Dovetail cutter???

[Olle]

Originally Posted by sheepherder

I'll try the Harvey Tool dovetail cutter on a piece of scrap and see how it works out...

I thought you already tried it? I bought one just like it, and it worked great. I just made a straight cut with an end mill, and then I took about 2-3 thousands at a time with the dovetail cutter. It went straight through without any drama at all.

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by Olle

I thought you already tried it? I bought one just like it...

You bought a Luger dovetail cutter??? Do you remember where you bought it???

[Olle]

Originally Posted by sheepherder

You bought a Luger dovetail cutter??? Do you remember where you bought it???

I got the same one as you have, from Harvey Tool. Seems to work just fine.

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by Olle

I got the same one as you have, from Harvey Tool. Seems to work just fine.

And a stock Luger front sight blade has the same angle???

Argh...I can't find $%^& around here!!!

Ah! I found it! What kind of RPM did you use for the dovetail cutter, after making the base cut???

[Olle]

Originally Posted by sheepherder

And a stock Luger front sight blade has the same angle???

Argh...I can't find $%^& around here!!!

Ah! I found it! What kind of RPM did you use for the dovetail cutter, after making the base cut???

I tried a sight blade in it, and even if I didn't tap it in all the way it seemed to fit very well. This is a carbide cutter, so I cranked it up all the way (2500 rpm) and ran it dry. The only precautions I took was to set the cutter as deep in the collet as I could to reduce vibrations, and I also brushed out the chips after each cut. It wasn't even remotely as scary as I thought it would be, no vibrations, no funny noises, no nothing. Just go for it!

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by Olle

I tried a sight blade in it, and even if I didn't tap it in all the way it seemed to fit very well. This is a carbide cutter, so I cranked it up all the way (2500 rpm) and ran it dry. The only precautions I took was to set the cutter as deep in the collet as I could to reduce vibrations, and I also brushed out the chips after each cut. It wasn't even remotely as scary as I thought it would be, no vibrations, no funny noises, no nothing. Just go for it!

I did as you suggested; ran a 1/8" end mill down to sight base depth, then cut with Harvey dovetail cutter. Low cutting speed; extremely low [hand] feed.

I had no problems with the cut; my problem was with my depth measurement. I used two different calipers, one Starrett dial and one digital, and could not get the same measurement twice. The two also differed as much as 10 thousandths on a single depth measurement.

This applied to the sight blade itself as well as the cut.

I'll have to re-think how I want to do this in the future. I've tried a magnetic base dial indicator reading directly off the spindle and that is not precise enough either (too much play in the 'headstock').

This was matching a Luger sight blade with a 'new' dovetail; I've had no problems cutting dovetails and making my own sight blade for them & pressing the rough blade in and then finish machining it in place.

[Olle]

I didn't have any problems with the depth. I just indexed the end mill on top of the sight base, then I indexed the dovetail cutter on the bottom of the first cut. I hit it within 1/1000". Why are you using the spindle as a reference?

[SIGP2101]

Originally Posted by sheepherder

You bought a Luger dovetail cutter??? Do you remember where you bought it???

Since you guys resurrected this thread I will chip in as well. I am getting my cutters directly from Triebel one of the major gunsmith tools manufacturer for Germany. They are nice and they ship all over.

[sheepherder]

I have not yet found a way to accurately measure an existing dovetail. If anyone has a tool or instrument that will do this, please share.

A few days back, I needed to cut a dovetail for a Luger artillery rear sight base. I had an original base to work with (butchered LP-08 barrel, I think), but none of my dovetail cutters (including the Harvey front sight blade dovetail cutter mentioned previously) looked right...I even cut up small pieces of plastic to the angle of the dovetail and then extended the lines and measured them with a protractor...As far as I could see, it looked like 58º...

I ended up cutting the dovetail with a 60º cutter, the most common...

2º doesn't sound like much, but I can assure you that when you're milling steel it can be a lot...