Bulldog44[TK] Posted January 30, 2015 Author Report Posted January 30, 2015 (edited) On 1/30/2015 at 5:39 AM, T-Jay said: Congratulations on the dovetail and that perfect looking front sight, Brian Can't wait to see it painted (btw: the guard might need some sanding below that pattern before applying paint) Very interesting modification on that end cap lock! Think this should become a reference... Thanks Tino! Hoping when its painted it will cover up some of those unwanted blemishes. Thanks for the guard advice. I will make sure to have the pattern stop. I wasn't happy with my initial knurling attempt so I reworked it the other night with even worse results. Tried again last night. read below: On 1/30/2015 at 6:01 AM, Dday said: You know what I found with knurling that everyone with the same kit has...? The sizing looks ok... maybe a touch too big. Thanks Derrek for another good option for the knurling pattern.Its amazing how these things are right before eyes and we never take notice. So Aaron had me thinking about knurling again after he posted his collection of punching tools. Then, it struck me on my way home, that I bought a similar punching tool for my armor a long while back. I found it buried in my tool bag, and was happy to see it had a nice knurling pattern on the handle. After a quick inspection of how it looked pressed into some putty, I started work to re-apply the pattern on my sight guard. I tried it with a metal part from some paper cutting tool 2 nights ago but it was terrible. The pattern was not even close. Below you can see the difference between the 2 items I used to apply the pattern. The longer tool on the right is the better one. Two reasons the attempt I did 2 nigths ago didn't work so well. 1-the pattern sucked, diagonals didn't intersect closer to 90 degrees. 2- I didn't let the thin layer of epoxy set a bit before I applied the pattern. It was still too sticky and just peeled up as I rolled the knurled metal piece over the surface. I didn't take any pictures of that but it would have been wise to record it for comparisons. Sorry. Original Sight Guard before adding the knurling pattern- Here is a photo of my first try with the knurling pattern taken off of a metal file- (a few months ago) Last night's attempt using the punching tool handle- Rear side didn't come out that great but it kind of gives the worn/ used look. I used a thin layer of Tamiya smooth surface epoxy, evened out the surface a bit and let it set for approximately 1 1/2 - 2 hours. This epoxy takes around 12 hours to fully set. I just rolled the hole punching tool handle over the surface like a rolling pin and it made a nice clean impression. It was hard to roll it perfectly from front to rear so there are areas I needed to go back over. Its obvious where I had to do this as you can see where the lines break up and do not match. I can live with that. I still need to sand down the parts where the epoxy is uneven and create that defined line where the pattern stops on the from and rear as Tino recommended. The epoxy will be set so tonight I will go back and clean up the details. Hope this looks the part. Certainly post comments where improvement is needed. Thanks everyone for following up with your tips, advice and options for the knurling pattern!!!!! Aaron, I was reminded of a useful Japanese phrase when I discovered I already had something useful for this knurling job- Toudai moto kurashi! ç¯å°ä¸‹æš—ã—- "Its dark by the foot of the lighthouse." in simple terms- "It was right under my nose the whole time!" Edited October 22, 2020 by Bulldog44 3 Quote
I'm Batman[501st] Posted January 30, 2015 Report Posted January 30, 2015 I think that looks great Brian. Amazing how many 'knurled' items there are in a typical house.... Great progress on the rear clip/lock. The aluminium channel looks to be perfect fit. Interesting to see how that works out. (Will send you mine when you're done) 1 Quote
Bulldog44[TK] Posted January 30, 2015 Author Report Posted January 30, 2015 Thanks heaps Ian! I have plenty of aluminum channel left over. Actually I have enough extra material purchased for this build to last for a few more blasters. Scary to even do the math for the amount spent on this so far. Even at work I found a few knurled items. One of those things taken for granted. Happy though not to be overly consumed to look for it as I was the past week. Quote
usaeatt2 Posted January 30, 2015 Report Posted January 30, 2015 (edited) The new knurling looks spot on! Is that the Tamiya putty that comes in a tube? Since some Sterlings are 50+ years old, I've never seen "perfect" knurling on any of them. It's all banged up and worn down, especially near the top/edges. Nice work, Brian! As Ian mentioned, I'm noticing knurled items all over my house now... Thanks for the Japanese saying. It applies to a lot of things I take for granted, but should really stop to appreciate! Edited January 30, 2015 by usaeatt2 Quote
T-Jay[TK] Posted January 30, 2015 Report Posted January 30, 2015 Wow, THAT pattern is the best we have seen so far! Great find. Quote
