Practice material

[Xringshooter]

I got my mill up and running and for now it will probably be used to mill dovetails in slides of GI model .45's (the type with the tenon holding the front sight and the small dovetail for the rear sight). However, I'd like to practice a bit before accepting a customers slide to work on.

Any ideas on: 1. A source for old .45 slides that can't be used for anything else or 2. A good substitute in bar stock.

I'd love to get some old junk slides because the shape would be the same as what I will be working with anyway. The bar stock would be ok as long as it was the same type and hardness of a slide, that way I could determine the best cutter speed and feed rate.

Any help from the experienced machinists here would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

[Maine 04655]

I would just use bar stock. If you can mill the dovetail in the bar stock your fine. I have a jig somewhere for doing just this I made years ago. The truth is a good machinists level a quality clamp and double check the set up your golden.

[Enfield]

I would go along with Main, just a couple of things to add is that dovetail cutters are not the strongest so I tend to gut the job out with a standard cutter and just use the dovetail cutter for adding the angled side and maybe 0.010" depth.

Also, and sorry if I am telling you the obvious but you would not hope that the cutter, cut to the finished size in one shot. The cutter needs to be smaller and you take a few cuts to get to the desired fit.

Cheers

[JCHannum]

You might try poking around on the Numrich and Sarco websites. Numrich used to sell deactivated slide pieces that had been cut in half in a metal shear. Sarco sometimes has unfinished slides, but they might not be hardened.

The Brownell's cutters, at least, run close to size. They are not standard sized dovetail cutters. Do hog out most of the cut with a straight end mill as advised.

[Xringshooter]

I know that you do most of the work with a standard cutter to remove the majority of the metal before finishing with the dovetail.

Yeah, the sight makers never settled on a standard dovetail so you have to have about 4 or 5 different dovetail cutters for different brands. I buy the vast majority of my gunsmithing stuff from Brownells and have never been dissapointed.

Thanks for the idea about Numrich and Sarco, I'll have to see what they may have, otherwise i'll get some bar stock to practice with.

Thanks for all the good info.

[38_Cal]

Ron, pick up some 4140 pre-hardened aircraft quality thick wall tubing or even solid stock in about a 3/4" or 7/8" diameter. About the right radius and hardness, and gives you multiple surfaces to practice on.

David

[Maine 04655]

I would go along with Main,

It is Maine the state I am from and live in.

[Enfield]

It is Maine the state I am from and live in.

Sorry - rushing to answer a post when I should be working

[TGriffin]

Not sure if you've discovered Blindhogg.com, but there is a wealth of info on that site about cutting dovetails and installing sights.

Tom

[Xringshooter]

38Cal and TGriffin, thanks for the info, that should get me going, much appreciated.