Posted: 11/19/2012 6:36:00 PM EDT
| I want to build an AK from a kit I can get, but I have little desire to drop the money on tools that I will use once or twice and than have cluttering up my garage (car space is valuable!). Does anyone in SE Michigan (hell, even just southern Michigan) ever hold a build party? Don't even necessarily care to build from a flat. |
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Hi all,
I just saw this thread. I am not a very active member here, but I do quite a bit of posting on "The AK Forum" under the username Andyman. I have been trying to set up a build party on there in Michigan but there aren't enough members there from Michigan on the regional forum. Anyway, I go to school at Michigan Tech in Houghton, but I will be home in East Jordan after June until late August and would like to organize something in that time-frame. I have never built before, but I could definitely bring some AK-Builder tools and probably a press. I have a number of kits to build, but I would like to finish my Polish PMKMS or East German Mpi-KM the most. I would not mind hosting the build either as I have a clean 2 car garage and land to test-fire on with a big fire pit, etc. The problem with that is that I am probably a bit out of the way for most members who are probably down-state. I live about 40 minutes west of gaylord. If we start organizing now I think we can definitely get this to happen! |
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Quoted:
Anybody have a "portable" press or some bigger tools that they could bring to make this easy? I don't which is why I ask. infact, I need to find a kit and parts now. I have a longbed truck and could probably bring my harbor freight press and, like I said, the required build tools (no flat bending stuff). On top of that we would still need a drill press and that's about it-unless we did finishing too. |
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I'd be interested - I have exactly 0 AK parts but even if I could get a receiver flat (or a partial receiver) I'd help out. I don't have many tools to speak of, but I could commit to buying something if needed. Rivets, hand tools, or hell I could just bring beer too!
EDIT: looks like we have a host, what should I bring? |
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Quoted:
I have a small shop in Mt. Clemens. Drill press, and a bunch of wood working stuff. Probably not ideal, but I'd host. Plenty of bench space for the equipment. Okay awesome! Thanks for the offer-your location sounds much better than mine. I would suggest that everyone bring a barreled kit that is already headspaced. I am having Restoreit1 do mine (unfortunately I have no original barrel kits left) and I would suggest him to any of you all. On top of that you would need rivets, a US receiver and your kit. If you plan on fully assembling your rifle with magazine then you would need the correct number of US parts. I would suggest no flats as those add a lot of time as well. Finally, I suggest that everyone bring at least two each of the required drill bits for the build. I hear those get burned up pretty fast when drilling the hardened parts. I have a 20 ton press that I can bring and the proper AK builder tools for assembling on a finished receiver and assembled barrel. I am thinking we should do a cookout or something too if JEOla is okay with that. Someone could maybe go to Sam's and get what we need and we could split costs later or something like that. I do have a Sam's Club membership and wouldn't mind doing this. Finally we will need to set up a date. I am currently a college student so will be free for the latter half of the summer. July or August works fine for me, but I would prefer early August. I am guessing that either Saturday or Sunday works best for most people. I will leave the date decision up to JEOla. Do you guys mind if I post a link to this thread on The AK Forum? There are quite a few Michiganders on there who would likely participate as well. |
| The date really doesn't matter for me, but a Sunday is usually better. Let's see if we can lock in a number of people so that I can figure out what larger tools (lathe, box break, etc) I need to relocate for the day to free up some space. Cook out sounds fine, but if that part doesn't pan out, the place is right downtown and there are plenty of good restaurants and bars within a block or two. If fact, one buddy of mine (who will probably be joining us) owns a little place a block away and I'm sure he wouldn't mind half ass catering. That's up to you all. Also any other specific tools will be needed? I have a drill press, grinders, etc. but have access to others. |
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Hey guys I just ordered a kit. You can get a Bulgarian De-Milled 5.45x39 Kit at Classic Firearms for $250's! That is only 50 Dollars over the prepanic prices cant beat that right now. I was going to buy the AK builder Jig since my Uncle has a 12 ton press might as well go that route instead of the ToshTools route. I would love to have an ak building party. Below is the list of what we need please post if any are overlapped. Dremel or Rotozip will work.
Tools needed for assembly (rivet build) 12-ton press. They're useful things to have around; AK's aren't the only thing you're likely to use this for. I've read that you only really need a 10-ton press, but the 12-ton one was only a little bit more. If you're going to do a lot of AK's, then I recommend a 20 ton press. I've found that there are some barrel pins that just flat-out do not want to move for a 12-ton press. Several jigs. These are pieces of metal shaped to keep your rivets in place while they're being crushed together. More on this later. A pair of 24" bolt cutters to turn into a rivet crushing tool, if you can't afford the rivet tool below. Expect to spend several hours getting it just right. You'll need a right angle grinder or bench grinder for this part. You can use a 18" pair of bolt cutters, but the 24" is more versatile; it can crush rivets on underfolder kits, whereas the 18" can't. AK Tool Pricing Tool/JigPriceSourceNotes 'Rivet Tool' $250 AK-Builder.com Improved version of 'plinker jig' - less adjustment needed, better rivets, harder steel, does rear rivets. Trigger Guard Rivet Jig $65AK-Builder.com Only trigger guard rivet jig I've ever seen, and I can't imagine a better one. Barrel Install/Removal Kit $95AK-Builder.com Fair kit, but trunion support plate's made of weak aluminum and takes lots of damage after 8 or so uses; trunion support system slips easily. Improved trunion support $28Gunthings.com Buy this and throw away the ak-builder trunion support plate. It doesn't slip readily, and can press barrels FORWARD in a completed trunion too. 12-ton press $135 Harbor Freight? I got a bargain $70 12-ton press, and had to replace the ram and bottle jack almost immediately. Get the HF 12 or 20 ton instead. Roto-Zip RZ-20 $199 Home Depot I highly recommend this tool (as it's both a right angle grinder and a more powerful replacement for a dremel), although both tools seperately would run less. |