Bulldog44[TK] Posted February 13, 2015 Author Report Posted February 13, 2015 (edited) Resumed work on the end cap clip this week. My original plan was to salvage the resin channel I dissected then separating the middle T clip piece. I wanted to make this part a moving part but the channel walls re-glued wouldn't provide much support this idea. So Sith Lord suggested using a metal channel. Bought the aluminium channel and started the basic cuts based on usaeatt2's measurements. Still need to drill the holes to mount the T clip part but its coming along. PVC Made End Cap Clip & Channel- tested making a PVC channel and also a PVC T clip piece. Unfinished but seen below. Metal spring board testing- cut a strip of metal from a bulldog clip. Flexible but springs back into position nicely. Aluminium End Cap Clip- Decided to try making a T-clip part as well to compliment the aluminium channel. The dremel kicked up a bad cloud of silver dust when cutting the aluminium channel and aluminium T-clip part so I hand sawed everything with a metal hacksaw, used metal files to refine the lines and buffed it with a finer grit sanding sponge. Not as accurate as I hoped but I spared myself and my family of harmful dust clouds. I will attempt another T-clip part since this current one doesn't fit as snug as I had hoped,. I sanded the sides down a bit too much so it slides into very loosely. I will also need to somehow punch the knurling pattern into one end. The PVC T-clip part will be easier to add the knurling; just need to warm the knurled metal and apply some pressure. Matching the pivot pin, the locking pin and the spring rivet sizes will be another hurdle. More to come! Edited October 22, 2020 by Bulldog44 Quote
The5thHorseman[501st] Posted February 13, 2015 Report Posted February 13, 2015 (edited) This end cap clip is one of the kind . The fact the two pieces fit quite loosely for now might be a good thing though, as once painted both pieces will gain a slight extra layer(s) of thickness which maybe will do a difference. And don't tell me about dremel and aluminium dust, i ate more than my part of it when i was working on my E-11! Handtools are so cleaner. Edited February 13, 2015 by The5thHorseman Quote
Dday[501st] Posted February 13, 2015 Report Posted February 13, 2015 Very nice job, this looks great! Quote
I'm Batman[501st] Posted February 14, 2015 Report Posted February 14, 2015 Great progress Brian. Can't wait to see it complete. Quote
Dougal[501st] Posted February 19, 2015 Report Posted February 19, 2015 Masterful!!! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Quote
T-Jay[TK] Posted February 20, 2015 Report Posted February 20, 2015 Not much years ago, most people wouldn't have thought about replacing their end cap clip with such a nice hand made piece, just to upgrade accuracy so slightly. The evolution of modifications during the last months will have some enduring impact on future builds... 1 Quote
Truimphmark[TK] Posted February 26, 2015 Report Posted February 26, 2015 Ditto to that tino I have two builds I'm doing both with my moveable rear cap on them ones a doopys pipe build and the others DVH first den build with a Ali pipe need to get some pictures and paint them up time is always a factor Quote
Bulldog44[TK] Posted March 18, 2015 Author Report Posted March 18, 2015 (edited) This end cap clip is one of the kind . The fact the two pieces fit quite loosely for now might be a good thing though, as once painted both pieces will gain a slight extra layer(s) of thickness which maybe will do a difference. And don't tell me about dremel and aluminium dust, i ate more than my part of it when i was working on my E-11! Handtools are so cleaner. Thanks Germain for the assurance. I forgot to add the paint layers into the equation. Very nice job, this looks great! Many thanks! Great progress Brian. Can't wait to see it complete. Thanks Ian. Finally got it done! Masterful!!! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Thank you very much! Not much years ago, most people wouldn't have thought about replacing their end cap clip with such a nice hand made piece, just to upgrade accuracy so slightly. The evolution of modifications during the last months will have some enduring impact on future builds... Hopefully this will be a more common mod thanks to your new and updated custom parts kit! Ditto to that tino I have two builds I'm doing both with my moveable rear cap on them ones a doopys pipe build and the others DVH first den build with a Ali pipe need to get some pictures and paint them up time is always a factor Thanks Mark. Love to see those pipe builds if you got pics! Sorry guys for the late reply to your messages, been out of action but hope to have more soon. Edited March 18, 2015 by Bulldog44 Quote
