- Joined
- Oct 2, 1998
- Messages
- 15,224
In the past year I've gotten into woodworking as a hobby, and that's led me in new directions. After seeing the products offered by Incra ( http://www.incra.com ) my curiosity for working in metal has been piqued.
I'm debating getting into a few projects these days that involve using a milling machine to complete the various parts... One of them is the home built AR-15 or AK-47 style rifle (semi auto, of course). While doing research on these, I've come across more than a few websites that show the various neat things you can do with mills, especially http://www.cncguns.com - this guy has made his own 1911's, Sig P228's, Beretta's, and of course, AR's. From everything I've researched, it's entirely possible to build yourself an AR lower or an AK receiver using a couple jigs and nothing more fancy than a drill press, but repeatedly sites are recommending using a mill if you have access to one.
Since I don't want to purchase a $500 Harbor Freight bottom of the barrel mini-mill, or a $50,000 Haas uber mini, I'm asking you guys for advice in what I should purchase, and where to look. From what I understand, Grizzly by and large is made in the same factory as HF, but has a bit better fit & finish. I don't have space (or the 3 phase power) for a gigantic Bridgeport either... so hopefully you guys can give me a hand with this.
I'm debating getting into a few projects these days that involve using a milling machine to complete the various parts... One of them is the home built AR-15 or AK-47 style rifle (semi auto, of course). While doing research on these, I've come across more than a few websites that show the various neat things you can do with mills, especially http://www.cncguns.com - this guy has made his own 1911's, Sig P228's, Beretta's, and of course, AR's. From everything I've researched, it's entirely possible to build yourself an AR lower or an AK receiver using a couple jigs and nothing more fancy than a drill press, but repeatedly sites are recommending using a mill if you have access to one.
Since I don't want to purchase a $500 Harbor Freight bottom of the barrel mini-mill, or a $50,000 Haas uber mini, I'm asking you guys for advice in what I should purchase, and where to look. From what I understand, Grizzly by and large is made in the same factory as HF, but has a bit better fit & finish. I don't have space (or the 3 phase power) for a gigantic Bridgeport either... so hopefully you guys can give me a hand with this.