ak building tools,

[straykiller]

good luck post a pic when your done bending your flat, i wanna see how it turns out, and that method for head spacing should work i remember seeing that done in a tutorial some where, never tried it myself personally. how are you going to attach your side rails? here a a few more pics there not exactly what i wanted but my gf was taking the pics and she was a bit rushed.

[cdownin]

Those are some great pictures I really appreciate them...

As far as the side rails go I will be plug welding them with my mig welder I have a small peice of copper pipe I will be cutting up slightly to back the weld up so I don't burn through as an emergency precation cause I want a good bond but I know personally how easy it is to burn through sheet metal because I have done panel replacement and exhaust welding on my vehicles.. From what I have read you should drill a 1/8 hole in the rail and a 1/4 inch hole in the reciever but probably won't drill a complete 1/4 inch whole but will counter sink it pretty good to give the weld more bonding surface between the two pieces...

Im waiting on the machine shop to get me my bending block back so I can bend the receiver and get this on the road they have had it for 3 days now and I all I needed was the 4 holed drilled so I can bolt the receiver between the two pieces for a good bend, I will get pics up as soon as I get her done I will probably just do it myself and let the machine shop keep those pieces...

I got the bolt cutters modded to do the front rivets and I got the front rivets demilled and one of the rear rivet out which are pretty hard to get out

[Roccobro]

I just tack welded my rails in 5 places. No rosette welds yet. I just don't want to swiss cheese my receiver.

Justin

[cdownin]

okay so the machine shop told me after three days of waiting they couldn't do it because I said it was for building a gun b*tches anyway so i just went on base to the arts and crafts center and used their drill press and the results were favorable but two whole didn't line up on my pressing block but I will just redrill on monday but I got the trunions done which is what was really hard so I'm happy I could try pressing it will the two bolt holes holding the top plate but im not gonna press my luck on this ghetto build I know the receiver needs to be straight and I don't want to risk it moving over something so simple so until monday but it all seems like down hill from this point.....

[cdownin]

I just tack welded my rails in 5 places. No rosette welds yet. I just don't want to swiss cheese my receiver.

Justin

did you tack them on the outer edges?

[Roccobro]

Yes, front and back first, then three at various spots that provide easy access and good strength.

Justin

[cdownin]

Here is how the flat came out i'm pleased but it is bowed slightly because my jig doesn't release the flat without bending it back out slightly but hopefully this doesn't affect the aim. Im glad to have taken up a new hobby....
calguns4life

[straykiller]

congrats man looks good im sure you could get that bow out if you wanted to, have fun with your new found addiction lol, keep us updated on your build progress.

[nicoroshi]

Okay cool I wanna see em.. I'm done with this press/gig might paint it later but its done now


and I was thinking about doing this for the No go/Go gauges...


I think im going to do mostly rivets and screw the trigger gard on but now I am waiting for the pressing block to get drilled and I will start modding the 24" bolt cutters im going to use to rivet it and I got a propane torche to heat treat wish me luck im "blazin" a trail... LOL

Waiting to see tha pics

Propane will not get hot enough to heat treat (don't ask me how I know ).
Buy a bottle of MAPP gas that will screw right onto the torch head you use for the propane. MAPP gas will get hot enough.

I have also found that 3 layers of scotch tape is .005" when measured but still smaller than the NO-GO gauge I have. The issue is the tape can compress some whereas the actual NO-GO gauge cannot.
I now use a live round (without firing pin, and extractor installed of course) as a GO gauge, and the Forster NO-GO gauge to set headspace on a barrel.
The NO-GO gauge is worth the investment IMHO.

I also use a mig welder to weld my interior rails in.
I have found that a tack on the interior at the front, back, couple places in the mag well area, and one or two places at the bottom below the center support hold the rail nicely, and doesn't muck up the exterior of the receiver too bad.
I get some penetration on the weld that shows on the exterior but it cleans up easily with a file.
Any weld bleed over above the interior rail can be cleaned up (flattened to the top of the rail) with a dremel. HINT: The bolt does not go all the way across the interior rails from receiver side to side so a bit of the weld can be left above the top rail at the front, and back of the interior rail without affecting function.

(slightly out of focus [stupid camera] but you get the idea. Do the same on the back):


Interior places I mig weld for interior rails:

[cdownin]

congrats man looks good im sure you could get that bow out if you wanted to, have fun with your new found addiction lol, keep us updated on your build progress.