Bulldog44[TK] Posted March 18, 2015 Author Report Posted March 18, 2015 (edited) You probably had enough of my end cap lock mod but here is the final leg of this job. I didn't hammer it out as planned but instead spent sporadic moments here and there adding the finishing touches. Instead of just making one lock, I got caught up making spares in case I screwed things up. Then I wanted to test the difference in materials and see what would work best for this build. The T clip on the far right lock is the original part from the Doopy kit. The other parts are made from aluminium & PVC. PVC Aluminium I had to do a lot of filing and sanding to get the channel walls thinned down to match the real sterling part. The second photo shows the difference in wall thickness between the right and left channels where they butt against each other in the middle. Here is an original DVH V1 end cap lock next to my handmade PVC channel w/ doopy clip. Since I wanted this part to actually move and function like the real thing the PVC channel was not the best choice for this so I decided to use the aluminium one instead for durability. Ultimately I wanted to have a 100% aluminium end cap lock but i ran into trouble on how to add the knurling pattern to the end of the clip. So a mixture of the PVC clip and aluminium channel was the final choice to incorporate all the details. The rivet head that hold the spring in place suffered a little cosmetic damage when I hammered it down but it gives it a little character. Dissected view. Stainless steel pivot pin. Spring board made from a bulldog clip. Two aluminium rivets.Aluminium tubing for the pivot pin to slide through the clip. the spring tension is strong enough to hold the clip into place and keep the pivot pin in position without it sliding out, just like a real sterling! Here are the rivets I used and you can see the slight difference in head size. I re-shaped them/filed them down to the desired size using my dremel to spin them while I applied a file to them and finished them off with some fine sand paper. Without Tino's idea to do this I would have ended up with metal globs. Thanks again Tino for your super detailed build! Here is the hole punching tool with a close enough knurling patterns for the clip end. I used it for the front sight guard too. I need to perfect a better way to imprint it. Tried heating the tool and pressing but it didn't print deep enough. Lastly, I started working on an aluminium front sight block. I couldn't source any small aluminium blocks to make it one solid piece like the real sterlings have so I went with a two part block and try to hide the seam line once I merge the two blocks together. I don't have any fancy cutting tools so its lots of painstaking cuts and filing to make it. Maybe someday I can have a real workspace with proper tools & machinery to make these things with greater ease and in less time. More to come on how I am going to attach the folding stock to the receiver. Edited October 22, 2020 by Bulldog44 1 Quote
T-Jay[TK] Posted March 18, 2015 Report Posted March 18, 2015 (edited) Hey Brian, nice to see some progress from you again. Outstanding work on the end cap lock. Didn't expect you to go THAT far into detail and it now looks like the real part. Wow! Regarding the knurling pattern: you've heated the tool and pressed it onto the plastic. To get a deeper imprint I would suggest doing it the other way: warming the plastic part (or both). However, incredible work on that part and thanks again for your permission to use one of your photos in my completion sets sales thread. Thought an ideal way for these kits would be a combination of the T-shaped resin part with an aluminum channel. Why building another front sight? You have the best I've seen! Edited March 18, 2015 by T-Jay Quote
usaeatt2 Posted March 18, 2015 Report Posted March 18, 2015 DUDE!!! Trust me, your parts look better than most original Sterling parts. I've never seen perfect knurling on any of the parts - they're usually all beat up and worn down from being in high exposure areas. Great job with sleeving the clip. Should be durable and work well for many years to come. Awesome and inspiring. Well done! Quote
Bulldog44[TK] Posted March 18, 2015 Author Report Posted March 18, 2015 Hey Brian, nice to see some progress from you again. Outstanding work on the end cap lock. Didn't expect you to go THAT far into detail and it now looks like the real part. Wow! Regarding the knurling pattern: you've heated the tool and pressed it onto the plastic. To get a deeper imprint I would suggest doing it the other way: warming the plastic part (or both). However, incredible work on that part and thanks again for your permission to use one of your photos in my completion sets sales thread. Thought an ideal way for these kits would be a combination of the T-shaped resin part with an aluminum channel. Why building another front sight? You have the best I've seen! Thanks Tino! Happy you like the lock. I tried my best to get it as close as possible to a real one in looks. . Please feel free to use any more photos for your sales thread if you would like. Your kit is even more detailed now with the channel addition! I did try heating both the tool and PVC part to press the pattern on a practice piece but I didn't want to warp the clip part so I tried to play it safe. Next time I will try your idea and use more heat. As for my front sight block, I was starting to get the hang of cutting & shaping the aluminum so I figured on giving it a try. I plan on using it with my next blaster build.i still have a V1 DVH kit boxed up with a cool new Dday aluminum receiver tube! It will be cool to have a metal sight block for that! DUDE!!! Trust me, your parts look better than most original Sterling parts. I've never seen perfect knurling on any of the parts - they're usually all beat up and worn down from being in high exposure areas. Great job with sleeving the clip. Should be durable and work well for many years to come. Awesome and inspiring. Well done! Thanks Aaron! It's always reassuring to hear your assessment of sterling parts and how they should look. I think i have knurling on the brain! Without your help understanding and seeing the breakdown of this part, I would not have been able to complete it! Quote
