Which steel bends easily?

[Olle]

Originally Posted by John Sabato

Really Nice custom machine work... we are proud of your efforts to create a part as close to the original as possible...

Now, did anybody check with LugerDoc (Tom Heller) to see if he doesn't have a big box of these laying around his shop?


BTW, Gun Parts Corporation lists this part as available on their website for $14.90

http://www.gunpartscorp.com/Products/200270.htm

Now, where's the sport in buying them already made? Seriously, there are loops available but they are pulled from parted out guns so supplies will dry up sooner or later. Also, I wanted to make one that's an easier retrofit than an original part that has already been staked and then pulled out. I made mine with chamfered ends to make it easy to install, and they will hopefully look better than a used part as well. I'm not sure if Numrich carries used or repro, but their repros usually suck so I'm not really counting them.

And again, I really wanted to find out how to do it. There's many different guns with missing loops and it's really tedious to make one-offs, so a large part of the process was to get the method nailed down for future projects. I'm not doing it to get rich, I just enjoy tinkering with stuff like this.

[rhuff]

You have an enormous talent along those lines. All of us that have obsolete firearms NEED people like you that can help us keep our firearms complete.

[sheepherder]

Olle, I have a similar project on the shelf but it's been sitting because my 1-ton press isn't strong enough. What did you use to press/bend the rod through the first set of dies [pg 2]???

[Olle]

Originally Posted by sheepherder

Olle, I have a similar project on the shelf but it's been sitting because my 1-ton press isn't strong enough. What did you use to press/bend the rod through the first set of dies [pg 2]???

I just used a large bench vise. I don't know how much pressure it generates, but (even if it has been a while) I can't recall it being extremely hard to turn the handle. There was quite a bit of initial resistance, but once the rod started to bend it just slid right through. IIRC, there was a bit of trial and error before I had the clearances figured out, there's a fine line between getting sharp bends and not being able to push through at all. The only major difference the clearance makes is in the radius, so if you add clearance you will probably have to reduce the radius of the "ram" as well. The loop will spring back and won't be 100% square after pressing it anyway, so the legs will have to be squared up after pressing regardless of clearance.

Beveling sharp edges and polishing the bearing surfaces really helped more than anything, so that's something you might want to try first of all (if you haven't already). Some copper grease might also help.