Hi,

Nice work.
Would be interesting how it performs ....

By the way, your EMCO machine tool was produced
right here in my hometown .

best regards

Otto

Otto,

The Emco Compact 8 is a wonderful piece of equipment, and I hate that they don't sell them here in the US anymore. It really leaves the Chinese machines in the dust, I can't even get the dial indicator to read the runout in the chuck (probably less than 1/4 thousands of an inch). I just need to convert it to variable speed and reversible lead screw, then it will be perfect. Say hello to the Emco guys and tell them to keep up the good work! :thumbup:

As far as the barrels go, I have no idea if the accuracy is affected or not. It's kind of irrelevant to me though, I came up this as an attempt to save an otherwise useless barrel. I'm thinking that it could be used if someone has a numbered barrel with a damaged sight post, wants to build a shortie, or (as the artillery barrel) if a previous owner has modified a barrel. I don't know if there's a need for this kind of service, but the tinkerer in me said that I just had to try it. :)

Got a question, as I have never done a front sight job like yours, - Why not mill the front sight dovetail and ramp while the blank is in the indexing head in a known angular position? Seems like it would have saved having to making that beautifully done fixture.

The reason why I made the block in the first place was actually to index the sight. I could have done the final milling the way you suggest, but I figured that I could just as well use the block.

Good idea.

I guess I should also have mentioned that it's way easier to set up the block at an angle, rather than tilting the column or setting the index table at an angle. I used angle blocks to set it at the correct angle, so the setup for this cut was very quick and easy.