theotherwaldo
Member
Again, inspired by a Nylon 66... .
Wooden AR Lower
- Thread starter WestKentucky
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I watched the You Tube video on this wooden gun. I also thought of the hilarious termite problem as well as fire damage thing, but the fancy work needed to build this firearm needs to be awarded. Good work!
Sleeves might be needed to arrest the recoil forces in the wood. The whole project deserves a round of applause from us Very amusing too!
Sleeves might be needed to arrest the recoil forces in the wood. The whole project deserves a round of applause from us Very amusing too!
OP
OP
WestKentucky
Member
I snagged a couple pieces of thin steel today at work from the trash pile. I’m going to set them aside as side plate reinforcements so that trigger and hammer pins won’t get banged up and oversize. I think I’m going to make it happen at some point in the year... will be a while. I’m nowhere near ready to take on that woodworking project yet.
ponchh
Member
Phenolic is a wood product that could be cut to the same dimensions as aluminum and probably be stronger than aluminum. It can withstand high heat and can be powder coated. With a darker clear coat, it looks like fiberglass cloth.
Riomouse911
Member
I could even utilize “locally sourced, non-GMO” ammo manufactured right here in my garage... oh the possibilities!You are SOOOOOO onto something here.
How in THE hell could anyone villianize an *Amish-15*?
"B-b-bu-but.... IT'S sustainable!"
Todd.
ApacheCoTodd
member
Easy now. Don't get carried away until that labor *force* is certified as being ethically treated.
Todd.
Riomouse911
Member
And is paid a living wage with employer paid healthcare, retirement and eight weeks paid vacati... waitaminnit.
Elkins45
Member
Have you seen this? Photobucket has blurred the pictures but you'll get the idea.
https://www.ar15.com/forums/ar-15/Fruity_Ghost___DIY_100s_of_ARs_cheaper__faster__gentler_/4-676733/
https://www.ar15.com/forums/ar-15/Fruity_Ghost___DIY_100s_of_ARs_cheaper__faster__gentler_/4-676733/
theotherwaldo
Member
^^ !'ve used this casting method for other projects. It works.
-And using Legos for forms and fences is a good idea.
I would have reinforced the plastic with chopped fiberglass and sleeved the hammer and trigger pin holes with sections of brass tube, just to make the final product last longer.
The other stress area is the buffer tube mount. I would consider enlarging the tube's OD, filling in the seam and casting it in place
I've cast lead, copper, brass, aluminum and black iron.
This looks easy.
-And using Legos for forms and fences is a good idea.
I would have reinforced the plastic with chopped fiberglass and sleeved the hammer and trigger pin holes with sections of brass tube, just to make the final product last longer.
The other stress area is the buffer tube mount. I would consider enlarging the tube's OD, filling in the seam and casting it in place
I've cast lead, copper, brass, aluminum and black iron.
This looks easy.
theotherwaldo
Member
BTW, the one thing that Is missing in that "how to" is a vacuum chamber to get the bubbles out of the casting.
I've made these out of old pressure cookers with modified and gasketed lids. Vacuum pumps for this volume run about a hundred bucks.
I've made these out of old pressure cookers with modified and gasketed lids. Vacuum pumps for this volume run about a hundred bucks.
CapnMac
Member
Probably, but the quantity of carbide tooling required to work bois d'arc would cost more than the finished product [
]
Old Stumpy
Member
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- Mar 3, 2019
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As a woodworker, I know that 1/8" X 5 ply Baltic Birch laminate is very strong. If you glue together pieces of this as well as solid pieces of maple where needed, it would be very strong. Modern wood glue bonds are stronger than the wood itself, and the laminate resists cracking far better than solid wood.
The lower on an AR-15 just holds everything together and takes very little stress.
Certainly a walnut stock in a magnum rifle endures far worse impact from recoil.
The lower on an AR-15 just holds everything together and takes very little stress.
Certainly a walnut stock in a magnum rifle endures far worse impact from recoil.
Now a laminate of phenolic resin, and hardwood used for the reciever might be interesting. you wouldn't need reinforments for the pins, and I'd bet that even the reciever extension could be done with nothing more than a little beefing up, or a thin walled threaded insert.
