The jackets are not as difficult as they might appear, that is, if you have access to the right equipment. The machine shop at Dekalb Tech is state of the art and the staff are bending over backwards to assist me in the build. I am enrolled in some machining classes there at night and it's great to have guys with the experience level of my instructors checking over my work. Many thanks once again to Richard and Stuart !
Now to the jacket construction - All work was done on a manual mill with a digital readout - makes for much faster and more precise work. I turned down a piece of solid steel to the exact dimensions of the inside diameter of the tubing and positioned this in the center of the tube to prevent any crushing in the milling vise. I had previously laid out my starting points so I just started at one end and the chips began flying !
The quarter ended tonight and wont begin again until the beginning of Oct. so all of my metalworking projects are on hold until then ( spar brackets, wheel hubs, gun parts, etc. ). In the meantime, there is plenty of woodwork to keep me busy !
