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Posted: 8/30/2015 4:23:07 PM EDT
Working on this build:
Milled the lower with my Ghost Gunner. 
Didn't take pics while milling this one, but this is the GG in action on an unmodified A2 lower. 
Waiting for AlumaHyde II to cure (used Dark Parkerizing Gray): 
Didn't remove the front pin reinforcement. Not going to worry about being completely correct, just want a retro-style carbine - not necessarily trying to copy a specific configuration. It's amazing how much lighter these are than a modern railed carbine. |
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Those ghost gunners seem pretty cool! Plug and play in the living room, gotta love it. That was immediately after unboxing. I have it running in the garage. You wouldn't want to run it in the living room, there's no chip tray. It dumps the aluminum chips/shavings on the surface under the unit. It isn't as loud as I expected it to be though. You don't need hearing protection standing right beside it. Not even a fraction of the noise generated by my woodworking routers. |
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Not unless you're going to pay for OP's manufacturing license.  Quoted:
Quoted: It's a cool machine but I just can't justify the cost to do one or two receivers.
Where do you live and can I rent some time on yours?  Not unless you're going to pay for OP's manufacturing license. ........Because ther's an ATF agent boxed up with every machine. |
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Not unless you're going to pay for OP's manufacturing license. Quoted:
Quoted: It's a cool machine but I just can't justify the cost to do one or two receivers.
Where do you live and can I rent some time on yours? Not unless you're going to pay for OP's manufacturing license. So let's say I buy the machine from him, mill mine out while never leaving his house and then sell it back to him at a discounted price. 
It was meant tongue in cheek, hence my but really it's asinine in that if I load it in the jig and hit start he really plays no more of a role in manufacturing than the maker of the machine. It's not like he built the machine or wrote the code.
Stupid ATF rulings. Cool machine though OP! |
Still waiting for the Alumahyde II to cure. It's safe to touch now, but needs five more days before the second coat (missed a few spots).
I left the front pin reinforcement. I tapered the buffer tube reinforcement, the front is cut down to the proper profile and the back is full reinforced thickness. |
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How bad is the mess with the GG? I use a router type jig and takes about 1.5 hours,,, but its MESSY! Looks like Michael Jacksons glove exploded all over my garage!
I have used Alumahyde hundreds of times, after its dry to the touch I bake mine in a table top electric oven at 200 degrees for about 90 minutes. Once cooled down its hard as a rock and looks great after oiling. Odor is not horrible but its noticeable for a couple hours. |
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The mess isn't too bad. It doesn't have a chip tray - the bottom is open to the surface underneath. I run painters tape around the bottom to contain the shavings. You do get shavings in the immediate vicinity from changing the bit and repositioning the lower, but not too bad. Not anywhere near as messy as the sawdust and wood shavings from my routers.
I think my wife would put one of my ARs to use if I put Alumahyde in the oven. Using Alumahyde is nowhere near as bad as the nitrocellulose lacquer I use on guitars. It takes a week before you can sand flat and a month before you can buff. It is highly flammable and the fumes are ridiculous. Looks nice though. 
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wow, no not near that noxious. Well a cheap counter top oven at the goodwill is basically what I use, put it in the garage and GO! mine was 15 bucks used at a thrift store.
Never coated a guitar to that level. my last Frankenstein guitar was a EVH VH1 replica fender/charvelle I was going to respond to the previous pics with the Marshalls in the BG, just turn them up to 15...stand right in front of the speakers and let the feedback dry the paint LOL I run a Peavy XXX head and that does great through a JCM800 1960A cab with Celestion's for me but I'm a Metal guy... 
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Quoted:I run a Peavy XXX head and that does great through a JCM800 1960A cab with Celestion's for me but I'm a Metal guy...
