Tater mount suppressor mount and brake .....

[wquiles]

I bought one on purpose so that I had a "sample". The one that I have on my 308 rifle is the Titanium model which unfortunately is a little over $100. The steel one is like $85:
Griffin Minimalist Brake

But I got two more suppressors to built, and I really like this brake/taper mount, so I didn't want to buy two more (rather use that money for suppressor parts!), and after scouring the Internet, I found a taper mount with actual dimensions!:

So I decided to try making one

A couple of years ago, while walking to a 4th of July event, I spotted a severely rusted piece of steel, so I of course picked it up and took it home. It sat on my metal pile for years, but today, I decided it might be a good source material as it is very dense and heavy:

The rust was so freaking deep, that I kept taking light cuts for 1/2 its length, turn it around, do over, and over, until I got to the target OD of 1.075":

It was of course an interrupted cut, so go slow and have lots of lubrication:

The threaded portion has an OD of 0.933", so I worked on that next:

Then worked on the thinner areas before and after the threaded portion:

 

[wquiles]

Then threaded at 20tpi:

Checked the threads with the Titanium suppressor cap (which is designed for the Griffin taper mount):

Now to cut the taper. Per the diagram, each side is 6deg (I know the mark is hard to see):

These I cut from the "back side" with the lathe running backwards, using a boring bar:

Perfect fit:

Re-align the tool post using the faced part as a guide:

 

[wquiles]

Drill the exit hole (30-ish caliber), but drill through the whole piece (about 1.3" or so):

Part the piece (a little long - trim later):

Drill undersized hole for threading 5/8-24:

Bore to size:

Align and thread:

Test threads with barrel adapter:

I am pretty much done with the lathe portion for now. Here is the piece so far:

 

[wquiles]

And here is how well it fits inside the Titanium suppressor end cap:

Looking back, on top is 1/2 of the "ugly" steel piece, and on the bottom what I have been able to machine so far:

I need to do the "brake" work on the milling machine next. Hopefully within the next 1-2 weeks when I get some more time on the "shop".

Will

 

[Gary]

Outstanding Will; your work is excellent. One day I aspire to be able to manipulate my Lathe tools as well as you.

 

[Pistolero]

That good steel had a layer of sacrificial stuff protecting it all that time.

Looks great.

Bill

 

[wquiles]

Thank you guys

 

[freebullet]

Very impressive. I see things in rusty steel too.

 

[Sig556r]

Nice DIY...I bought one from Griffin for $90ish...

 

[wquiles]

OK, finally got the milling machine work today. Since I anticipate making brakes from now on, I decided to create some sort of fixture that I could re-use to do milling operations. I sorta-new I had this 5c collet and nice (Taiwan-made) collet holder somewhere, although I had never used it. Luckily I found it fairly quickly:

I decided to use the left-over piece of "scrap" steel to make a "shorty barrel with a threaded 5/8-24 at the end, which will be just the right OD to be held by a 5c collet. The piece was 1.081" OD, which meant that by turning it a little, I could use the 1-1/16" collet (1.0625" target):

So after a little work, I had achieve a slip fit:

Does not always happen, but got it "exactly" under 1-1/16":

For the threaded end, I checked my notes, where I found the appropriate OD target of .619-623" before threading:

Since I was going to mill on the end, I gave it a nice chamfer for strength:

 

[wquiles]

After the normal threading process, I got a great fit to the unfinished brake:

Trim at approx. 2" long:

Using my Taiwan 5c collet holder on the stubby "threaded barrel":

Ready for milling:

Center with laser, spot drill, and start milling pocket:

I made the cavity "approximately" like the factory part by hand, slowly, until it look "about right". Here is the factory part:

Used my "super fancy" machining "tool" to separate the brake from the "barrel":

 

[wquiles]

Finished brake, Here I scribed notes of what I had done by hand, so that I can try replicate in the future (so I don't have to start from scratch next time):

This is how it fits in the taper end cap:

Which is very similar to the factory unit:

 

[wquiles]

Then applied the cold blue to it:

And a family photo, showing the "source" material:

Since you can buy a finished part for about $90, this is totally nor worth doing DIY. That being said, this was a very fun project, which taught me new things along the way, so for ME it was totally worth it

Will

 

[Brad]

Nice work.
Those collet blocks sure are nice to have.

Can’t wait to hear how well it all works when fired.

 

[freebullet]

Excellent! The pix, descrips, all of it, wonderful.

Have you done anything in stainless?

 

[Ian]

Amazing. Elegant solution to the problem of re-fixturing while keeping the internal/external threads colinear. Did you say laser spot drill? What is this, the 22nd century?

 

[wquiles]

Thank you guys

Yes, on the lathe I have worked with leaded steel, mild steel, stainless, Titanium, Aluminum, and Delrin. Titanium is the most pain in the butt, although stainless is not "fun", even if you have the proper inserts for them. After working so much with Aluminum, mostly 6061, I have come to despise it because of BUE. It is a pain to remove that stuff from the inserts. Better now that I run flood coolant, but not my favorite material to work with on the lathe.

For a couple of years I was making and selling custom one of a kind Titanium handles for DE shavers (the 3-piece kind), and it meant drilling, threading, turning, and cut knurling Titanium grade 6. You can see my posts here (wquiles) in this thread:
https://www.badgerandblade.com/forum/threads/hobbyist-de-razor-showcase.345457/

I also made a few Ti handles for shaving brushes those were more expensive to make and few wanted to pay for the work, so I stopped:
https://www.badgerandblade.com/forum/threads/brush-hobbyists-display-cabinet.341133/

It was while working on these Ti handles that I finally converted the lathe to exclusively flood cooling - it was the only way I could do the cut knurling work with Ti, which then made the rest of the Ti operations even better/smoother:

On the other extreme, working with leaded steel is a dream. Delrin is wonderful "if" the inserts are new/sharp - then it is also amazing to work with.

Will

 

[freebullet]

Beautiful work. Thanks for the links, will check them out after dinner.

 

[wquiles]

FYI, this GA minimalist taper brake/suppressor mount is now on special for $67 shipped. Certainly "not" worth making one at this price point
https://hansohnbrothers.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=80_89&product_id=614

 

[Ian]

If saving money was the only inspiration this would be a very dull and expensive hobby. I still buy things I can make or modify to save time sometimes, other times I make things just because I can. Duplicating a precision, interchangeable, production part with manual machinery is a great way to hone skills and achieving that is a reward in and of itself.