hope not.

 

I have the drills for pin holes as well as the 2 recommended end mills.

[Luke E.]

OK,well I got my mill set up and started boring holes with the shiny new end mill and then my chuck fell out...

 

it appears to be a tapered spindle that's a friction fit??? got an email out to harbor freight tech support but their online track record looks poor at best.

 

So, that said, if anyone has a decent mill and some experience with it, I have a jig set and would like to hook up with you and finish my lower. I have drilled a couple holes slightly too deep but I don't think they are in critical areas and hope I can make it work since my dumb...self started with my engraved piece instead of something else. if not, I got 3 more and this will be an expensive learning mistake. I hope not.

 

I have the drills for pin holes as well as the 2 recommended end mills.

 

 It's called a Morse taper and your right, it is a friction fit. Is it a problem with the chuck itself? If so do you know what taper it is? I've got tooling for my mill that i would let you use if that is the problem.

[173rdABN]

offer is still open to anyone wanting to use mine. just PM me.

[broylz]

I got the mill back together today. I think its going to work this time but im going to have to slow waaaaay down.

[Luke E.]

I got the mill back together today. I think its going to work this time but im going to have to slow waaaaay down.

Running a mill bit is a completely different animal than a regular drill bit. I will go ahead and apologize if you already are familiar with what I'm about to say.
You want to take off very small amounts of material each pass. If the bit is making anything but a very light smooth cutting sound it will show up in the finished product. If your getting any kind of chatter your speed is to high, you trying to remove to much material to fast or your putting to much pressure on it.
Also, if your running a mill/drill the less extended the arbor is the smoother and more precise you will be. The mill/drills tend to have a bit of flex, especially when extended way out.
I've got a couple of really nice machining textbooks that are easy to read and take you from A to Z and if your a bit of a machining novice like me, I would be happy to loan them to you. I'll just have to unpack them.

[broylz]

^{I think this is going to be easier if I had a stripped lower that's already finished to set the depths.}

 

^{I leaned into the front/back knob and ended up eating into my jig. I really need to take a break from this and do some more research. im starting to hate this project. its just frustrating me.}

[Tobashadow]

I think this is going to be easier if I had a stripped lower that's already finished to set the depths.

I leaned into the front/back knob and ended up eating into my jig. I really need to take a break from this and do some more research. im starting to hate this project. its just frustrating me.

I consider myself a extreme novice for mill work but if your getting frustrated your going way too fast.

Take a chill pill, turn on some music and let the bit do it's work slowly. No need to rush it just go really slow. The old man that taught me put it that you need to imagine that there is nitroglycerin 2 mils deep below the surface and you only want to see it but not touch it or it goes boom.

If you have to question if your actually taking any metal off on the cut then your probably doing it at the right speed was the other thing he said.

Slow and steady wins the mill race.
Edited July 3, 2013 by Tobashadow

[Luke E.]

I consider myself a extreme novice for mill work but if your getting frustrated your going way too fast.


Take a chill pill, turn on some music and let the bit do it's work slowly. No need to rush it just go really slow. The old man that taught me put it that you need to imagine that there is nitroglycerin 2 mils deep below the surface and you only want to see it but not touch it or it goes boom.

If you have to question if your actually taking any metal off on the cut then your probably doing it at the right speed was the other thing he said.

Slow and steady wins the mill race.

Precisely. I've not milled a lower yet but I did look over a friends jig and 80% lower. A lot of mill work goes into a complete lower and doing 20% in a garage is not a really quick job. They make it sound like its all but ready to shoot but its not exactly that simple. Take a breath, take your time and you will get this whipped.
If you decide you want to borrow these machining books let me know.

[MacGyver]

An 80% AR lower isn't hard, but isn't fast by any stretch of the imagination.

Anyone wanting to take a smaller bite of the apple ought to consider trying an 80% 10/22 lower first.

[timthetoolman]

An 80% AR lower isn't hard, but isn't fast by any stretch of the imagination.

Anyone wanting to take a smaller bite of the apple ought to consider trying an 80% 10/22 lower first.

Put me on the 10/22 list

[Guest yaseu1]

I have finished one and getting ready to start another one. Learned a lot (That was mainly why I started this project) My first one was a nice forged piece. Now I am doing a billet. Take your time, IT IS A LOT O FUN!!