I'm a metal guy too. Did you notice the number of strings on the Les Paul I built? My favorite amp is my Marshall 6100. Still waiting for the Alumahyde to cure. Eager to post fully assembled pics. |
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The mess isn't too bad. It doesn't have a chip tray - the bottom is open to the surface underneath. I run painters tape around the bottom to contain the shavings. You do get shavings in the immediate vicinity from changing the bit and repositioning the lower, but not too bad. Not anywhere near as messy as the sawdust and wood shavings from my routers. I think my wife would put one of my ARs to use if I put Alumahyde in the oven. Using Alumahyde is nowhere near as bad as the nitrocellulose lacquer I use on guitars. It takes a week before you can sand flat and a month before you can buff. It is highly flammable and the fumes are ridiculous. Looks nice though. <a href="http://s584.photobucket.com/user/nfa1934/media/2cc3374b15950f56b906b6f64144f82b_zpso1evmaxe.jpg.html" target="_blank">http://i584.photobucket.com/albums/ss286/nfa1934/2cc3374b15950f56b906b6f64144f82b_zpso1evmaxe.jpg</a> Is the 7th string a low B like on a 5 string bass? or something different? |
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Yep, low B. I still have to do a fret level and crown on this one before I string it up. Pickup is a Bareknuckle Black Dog. I rarely use a neck pickup, especially on a 7-string, so I thought I'd just build myself a 7-string single-pickup Les Paul. That's crazy. I've been playing 7-string for 15 years now. Just got an 8-string earlier this year and going back to 7 just feels wrong. There's a way to tune them that makes the transition from 6 to 7 cake. Tune your 2nd through 7th strings with the same intervals as a 6-string, and root off the bass string as normal. You now just have an extra high string as far as fingerings go. 7-string tuning that works best for transition: E (This is your bonus string now. The others are treated just like a 6 string.) B F # D A E B I do the same with 8, but have 2 extra high strings. Open notes are all lower of course on the 7th and 8th strings, but all your chords, scales, modes, arpeggios are the same if you root off the bass string. I need to make a video on it to show what I mean, but it takes 7 and 8 strings where they need to be if you're just making the shift. I use the full range of the fretboard on the 8-string too, both clean and dirty. If you incorporate slides into arpeggios, the range you can cover is pretty impressive, starting with the 3rd fret, 7th or 8th string, with a repeating 1-3-5 arpeggio, or any shape really. They are a lot of fun. I'm looking at getting active EMG's for the Ibanez 8. I had to go in and re-do several of my tones, mainly focusing on the amp modeling and EQ. |
I spent some time working on the rifle today. Going to go thinner with the Alumahyde II in the future. Everything is tight. The mag catch and the magwell both bind a little - I may spend some time tomorrow just dropping and inserting the mag to see if it will smooth out a little. Waiting for my front takedown pin and I still need to install my front sling loop. I put in an ALG ACT trigger, but I may swap it out for an ordinary mil-spec or an ALG QMS since the nickel plating looks odd on this rifle. The lower looks a lot "greener" in pics.
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AmateurLuthier, I like your Carbine. Where did you get those 6-hole handguards ? OR, are they 607 style with a back plate? Looking forward to a Range Report. I hope it shoots really nice for you. ALSO, Can I borrow your Ghost Gunner Machine ??? I'll pay shipping Both ways, plus a usage fee. |
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Think you'll need to buy the machine outright, unless OP paid his SOT. :/ Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile ATF's opinion on this matter is so absurd there is no way it would survive a court challenge. Imagine I own a company that makes widgets. I rent a machine shop to produce those widgets. Is my landlord the manufacturer of those widgets? Imagine a customer trying to sue the landlord over a defective widget instead of the company. Ridiculous. However, I'm not going to be the one to waste my reources, my time, and gamble my freedom to get this nonsense corrected. I think ATF relies on nobody wanting to be "the one" to challenge when they issue these illogical opinions. In the meantime, a pic of the other side. Still surprised at how green this finish is looking. I don't mind (actually expected) a color mismatch, but it looked a lot more gray before I put the pieces together. I know proximity to another color affects perception of a given color and the pics exaggerate it a little. I used Alumahyde II in Dark Parkerizing Gray. 
Got the handguard from Fulton Armory. Edit: Swapped the trigger from the ALG to a trigger I pulled out of an old Bushmaster ten years ago. Looks better. The Bushmaster trigger was never horrible, I just have a lot nicer triggers in most of my ARs. 
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I hope this isn't as addictive as guitar building. I just picked up an M16 upper receiver on Gunbroker (listing said M16 and SP1, but it has the cutout for the disconnector and small front pin hole so it isn't an SP1). The lower I have on the carbine is a closer color match for the upper I just bought, so it will get paired with the new upper as a rifle. I will profile a new lower for the carbine and match the color better (my matte black Alumahyde II lowers are a close match to the carbine upper).
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I'm rethinking these builds. I disassembled the carbine and I have purchased more parts to add to the pile I have here at the house.
First build will be the upper and lower I used in the carbine above. It's getting a no-trapdoor stock, 20' barrel, triangle handguards, and A1 grip. Trying to make something 601-ish. Second build will be another 80% receiver reprofiled to a partial fence, the 604 upper in the pics above, no-trapdoor stock, 20' barrel, triangle handguards, and A1 grip. Trying for a 604. Third will be another 80% receiver reprofiled to a partial fence, the 603 upper I just ordered from Indiana, my EA repro 2-position stock, the 16" barrel I pulled from the carbine above, triangle handguards, and A1 grip. Trying to make a better retro carbine. I'm not finicky about 100% accuracy in parts, but I do want to try to build something a little closer to a rifle that actually existed. I was surprised Indiana Surplus still had anything when I called them, I thought you guys wiped them out earlier this year. |
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I'm a metal guy too. Did you notice the number of strings on the Les Paul I built? My favorite amp is my Marshall 6100. Still waiting for the Alumahyde to cure. Eager to post fully assembled pics. Quoted:
Quoted:I run a Peavy XXX head and that does great through a JCM800 1960A cab with Celestion's for me but I'm a Metal guy...
I'm a metal guy too. Did you notice the number of strings on the Les Paul I built? My favorite amp is my Marshall 6100. Still waiting for the Alumahyde to cure. Eager to post fully assembled pics. Always did like a 7 string |
| Two NoDak pins arrived last week. Also got some Colt Gray Duracoat. I tested a drop on one of my unfinished lowers and compared it to the Colt 603 and 604 uppers I have. Perfect match. All my retro lowers will get this finish from now on. The greenish one in this thread will be refinished in Colt Gray too (just waiting until I reprofile the others, so I can finish all of them at the same time). |
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