Limpid Lizard

The handle can be welded on by using stick, but it requires some patience. Some would say a good deal of patience. You have a very small surface to weld, and quite often the start of a bead is not as good as what follows. With that in mind, you might consider placing a piece of mild steel next to the notch you are going to weld. Start your bead on that, and follow through onto the bolt/handle. Go slow, taking time to clean the weld as you layer successive beads. I've used 6013 in the past. At least that is how I remember it. The shop stuff is in storage, and it has been about five years since I used stick to put one on. Gas is the poor mans best bet, but stick will work. LL

Check the CMP site for barrels. I believe they are considerably cheaper than the price you mentioned. Also, they have a forum. It is possible that someone on that forum knows a reputable Garand 'smith that would be able to save you a couple more bucks. LL

The way I remember it, you were the one bashing others and one of the other mods took pity on you when I lambasted you back. It's no matter to me if you go or stay. Tony, he should not be dumped on my account. LL

Tony, I debated replying, and am still not sure I should be doing so, but here goes. One of the mods admitted that he had deleted the post. It was not lost by accident. I think you are correct about the hobby moving toward commercial actions. While most of us will not be buying pre 64 model 70's to hack up, we should be looking for the good buy on PF 70's, Remington 7XX series rifles, Savages, Stevens, Rugers, etc.. A goodly portion of what we have learned will transfer to working on commercial actions, and we can also learn a few new skills. Early last summer, just before I tore my shop down, I rebarreled a SA Rem 700. It is one of the nicest pieces of machine work I have ever done. I may not have done as much work to it as a 98 requires, but it was quite enjoyable. Anyway, thanks for what you do. LL

I have been checking in but not posting much. I saw the New Shop post, and I decided that I would update you guys with what is going on here. The house I was buying had poop in the well, and I refused to sign the papers. The real estate agent thought I would cave since I was out of my house and had everything staged to move into the new place. Little did he know how stubborn I can be. I rented six storage units and parked my crap. I started staying with my sweetie until I could find a place, and here I remain. I have been adding on to her place. I put a 3 bay garage on one end, and a basement with new master bedroom on the other end. The basement is actually a 2 bay garage and will eventually become my shop. We are situated above the Clearwater River and have river views out of most of the windows. The house will end up right at 2700 square feet plus garages. It is way more than we need, but was the easiest way to get all new plumbing. By adding a new kitchen and bath, we can convert the old ones to living room. The pipes were shot and in concrete. Since we are in the head of a draw, think chimney, the exterior is now all cement board, metal roof and soffit and facia. It should be hard to burn. All this since August when we decided to work on this place rather than buying elsewhere. I am running short on funds, but all the big stuff is paid for. I mostly have the new interior walls left to build. If taxes do not kill us, we will be in the pink. I'd dearly love to work in the shop, but it will be months yet until I can get it up and running. LL

Repeat after me, the square root of the sum of the squares. When you advance the compound at an angle, you travel the hypotenuse of an right angle. By changing the angle, you change the depth of cut in relation to the handwheel reading. By doing so you are able to take minor cuts with gross movements of the handwheeel. For instance, angled properly, the .001 increments can be used as .0001 increments. I hope this makes sense. LL

Center drills flex less than regular drill bits allowing more precise placement of holes. You use them to start a hole for the other drill bit to be run into. Also, they cut a 60* hole for a point to run in. It is unlikely that you will need more than a couple of the smaller sizes. Good ones are not much more than cheap ones, last longer and are likely to be ground closer to 60*. LL

That hurts just thinking about it. LL

For myself, I only notice two real advantages to the QCTP. One is safety, it is pretty easy to gow your hand or arm on the extra bits in the 4 way, the same is true for the QCTP if you load both ends, one for turning and the other for facing. The other advantage is the speed at which one can get back on the center line after changing bits. You do not have to shim the QCTP. Also, it is not uncommonn for me to sharpen a bit in the tool holder. After doing so, it only takes moments to get back to the center line of the piece of work. LL

The ability to grind tool bits is a skill that every lathe owner should aquire. A cheap piece of HSS can become just about any tool bit you might need. While in the middle of a project, one often finds they need a special shaped tool bit. You can either have the ability to grind it on the spot, or spend your time searching catalogs and waiting for the brown truck. Your money would be better spent on a quick change tool post and grinder. HSS has many properties especially suited to the home shop. Learn to grind your bits while you learn to run the lathe. I wonder how many of us have 55* indexable threading bits in the tool box. I do. I was given them by a Czech friend, but I rarely use them. Most US surplus actions have square threads, and I have yet to see indexable square bits. HSS speed cuts nicely at the speeds I thread to a shoulder, is cheap, plentiful, and adapts well to various situations. LL

