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He's a member here on AK47.net. I hope he doesn't mind me posting a link to his site, but I thought everyone here would like to see his work and it's always great to have another source for high-quality custom work. |
www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=4&f=64&t=68981&page=34 |
I'm not sure. I just posted some pics for him in the AK pic thread. Then I went to his site and saw all the stuff on there. I decided to post a link to share his work here. Maybe he will come in here and answer you guys' questions. |
Hey guys!!! The conversion work was done mostly by me. Some of it I had to get my gunsmith involved. His shop does not open until 10:00 a.m. on Saturdays and he lets me come up at 7:a.m. to 10:00 a.m. to work on my projects. Been going at for 13 months. That was a bunch of Saturdays!!!!!! They have a mill and lathe machine, belt sanders ect... I cannot weld or silver solder. Any of that stuff ( muzzle attachments, thread adapters, bayonet lugs ect..) that had to be attached in that fashion, he did for me. He drilled out the front trunion rivets on my first screw build. He showed me how to use the mill machine to line up and drill the holes in the receiver for the rear trunion, turned me lose and said I was on my own. I made some mistakes here and there, but never lost any arms or fingers!!!!! Unfortunately, I do not have professional access to these machines at this time. Strictly for personal use. Buying guns from them for 10 years earned me this privelege. Quite a bit of the work was done at home in the basement with dremel (sanding discs, sanding drums, roto bit and sanding stone attachments) belt sander, grinder, circular saw with metal cutting blade, band saw with metal cutting blade, and a drill press. I got myself a good tap and die set from Harbor Freight. I found a local machine shop that has retail sales to walk-in public business. This is were I get my machinists grade dies, carbide drill bits, machinists grade heat treated screws for screw builds I did, ect.. It was not expensive like you might think. The first time I went to the machine shop I tactfully mentioned what it was I was doing and the help I needed. I was fortunate that they love guns and were customers at the gunshop I go too. I am now allowed to bring my gun pieces up to them (not assembled firearms) so I can get proper measurements right there and get the items I need. If it was not for these guys and my gunsmith, I could not have done half of what I accomplished in the conversion arena. If anyone has questions about the camo/solid color finishes me and my partner do, or the conversion work I did, hammer away. I will be glad to tell you how I did the conversion work, parts used, successes, failures, "For God's sakes don't do that!!!!" scenarios I encountered and so on. I am only going to be home tonight for another 30 minutes or so. Still fulfilling obligations to the Holiday Family gods!!!! I will check this post very late tonight or tomorrow morning. |
Which one LevelEdge? The .223 one with the ACE boom tube? Or the 5.45x39mm one with the ACE skeleton stock? The .223 one which appears in a Woodland Tiger camo and appears again in a Winter camo was quick and easy. I removed the buttstock/pistol grip combo and cut off the rear tang. I then cut off the buttstock from the pistol grip/receiver block piece (with a bandsaw, regular blade) were the pistol grip/receiver block piece would be flush with the back of the stock. I then lined up the ACE folding mech were, when folded, it would be lined up evenly with the receiver vertically. No over hang up top or at the bottom. The side opposite the hinge mechanism should be flush with that side of the receiver. The hinge side sticks out past the receiver approx. .555 inches. The whole thing is neat looking and quite ergonomic. At this point use a marker or some marking device, and mark where you need to drill two holes into the polymer receiver block to mount the folding mech. 4 ways to go at this point: Method one: I measured the o.d. of two Romanian buttstock tang screws ( the long, coarse threaded ones) and selected a drill bit slightly smaller in diameter and drilled my two holes into the polymer receiver block and screwed the mech onto the receiver block. I never had any problems with strength and durability with this method, but then again I never took it into combat or had to butt stroke a hostile. Under rigorous conditions????? I don't know. Very solid though. Second method: Follow all the above steps except do not screw into the polymer of the receiver block. Drill all the way through it. On the opposite side of the reciver block (the inside part behind the pistol grip nut) counter sink holes in the receiver block to accept nuts and lock washers. Get heat treated, machinists grade, machine thread 10x32 or 8x32 screws (your preference. I used the 10x32 myself) long enough to go all the way through the folding mech into the receiver block and secure with the lock washers and nuts. You are done. Third method: I cut the rear tang off the receiver. I had an ACE "cut the tang" block (for regular stamped recievers) that I did a little sanding on and fit into the receiver. I still had the angled receiver cuts showing at this point "on top of" the cut the tang block. I went to the hardware store and bought an electrical junction box cover/lid. The metal is the same thickness as a Vepr receiver. I laid the lid onto the block and traced the outline of the block onto the backside of the lid. I cut out the piece with a dremel and sanded the edges. I then drilled-tapped a 10-32 hole through each piece into the ACE receiver block. I secured the pieces with industrial strength epoxy to the block then put a machinists grade 10-32 screw through the piece into the block. I used Brownell's Acraglas to fill in the screw head holes and sanded smooth. I was trying to make the whole thing look like a folding style rear trunion block had been riveted into the receiver. It was not entirely successful. You can still see the receiver angle cut lines. I also filled in with Acraglass the holes between the top of the ACE receiver block and the bottom of the rear trunion. It is solid looking now and not so much of an eye sore. On a side note: Uncle Mike's machine thread sling swivel post are 10-32 thread also. That is why I used 10-32 on my Romanian and Bulgy guns with ACE folders. At the time I was doing my folding mechs, ACE did not have the cut the tang blocks. I cut off the tang and my gunsmith made a aluminum block to go into the back of the receiver. We drill/tapped through the sides of the receiver and, sometimes it was held in with the sling swivel posts on the side and we drill/tapped through the aluminum block on the top and put a 10-32 screw through the secondary rear trunion butt stock screw hole (the one that is under the recoil spring housing). Other times I would have a non-loc tited allen head screw on the left side of the block and a sling swivel post on the right. I am a lefty. If I sold the gun to a right hander he could swap them out to fit his needs. It was kind of built in ambidextrous capabilities. This method is how I got a flush mounted ACE folding stock on a Bulgy milled SLR. The butt stock angles down slightly from the receiver like a Czech Vz. AK. It was pretty neat. Fourth method: Wait until late January or early February. The guys at ACE said they will have a drop in aluminum " cut the tang" block for the Vepr. For you guys with Chinese angle cut receiver AKs, they are working on your adapter blocks and should have them late December or early January. That is pretty much what I did. If you need anymore info, let me know. |
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