I have a slab somewhere of the lab/industrial grade, counter top phenolic. That thing is both tough and hard. It will ruin even good cutting tools quickly, so that particular type is probably not the best option. but from my understanding there's a few different options for phenolic resin formulations. I did laminate it with some Maple and teak and was gonna try make a bow riser out of it, and stuff sticks to it pretty good.
Demi-human
maybe likes firearms a little bit…
Vacuuming resins creates bigger bubbles.
When I stabilize my wood turning projects I vacuum the resin to enlage and pop the gas bubbles, then I turn the pump around and pressurize the pot until the resin sets. The pressure makes any remaining bubbles smaller and less visible.
If the plastic is very liquid this may not be necessary?
I use an old paint spraying can. It has all the line fittings, the lid screws down and is rated to three hundred PSI.
CapnMac
Member
Generally true, with a couple exceptions.
Magazine well takes some oddball force vectors, none very extreme, but still significant. If you do a NURBS study of the magwell, the highest forces, though, are around the latch.
The takedown pins and trigger pin do not have a lot of force, but they do have tight dimensional tolerances.
The biggie is the recoil tube support. There are a lot of forces that knot up right in that small area. This is the location where most polymer lower fail at some point, as you both need a lot of material strenght there, and you want to not have a lot of volume, or you spoil the grip geometry.
Above, a good idea was put forward--use a metal (stainless steel might be ideal) insert to support the mag well, and the through pins, and the buffer tube support, then laminate all that into a wooden blank. Use a catalyzed acrylic resin (stronger than the phenols) and the wood would largely be for show.
But, you could use some spiffy stuff--mescquite, zebrawood, flame maple--which would be cooler than all get out. (Just not light [
])
Skylerbone
Member
IMO the automotive industry solved this dilemma years ago; with careful veneer placement and industrial adhesives you could dress up the plainest of receivers, add no width to pin locations and the like, and sacrifice nothing. 3-D print a template and cut the veneer panels from that.
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Demi-human
maybe likes firearms a little bit…
Well, yeah, hydro dip. But that's not wood. Not really, anyway...
ponchh
Member
I was thinking machine the entire lower out of a 2" thick piece and the only place I would add any extra meat would be the upper half where receiver extension screws in. Maybe a 1/16 at most. Phenolic machines about the same as aluminum, maybe at a slower speed. Our machine shop made a lot of parts out of the stuff for aircraft.
As you said, there's many different grades. We used the type that was extremely hard and rated well above 200 degree constant heat tolerance.
I had a 3/8 inch piece and would give my friends a hand full of 16p nails. Told them, when you bend a nail, put the next one in the same spot and try again. Nobody ever got a nail through.
OP
OP
WestKentucky
Member
I started this thread for a few grins and it has quickly evolved into what will certainly be a very costly project. The idea rattling around in my head now is akin to a crossbreed between an AR15 receiver set and an m1 carbine. Rough Cut the stock, including the hand guard, then inlet the trigger pocket, glue in the reinforcement plates (why not, they are free and steel), inlet the stock for a magazine (even if it’s a chunk of a 80% lower). Clean up and make the handguard whatever you want it to be, drill the handguard area to accept a barrel and then slice it along the horizontal line which delineates upper/lower on the reciever, drill and countersink screw pockets to reassemble the handguard top onto the rest of the handguard which is part of the stock, assemble the whole shebang and test it, disassemble it all again and polish up what need to be made pretty and then finish the wood with something that will highlight the grain.
good lord I’m going to need a second job to buy the tools, but this is high on the list now. I have a whole walnut log to cut a blank or 30 from...
good lord I’m going to need a second job to buy the tools, but this is high on the list now. I have a whole walnut log to cut a blank or 30 from...
clearcut
Member
"It's got to work Orville" take lots of pics if ya do it.
CC
CC
HPJeep
Member
Would probably have to use a laminated wood beam that are used in home or commercial construction such as. Microlam beam or LVL beam. Much stronger than plywood and they're thick enough to CNC into a receiver.
Elkins45
Member
On a semi-related note: it appears the company selling the weldable steel flat kits for AR receivers has stopped making them.
Blackbeard 44
Member
I want one, it wood be the classiest AR ever built, like the Roles Royce of rifles
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