Looking good. This is in my future. I sold this house and shop. I have to be out this week. The new place has a little bit of acreage and some out buildings, but I do not know if any of them can be made weather tight enough for a shop. The barn is 48X48, but a bit drafty. I built the shop here in 96, and I had a tremdous amount of junk stuffed in it. It is 24X36. I have been moving for weeks. I got the B'port into storage last week, and the lathe goes Tuesday. The household stuff is boxed and leaving tomorrow. I won't be able to get moved into the new place for a week after this one closes. Enjoy your shop. LL

Karl, I've used Skype to talk to China quite a bit. It can be hit or miss. When it is good, it is very good. When it is bad, it is very bad. You can IM off of it too. LL

A standard 280 is plenty potent. I've whacked a few critters with one. You will not get a whole lot in return for going AI. That said, I have built a few AI's myself, and if you enjoy playing with them, they are kinda fun. LL

When the 98/22's first came in, I bought quite a few of them. This is not a 98/22. It would not be unusual for the Chinese to number rifles in that manner. The only country that I can think of that strictly used their own alpha/nummeric system was Siam. Many of the others use a combination. For example, Arisakas and 98/22's that have been to Turkey. Another thing, the Chinese were copying the Mauser without being licensed. They should look roughly like whatever they had on hand to copy. China industry does things its own way today, I can only imagine what the process could have been like 70 years ago. There would have been as much emphasis on the mystical and magical as the logical.

Pictures please. LL

Very nice. LL

If you look through this thread, you will find another Siamese stocked with a Richards modern classic. It is hardly recognizable as one. They leave a lot of extra wood on the stock. This may be trimmed and shaped as your heart desires. LL http://www.sporterizing.com/index.php?showtopic=7272

T5, I chamber through the headstock in a Takasawa 800 series lathe. It too has a long spindle. There are several things you can do. Which you will pursue depends on you and the type of rifles you intend to build. A few of the benchrest crowd gets rid of the chuck altogether and runs a spider on both ends. This reduces the length of the headstock considerably. Look over on benchrest.com for the idea. This will be my next project. My spindle is ground on the inside. It runs quite true at the offside. I make bushings out of delrin that are a tight fit both in the offside bore and on the barrel. I taper the inside hole so that the barrel is only resting on a small area. That way it can pivot slightly as I adjust the chuck end. If you do the math, you will find that a thou runout at the muzzle end turns into a neglible amount at the chamber end. It is certainly not enough runout to matter until you are way, way beyond your current skill level. I say this about your skill level only because the answers are obvious to one who has run a lathe much. With practice, you only need about a quarter inch extra beyond the chuck to thread to a shoulder. If your spindle does not run true at the offside, consider making a spider to replace the chuck a first project. That will be the easiest way for you to get around the long headstock. There are other ideas, and solutions, on benchrest.com. I'd almost bet one of those folks has the same lathe you do and a solution. I crown and cut off in the steady. LL

Congrats on the job. I am unemployed, and will be homeless in three weeks. Look for me, I'll be the old guy under the bridge sleeping with an arsenal. Actually, other than not knowing where I am going to land, this is a pretty good gig. I retired early a couple of years ago, and sold the house hoping to find somewhere with a bit less white stuff to shovel in the winter. More importantly, I'd like to find a place where I can have a range. The plan is to put stuff into storage until I find that place. LL

Nice work Don. LL

I am ashamed to show my face in public. LL

I thought all the idea police were over at Bill's.

In 1971 I took a very nice bring back mauser in to have sporterized. I was 19. The gunsmith was aghast about the project, but I did it anyway. I still have that rifle. It has been a 338 Win Mag for a long time now, and I'd have a heck of a time putting a value on all the good times I've had with it. Had it stayed as it was when I got it, I doubt that I'd have used it much. As it is now, it has taken a number of elk and one moose. LL

I love the stuff fresh. The canned stuff scares me. I read a joke recently about someone eating asparagus that tasted terrible. They had picked it fresh from the garden and home cooked it. It was the red variety. Actually it was the peonies coming back in the spring. Other than color, they look quite similar.

No problem swampy. I've made a few chips while he snoozed in that chair. He has made it five years longer than we thought he would, and we had some good times during those years. I think he is grateful for everyone of them. He had hernia surgery years ago and pretty much gave up hunting. I called bull on that and we continued with me doing the heavy lifting. He has been good for my life. He bought another rifle last week, is barely able to function, but is planning on handloading this week. I dropped off 100 Sierra Match Kings yesterday. He asked me to order 16 pounds of Varget and 4895. I doubt he has much more than a week or three left, but he is not giving up. LL