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6/14/2014 4:28:33 PM EDT

thinking of hooking up an indexer to my Bridgeport and doing this, how ever I don't have a tail stock ( center ) laying around as I usually don't do jobs that have this much material, I only need to dimple about 6" then I though maybe id set up a stop and just put it in the vice, locate the center line of the barrel do a row and then just manually index the barrel, the rows need to be 15 degrees apart, I wonder if I could trig from the dimples od to the next 15 degrees and mark it with my calipers then use a center finder ( wiggler ) to get ontop of that scor line, that would be close enough I think, after all its all going to be under the handguard any way.


next, instead of a ball mill why not use just a regular end mill ? more material will be removed thus less weight ( that's why I am doing this after all ), I might end up straight fluting the barrel as indexing my hand would be much easier, but I wanted to ask this question any way
6/15/2014 3:21:54 AM EDT
[#1]
I made a set of custom jigs that work with my index. Use the ball mill- it actually cuts more surface and the radius is what you need to keep strength in the barrel. I have done 100's of bbls and used 1/8"-3/8" ball end mills (center cut) made from carbide to do the work.
6/15/2014 4:30:22 AM EDT
[#2]
If you don't have a center, I would think you could just use a V-block with the indexer and clamp it when milling.

A regular end mill will leave a sharp corner that could act as a stress riser and lead to cracking, I'd stick to ball end mills.
6/15/2014 6:29:16 AM EDT
[#3]
I was just curious, how are your guys dimple fluting jobs coming out ? any one care to show pix ?
6/18/2014 6:37:30 PM EDT
[#4]
Mine have come out well, though doing the full length of a barrel is quite time consuming.  I've also started dimpling Remington 700 bolts which I think have come out pretty awesome looking. I'll have to get back to this thread with pictures sometime
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