How about fluting barrels??

S

skeetlee

Active member
I am also looking at an indexing unit for my mill so that i can flute some barrels. Maybe i am thinking about this all the wrong way but can i flute barrels with just a ball end mill? Seems to me the gun range talk claims that this could also cause stress issues in the barrel. Grizzly machine offers some nice looking indexing units for not a lot of money. Whats your thoughts? Lee
 
http://www.kampfeldcustom.com/

My thought is that this guy does WICKED good work for little money :) and he does it with an expensive highspeed-lowdrag water cooled mo'chine

I feel this to be important if you're fluting for weight. If you're doing it for cosmetic purposes then your plan is good....

IMO

I've used barrels fluted with endmills, cutoff blades, fiber blades and grinding wheels.

Kampfeld is the best I've seen.

hands down

al
 
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As to fluting barrels, first off why? Fluted barrels look nice but push a slug through most of them and you can feel the distortion. Skippy Otto did some that seemed ok though. As to the tooling a circle cutter will do a better looking job than a ball endmill.

Something like

http://www.travers.com/skulist.asp?RequestData=CA_Search&navPath=All+Products%2F%2F%2F%2FUserSearch%3Dmilling+cutters&q=block+id+47691+and+class+level3+id+30186&minPrice=$40.90

For a horizontal milling machine this mounts on the cross arbor. For a vertical mill mount it on a stub arbor. climb milling with these leaves a good finish requiring minimum polishing.
 
I may not even fool with any of this but if i do it will be because of weight, and not cosmetic. A good friend any myself just aquired some benchmark barrels that are rather heavy, for a LV contour. Kinda like a LV contour on steroids, or something. Anyway i am going to have to be at around 19" to make my 5 pounds 1 once max weight, for both of my ppc rifles. Even at 19" i am not sure it will make it. The blanks are 23" now and 5 pounds 13oz. Not sure exactly how much barrel i will have to remove to get to 5.1 ?? If i have to pay some one to flute this barrel, i feel like i should take the money it would cost to pay the man and put it towards the indexing units for my mill. I am not a fan of fluting by any means, and have never even had a fluted barrel. The looks mean nothing to me. Basically just thinking out loud here. Nothing wrong with a 19" barrel, other than it just doesn't leave any room for set back. I have always had great luck with benchmark barrels, so i do want to use these blanks we have. Just not sure why Benchmark makes them so dam big. Now we know and if we buy any more we will specify dimensions for weight. Lee
 
Fluting should be done at the factory.... and BEFORE final lapping....not after barrel is "finished"...go to Krieger website.
 
skeetlee said:
I may not even fool with any of this but if i do it will be because of weight, and not cosmetic. A good friend any myself just aquired some benchmark barrels that are rather heavy, for a LV contour. Kinda like a LV contour on steroids, or something. Anyway i am going to have to be at around 19" to make my 5 pounds 1 once max weight, for both of my ppc rifles. Even at 19" i am not sure it will make it. The blanks are 23" now and 5 pounds 13oz. Not sure exactly how much barrel i will have to remove to get to 5.1 ?? If i have to pay some one to flute this barrel, i feel like i should take the money it would cost to pay the man and put it towards the indexing units for my mill. I am not a fan of fluting by any means, and have never even had a fluted barrel. The looks mean nothing to me. Basically just thinking out loud here. Nothing wrong with a 19" barrel, other than it just doesn't leave any room for set back. I have always had great luck with benchmark barrels, so i do want to use these blanks we have. Just not sure why Benchmark makes them so dam big. Now we know and if we buy any more we will specify dimensions for weight. Lee
Click to expand...
Go to Dan Liljas web site and use one of his programs. He has 2 to calculate weight, one is a BASIC program and the other is an Excel program.
 
You don't need an expensive indexing fixture. I use a hex nut threaded to the tennon end and a corresponding friction fit bushing on the muzzle. Clamp it directly to the table and use stops so that the barrel is in the same position every time you flip it one flat.
make the first cut,then flip it 180 degrees, so and so on.
 
alinwa said:
http://www.kampfeldcustom.com/

My thought is that this guy does WICKED good work for little money :) and he does it with an expensive highspeed-lowdrag water cooled mo'chine

I feel this to be important if you're fluting for weight. If you're doing it for cosmetic purposes then your plan is good....

IMO

I've used barrels fluted with endmills, cutoff blades, fiber blades and grinding wheels.

Kampfeld is the best I've seen.

hands down

al
Click to expand...

+1 to everything al said. I have seen Karl flute literally hundreds of barrels and bolts. His flutes have no machining marks once finished directly out of the mill. 4 axis CNC Supermax mill and lots of set-up done on Karl's half to produce the hands down best fluting out there. When done right, it does not affect accuracy at all. Karl knows how to do them right!
 
Wonder what would happen if you spiral fluted a barrel in the same manner that bolts are fluted?
Fluted in the correct direction obviously.
 
notice the selection of barrel wrenches in the picture...... on the table is the lightweight portable wrench from Gerber and down in the drawer is the Heavy Duty Strap Wrench lovingly crafted by hand labor in a hut somewhere in Thailand
 
From Clay Spencer's web site...Perhaps there is a little more to it.

DSCF0548.JPG
DSCF0547.JPG
 
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