My first lathe project! Pics up. tell me what you think!!!

I am all ears fellas believe that!
When i was thinking this project out, one thing i thought about was not wanting to twist this action. I am new to all this machine business, but in my mind, or the way i was thinking, was that an action wrench that supported the hole action, "via the race way" from front to back would support the action, and apply equal force. In other words it would spread the strain of the wrench to the hole action, thus not putting all the torque in one spot. How am i not thinking about this properly? Please advise. I love to learn, and maybe there is something here for me to do so. Lee

PS This wrench has less slop than the bolt does in the race way. Very very good fit. Very smooth as well. I bet there is no more than .001 slop.
 
skeetlee said:
I am all ears fellas believe that!
When i was thinking this project out, one thing i thought about was not wanting to twist this action. I am new to all this machine business, but in my mind, or the way i was thinking, was that an action wrench that supported the hole action, "via the race way" from front to back would support the action, and apply equal force. In other words it would spread the strain of the wrench to the hole action, thus not putting all the torque in one spot. How am i not thinking about this properly? Please advise. I love to learn, and maybe there is something here for me to do so. Lee

PS This wrench has less slop than the bolt does in the race way. Very very good fit. Very smooth as well. I bet there is no more than .001 slop.
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OK Skeeter..... here's the thing.

i was thinking, was that an action wrench that supported the hole action, "via the race way" from front to back would support the action,
Click to expand...

and

I bet there is no more than .001 slop.
Click to expand...



Think about that.

The wrench WILL twist under pressure, it has to. All wrenches do. You DON'T WANT that twisted wrench to touch the rear of the action. You don't want it to touch anywhere except up in the lug area.

al
 
Charles E said:
Maybe you should show a picture Jerry. If I understand what you were doing, I would have used a mill. Otherwise clunk clunk clunk for about 20 minutes.

From recent posts, I guess the FrencH Canadians would have written a lot more "clunks"?
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Canucks, not clunks...of course you are talking about Gammon and Basinguel!!

The turning operation is an interrupted cut (machinist term) but not a problem. Interrupted cut machining operations are quite common.
 
Coming from a fellow that makes most of his own tools, your wrench looks great. From what I can see in the picture you have a nice finish and if you held to the tolerances that you
 
Coming from a fellow that makes most of his own tools, your wrench looks great. From what I can see in the picture you have a nice finish and if you held to the tolerances that you stated then you did a great job. What these fellows are trying to tell you is that if you apply enough torque to the wrench it will twist from one end to the other and possibly twist the action. Many years ago I was working for a smith that had a wrench similar to what you have there, I don't recall who made it but it was bought from Brownells so it was a factory wrench. It had a square section on the end that Handel went on, on one occasion Jerry the gunsmith couldn't brake an Enfield barrel lose so he stuck a cheater on it and gave a tug, you could see the rear part of the action twisting when he let off the scope mount holes didn't line up any more, the barrel didn't move. For braking factory barrels loose I use an old Stilson wrench that I welded flat stock to the jaws and added a bolt to keep the jaws from spreading or for round actions I use a store bought wrench, my barrel vise is just 2 chunks of 1 5/8" square stock about 7" long with a hole bored between them that I use brass bushings in, I haven't found anything that I cant brake loose with them. The wrench you made looks good, keep thinking up those little projects and they will make a smith out of you. The best advise I ever got from anyone was from a grouchy old smith that I had asked if he would help me to learn how to run my new lathe, he just said "the best way to learn is to just stick something in the lathe and start cutting". It pissed me off at the time but he was right.

Bob
 
Thanks Bob, I appreciate the encouraging words. My father is always near by if i have any questions, but for the most part i am learning on my own. I also think its the only way. Hell, i even left the wrench in the chuck once since i got the machine. Guess what though? I wont ever do that again!! Guaranteed!!! Also, if i feel myself getting tired or frustrated, or just plain unsure about something, that means its time to walk away. I am really really enjoying this machine, and i think after this winter has come and gone, i just might be ready to chamber a new barrel. Time will tell! I am also trying to educate myself on different tooling, and i am trying to make smart tooling choices. I cant afford to buy a bunch of tooling, to later find that i dont like them, or feel comfortable with them. This is the reason for my other topics about barrel tooling. I hope i find the right tools for the job, the first go around. Maybe thats to much to ask thought? Lee
 
Warped action

I have heard of guys on the savageshooters site warping actions trying to remove barrels. I bought the action wrench that clamps around the outer diameter of the action right over the threads so there is no chance of twisting the action. I know it doesn't really apply to what you are trying to do because you don't want to remove the scope,bases, and stock, but I suppose the point is that the closer your wrench is to the threads, the less twisting will occur.
Joe
 
Joe
I can see that happening really. A savage or a remington with a mag cut out has to be less forgiving than a solid bottom custom action. Thanks for sharing. Lee
 
crb said:
I make mine so the flats only bear on the front rec ring. If you get a tight bbl or you like to tighten them good and tight the wrench will twist and potentially deform or mar the receiver IMO.
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That was my first thought when I looked at the picture.

I made mine, this is one of several (before welding a socket on the back end of it), with short flats to grab the receiver ring and avoid all torque on the housing that could deform it.

FirstPhaseComplete-RS.jpg


Fitch
 
JerrySharrett said:
Not a good picture but you can get the idea from it.

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Jerry, I too have a couple of the Davidson type wrenches and thought about turning them down as you have but was afraid of the wrench moving right and left in the raceways at the rear of the action when using. Am I missing something here?
Gene
 
Round drill rod that is slightly larger than the width of the locking lugs sure is easy. Turn a section to a dia the width of the locking lugs and about 1.5X longer than the lugs. Turn the remaining length the dia of the bolt. Part it off so that it is about even with the back end of the tang of the action. Throw it in the mill and remove an equal amount of metal to equal the height of the locking lugs. Now weld another section of rod to the back of the action wrench to act as a Tee bar.
 
Gene DeLoney said:
Jerry, I too have a couple of the Davidson type wrenches and thought about turning them down as you have but was afraid of the wrench moving right and left in the raceways at the rear of the action when using. Am I missing something here?
Gene
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I have never had a problem with a wrench modified like this. I guess if you deliberately moved it to one side and held it?? Moving it to the left for sure would not allow the back of the wrench to grip in loosening, for example since it would tend to slip to the center??? Dunno?? I've used a wrench like this for years and years. George Kelblys wrench is round but this is pretty close to being completely round????? For sure it would not have as much grip potential as the original design.

Dunno, Gene???
 
Jerry......When you stated "this is pretty close to being completely round", a bell went off in my head. As that section is turned smaller to the diameter of the bolt, the radius would get larger and more contact would be made by the wrench on the round inside of the action. Not quite as much as the Kelbly full round portion, but enough that the wrench can not move right or left. Thanks for the insight.
Gene
 
Gene DeLoney said:
. Thanks for the insight.
Gene
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You are welcome, Gene. seeing as how Alabama creamed LSU, I'll not bill you for the enlightenment I provided!

Seriously though. The one I pictured is not turned as much as the one I carry but I have not had any problems with either and I change barrels a lot.

There is a thread about thread wear on swapping barrels, hellsbells I change barrels 2-3 times per week.
 
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