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After getting my feet wet with a few stamped reciever AKs, I felt it was time to swim in the deep end and build a milled AK. I already have exp welding and if you lack exp welding its not very hard to learn. On the first try I followed a How to thread on AK files but ended up warping the reciever. No prob, working with milled stubs, its very easy to cut and start over. I'm using a Lincoln Mig 220v. I wouldnt reccomend anything less powerful but it can certainly be done with a less powerful machine.
If you have any questions comments or suggetions shoot me a pm and I will try to help. I'm still learning but I've gathered enough info to help if anyone needs it.
I started by picking up a front and rear stub for 60 shipped. Found a kit missing stubs with barrel that was actually shiney for 190. Repair plates ran 70. (From user VZ58 on gunco.com) total was 320. I threw together a Jig using scrap metal from a buddy. The jig helps align the pieces during welding.
I used an unbent ak builder underfolder flat and traced it out on a piece of paper. From what I understand all milled and stamped ak's have the same measurements at the top. I laid out my stubs on the tracing and finished tracing the missing section. After cutting out the missing section I traced, I layed the traced paper template on my repair plates. A little trimming later I had perfect repair sections the correct length for my repair. My repair plates came with rails already milled into them so all I needed to do was weld in an ejector that came with the repair plates.
Next bevelled the edges of each piece. (this helps achieve a larger welding surface area) I clamped my stubs and repair plates inplace on the jig using c clamps and channel locks and cleaned the surfaces with soapy water. Any oil residue can contaminate the weld and reduce its strength. I tacked each corner and middle of each piece to reduce the chances of anything warping. After tacking the first plate into place I unclamped it from the jig and used my top cover to check for proper fit and OAL length. After reclamping to jig I used single spot welds and alternating sides to prevent overheating and warping. A wet rags helps cool the metal after each weld also. Once welded I ground most of the surfaces smooth and repeated the steps for the other side....
Time to weld up the outside surfaces. To get a good weld I used a dremel to open up the seem where the plates meet. This will ensure a nice deep weld that connects to the inside weld. I used the same process of tacking and welding for the outside that I used on the inside. Once complete the receiver sides should be finished. The next 2400253 hours were spent filing the welds down smooth. I will update this thread as I go....
Pikturs time
If you have any questions comments or suggetions shoot me a pm and I will try to help. I'm still learning but I've gathered enough info to help if anyone needs it.
I started by picking up a front and rear stub for 60 shipped. Found a kit missing stubs with barrel that was actually shiney for 190. Repair plates ran 70. (From user VZ58 on gunco.com) total was 320. I threw together a Jig using scrap metal from a buddy. The jig helps align the pieces during welding.
I used an unbent ak builder underfolder flat and traced it out on a piece of paper. From what I understand all milled and stamped ak's have the same measurements at the top. I laid out my stubs on the tracing and finished tracing the missing section. After cutting out the missing section I traced, I layed the traced paper template on my repair plates. A little trimming later I had perfect repair sections the correct length for my repair. My repair plates came with rails already milled into them so all I needed to do was weld in an ejector that came with the repair plates.
Next bevelled the edges of each piece. (this helps achieve a larger welding surface area) I clamped my stubs and repair plates inplace on the jig using c clamps and channel locks and cleaned the surfaces with soapy water. Any oil residue can contaminate the weld and reduce its strength. I tacked each corner and middle of each piece to reduce the chances of anything warping. After tacking the first plate into place I unclamped it from the jig and used my top cover to check for proper fit and OAL length. After reclamping to jig I used single spot welds and alternating sides to prevent overheating and warping. A wet rags helps cool the metal after each weld also. Once welded I ground most of the surfaces smooth and repeated the steps for the other side....
Time to weld up the outside surfaces. To get a good weld I used a dremel to open up the seem where the plates meet. This will ensure a nice deep weld that connects to the inside weld. I used the same process of tacking and welding for the outside that I used on the inside. Once complete the receiver sides should be finished. The next 2400253 hours were spent filing the welds down smooth. I will update this thread as I go....
Pikturs time
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