Good call on the manual punch working better than an automatic one.
Didn’t take much force to make a dimple.
Label maker sticker worked well and I settled on sticking it in place to reduce movement.
Drill press comes tomorrow.
500 rpm, magic tap and cobalt drill bit, I went slow and steady. Encouraging!
Holes drilled. Now time to try my hand at tapping!
Tapping wasn’t bad. I’m thankful for the advice here. I just did quarter turns and released chips. I put tap oil on the tap threads.
Good enough and I learned a thing or two!
Bought some tools and didn’t have to wait for the smith.
Good day! Thanks for the help, gents!
That came out rather well. Good job!
We wish to thank the United Network Command for Law and Enforcement, without whose assistance this program would not have been possible.
Having such good success with the cobalt I stepped up to the carbide for the second practice gun today.
First holes went like butter! I couldn’t believe how easily it cut… until bits snapped.
Oh shit.
Went up in size but hit a wall where the other carbide bit fragments were broken off in the hole.
Finally went from the backside through the other side mount holes and drilled them out.
Made a satisfying grinding sound when it punched through all the carbide shards.
Thankfully things were square enough that I can still center up the holes and it won’t negatively affect the final mounting.
But man, I’m sticking with cobalt. It’s a little slower to drill but the extra forgiveness made the first gun a piece of cake compared to this one. I like the education, though.
Second gun tapped. Was able to get things centered enough that it turned out good enough.
@MickAK
The little point of the butt end of the tap was useful to make sure I was rotating without wobbling or going off axis.
And when starting the tap, I put my finger on the point and could rotate by feel without tilting.
I think the tap threads are already getting dull. This one gave more resistance. I’ll probably switch to a new tap for gun #3