Your right I could probably just heat it and tap it slightly... Thanks will do

[cdownin]

Propane will not get hot enough to heat treat (don't ask me how I know ).
Buy a bottle of MAPP gas that will screw right onto the torch head you use for the propane. MAPP gas will get hot enough.

I have also found that 3 layers of scotch tape is .005" when measured but still smaller than the NO-GO gauge I have. The issue is the tape can compress some whereas the actual NO-GO gauge cannot.
I now use a live round (without firing pin, and extractor installed of course) as a GO gauge, and the Forster NO-GO gauge to set headspace on a barrel.
The NO-GO gauge is worth the investment IMHO.

I also use a mig welder to weld my interior rails in.
I have found that a tack on the interior at the front, back, couple places in the mag well area, and one or two places at the bottom below the center support hold the rail nicely, and doesn't muck up the exterior of the receiver too bad.
I get some penetration on the weld that shows on the exterior but it cleans up easily with a file.
Any weld bleed over above the interior rail can be cleaned up (flattened to the top of the rail) with a dremel. HINT: The bolt does not go all the way across the interior rails from receiver side to side so a bit of the weld can be left above the top rail at the front, and back of the interior rail without affecting function.

(slightly out of focus [stupid camera] but you get the idea. Do the same on the back):


Interior places I mig weld for interior rails:

Thanks so much for the pictures of the rails I didn't know you could do them on the top I will have to get busy tomorrow and get that done,

About the Mapp gas thanks for that hint too I would have been burning for hours wondering why its not turning orange

As for the No go/Go gauges I'm sure they are worth the money I will probably break down and buy one but it will just take me some more time...

[DREADNOUGHT78]

Propane will not get hot enough to heat treat (don't ask me how I know ).
Buy a bottle of MAPP gas that will screw right onto the torch head you use for the propane. MAPP gas will get hot enough.

I have also found that 3 layers of scotch tape is .005" when measured but still smaller than the NO-GO gauge I have. The issue is the tape can compress some whereas the actual NO-GO gauge cannot.
I now use a live round (without firing pin, and extractor installed of course) as a GO gauge, and the Forster NO-GO gauge to set headspace on a barrel.
The NO-GO gauge is worth the investment IMHO.

I also use a mig welder to weld my interior rails in.
I have found that a tack on the interior at the front, back, couple places in the mag well area, and one or two places at the bottom below the center support hold the rail nicely, and doesn't muck up the exterior of the receiver too bad.
I get some penetration on the weld that shows on the exterior but it cleans up easily with a file.
Any weld bleed over above the interior rail can be cleaned up (flattened to the top of the rail) with a dremel. HINT: The bolt does not go all the way across the interior rails from receiver side to side so a bit of the weld can be left above the top rail at the front, and back of the interior rail without affecting function.

(slightly out of focus [stupid camera] but you get the idea. Do the same on the back):


Interior places I mig weld for interior rails:

On my AK74 I did something similar to this as I still have not got my tong for my spot welder. I drilled 1/4 inch holes (after scribing the locations) in the receiver and using the MIG welder to plug weld the rails in. Worked real nice but if your not careful and patient you could warp the crap out of the receiver.

[nicoroshi]

I have plug welded a few also but never could get the side of the receiver smooth again (ended up dimpling in around the plug weld because of the heat, and I didn't want to grind too much on a 1mm receiver). Welding from the inside like this I end up with a little penetration on the exterior of the receiver but I am able to smooth that out.

cdownin,
What's your location?
If in the Bay Area I'll let you borrow my No-Go for 7.62x39 when you need to use it.

[Roccobro]

Nico, You scared the $h..crap out of me! I saw those pictures and COULD HAVE SWORE you pulled those from my photobucket account! Those rail welds are IDENTICAL to those I did a few weeks ago on 2 builds.

Now back to our regularly scheduled AK fun!

Justin

[nicoroshi]

Nico, You scared the $h..crap out of me! I saw those pictures and COULD HAVE SWORE you pulled those from my photobucket account! Those rail welds are IDENTICAL to those I did a few weeks ago on 2 builds.

Now back to our regularly scheduled AK fun!

Justin

ROFLMAO!
Great minds think alike I guess.
If your build doesn't look like this>>>>>>>>>>



Then you have nothing to worry about (BTW images uploaded to imageshack on my end as well).