Trying to do as much machine work on the forearm as possible.
(98) "Blending" the brass inlay with the forearm bottom.
(99) Using a 1/2"R corner-rounding end mill to round the bottom of the forearm. This is my test piece, and it actually turned out quite well (surprisingly!).
(100) I'm doing a lateral move now. I'm OK with the forearm I have so far, but there are always different ways to achieve the same end, and I want to explore a couple of these. I'm trying to use my machine tools as much as possible. So, in this pic, I'm corner-rounding the Pine forearm I used as a test piece and tapering the corner at the same time.
(101) Now I'm using a straight 3/4" end mill to side-cut the forearm to taper it from rear to front by 1/4" total [1/8" each side].
(102) I noticed I have some kind of burr or rasp or whatever that has a taper to it, so I'm experimenting to see how it would work on the top of the forearm, to help give it the 'rounded' cross-section that the Luger forearms seem to have.
(103) Here's a shot of the semi-completed Pine forearm. Besides final sanding, the only real area that needs more work is the 'Schnabel' tip. The corner-rounding end mill couldn't go full length, so I have to figure out some way to blend in the curve. I may use my rotary indexing head...
(104) Woohoo! Got all my metal pieces back from the refinishing. All blued except the 6 pieces at the bottom; they have been strawed. Excellent work!
(105) Assembling the mainspring in the frame. Frame clamped to mill worktable so it won't move, and cotter pin puller used to compress spring. Works great!
