Need idea's...Cutting vent holes in syn stock w/o mill
Need some help guys. Please see the pic below. The vent holes in the hand guard are custom cut and not offered by ATI.
Ok, first point to make here is that YES, THIS IS A CHEAP GUN...blah, blah, blah. WHAT BETTER TO PLAY WITH AND NOT WORRY ABOUT LOOSING VALUE?
This is just a weekend project gun that I want to look good, but I'm not worrying about screwing up too much if it does go bad.
So, I have all standard hand tools and most bench tools. Dremel's, files, drills, drill press, grinders, and such. DON'T HAVE A MILL or a friend with one.
I can picture how a mill would knock this right out. How do I do this with just my tools at hand? I'm looking for something easier than drilling and hand filing everything which would take more hours than I'm willing to commit.
What do you think?
ETA: Just looking to cut the vent holes in the stock. Not the rail or any of the other modifications this guy made. If you are interested in the entire thread on this gun, it can be found here:
linky
Oops I'm lost!
No, strictly home plinking and fun use
Draw out rectangles with a felt tip and a straight edge. Drill a starter hole in one corner, staying inside the line. Use the Dremel at slowest speed, slowly and carefully grind out the rest. Time consuming, but possible.
Sharp drill and just connect the holes? Probably need a drill press tho.
I'd make a fixture of some sort and use a router with a sharp HSS (Onsrud type) spiral upcut end mill. I think a moderate spindle speed would work best on the plastic, if you have a variable-speed router.
If that's plastic, it shouldn't take that long with a drill, round file, and a small flat file.
Draw it out, drill a hole slightly larger than your round file, proceed to "rough" file everything with the round file, then clean up the flat spots with the small flat file. They'll chew through that plastic in no time at all. I know it's not what you want to hear, but I feel like a dremel could easily wreck your whole day with 1 slip, and you're going to spend almost as much time trying to make it work on some other machine.
Aren't there bits for the Drexel that work like a roto-zip saw. One of those, maybe with the router kit for a Drexel would buzz right through that.
Drill circular holes and be done with it. Use a staggered pattern to make it look "engineered", make up some bullshit story about the pattern, and then stick with it. Vary the hole size if you want to get fancy.
yeah, was just thinking of that myself! Easier than trying to connect the holes for a oblong port.
Still looking for anyone with an easy idea on how to do the longer holes.
Originally Posted By AeroE:
Drill circular holes and be done with it. Use a staggered pattern to make it look "engineered", make up some bullshit story about the pattern, and then stick with it. Vary the hole size if you want to get fancy.
1/4" laminate router, sharp upcut bit, maybe a roto-zip. You will have to hold-down your work. Drill a pilot hole first big enough to seat the bit.
Originally Posted By mks99:
yeah, was just thinking of that myself! Easier than trying to connect the holes for a oblong port.
Still looking for anyone with an easy idea on how to do the longer holes.
Originally Posted By AeroE:
Drill circular holes and be done with it. Use a staggered pattern to make it look "engineered", make up some bullshit story about the pattern, and then stick with it. Vary the hole size if you want to get fancy.
Either a careful hand, files, and abrasive paper on a hard backer, or some sort of template to guide a router bit with a bearing. A template to fit a curved surface won't be easy to fabricate. A wide file helps keep the edges of connected holes straight, just watch the ends to avoid undercutting.
I'd recommend practicing on something else, first.
I'm leaning towards the home-made jig and router route , sounds like it would work fairly well on plastic .