Dougal[501st] Posted March 19, 2015 Report Posted March 19, 2015 Lastly, I started working on an aluminium front sight block. I couldn't source any small aluminium blocks to make it one solid piece like the real sterlings have so I went with a two part block and try to hide the seam line once I merge the two blocks together. I don't have any fancy cutting tools so its lots of painstaking cuts and filing to make it. Maybe someday I can have a real workspace with proper tools & machinery to make these things with greater ease and in less time. More to come on how I am going to attach the folding stock to the receiver. That is another awesome mod!! Your skills are amazing!! Please take my money when your ready to sell your sights!!!! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk 1 Quote
Bulldog44[TK] Posted March 20, 2015 Author Report Posted March 20, 2015 That is another awesome mod!! Your skills are amazing!! Please take my money when your ready to sell your sights!!!! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Thanks Carl. Its not finished yet but if it turns out okay I can try making you one. I will post more progress on the sight when its done. Cheers! 1 Quote
usaeatt2 Posted March 20, 2015 Report Posted March 20, 2015 That is another awesome mod!! Your skills are amazing!! Please take my money when your ready to sell your sights!!!! Correction: Brian's skills are outta sight!! 2 Quote
Bulldog44[TK] Posted March 20, 2015 Author Report Posted March 20, 2015 (edited) My initial attempt to attach the folding stock ended in failure. Luckily I also failed to photo record the whole mess up. I didn't want to permanently lock the stock in place but instead make it pivot & removable. At first I had small modest drill holes to connect all the parts but as the situation unfolded I ended up widening the holes to try a few different ideas that didn't work as planned. So I left it for a few days and tried again but this time using earphone jacks to connect the fork end of the folding stock. They snap into place securely and also allow the stock to pivot. Removed the rubber casing for the port end of an earphone jack cable. I drilled a smaller inner hole to accommodate the port end. I will also fill in the empty spacing with some plastic ring to secure the port end more. Here is the port end in place. It sits nice and flush. I will cut and attach the male jack end to the fork ends. The jack port end is sticking out a bit juts to show how the two parts will connect. When both jack ends are secured in place and sit flush, they will connect nice and snug without much of a gap. Plus the stock can pivot without falling off. I can easily disconnect these parts too. One problem I have not addressed yet is how to attach the front end of the folding stock to the receiver tube. Back to the drawing board on that one. Edited October 22, 2020 by Bulldog44 Quote
usaeatt2 Posted March 20, 2015 Report Posted March 20, 2015 I'm not seeing the failure...looks pretty good to me. If anything, you could say this part of the build got "jacked up"... How 'bout some small neodynium magnets epoxied into the receiver and folding stock handle to secure the front end? Quote
Bulldog44[TK] Posted March 20, 2015 Author Report Posted March 20, 2015 I'm not seeing the failure...looks pretty good to me. If anything, you could say this part of the build got "jacked up"... How 'bout some small neodynium magnets epoxied into the receiver and folding stock handle to secure the front end? Love that joke! I should have saw that coming! Thanks for the magnet idea too, I will see if they magnets I have are strong enough to keep the stock from getting disconnected. Or another headphone jack? Bone, thanks too for the idea. If I can find a way to install a jack port in the receiver tube without disrupting the inner barrel, then it might work perfectly. Maybe I can combine the magnet /jack idea together. Cheers! Quote
Dougal[501st] Posted March 20, 2015 Report Posted March 20, 2015 I used a sex bolt for the rear pivoting connection of the folding stock on my build. It was scary drilling all the way through but the end result was well worth it. As for the front.... That was a little more difficult. I ended up just filing down the area until my stock snapped in place. It is metal on plastic so it could easily break one day. But for now she works perfectly. I may have to look into adding magnets as a fail safe hold! Thanks for the idea Aaron and Brian I'll be waiting lol!!! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote
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