Building The Steven's Favorite

[TomG]

(06-22-2012, 09:31 AM)DaveH Wrote: Tom,

"not bad you say" you say. I think it is fantastic - exceptionally well made looks beautiful

DaveH

Thanks Dave.

I enjoyed making the lever. There is just something about working with hot metal. Maybe there was a blacksmith or two in my lineage.

Tom

[RobWilson]

This post just gets better ,,,,,,,, outstanding Tom ,,,

Keep it coming


Rob

[Highpower]

Tom,

When this build is all said and done, I hope you will consider compiling it all into a PDF file because you are going to have a LOT of requests for it. And I will be one of the first ones in line looking for a copy.

Willie

[TomG]

(06-22-2012, 04:04 PM)Highpower Wrote: Tom,

When this build is all said and done, I hope you will consider compiling it all into a PDF file because you are going to have a LOT of requests for it. And I will be one of the first ones in line looking for a copy.

Willie

Already there Willie. When all is said and done there will likely be enough material for an entire book.

Tom

[Highpower]

(06-22-2012, 04:21 PM)TomG Wrote: Already there Willie. When all is said and done there will likely be enough material for an entire book.

Tom

Amazon, here we come!

[TomG]

Tonight's task was the one thing I dreaded about making the lever. On the lever of the original Steven's, there was an internal pocket centered on the pivot to clear the end of the extractor which shared the same pivot point as the lever. It was a simple feature to include because the lever was cast and the pocket was just another part of the pattern. Since I am machining this lever, I had to either engineer the pocket out, which I couldn't figure a way to do, or machine it, which would be tough since it would be a blind cut inside the lever and the only access would be through a 9/32" pivot hole. The technique I decided to use was to make a single tooth cutter that I could insert through the 9/32" hole and use it as an end mill by rotating the lever on the rotary table. The catch was that since the shank diameter of the cutter would be 1/8" and the diameter of the pivot hole 7/32", I would only be able to move the cutter over about .04", not enough to machine the full diameter of the pocket in one setup. In other words it was going to take three different sized cutters to machine the pocket. The dastardly pocket can be seen in the section view of the drawing shown in the photo above.

The cutters were made of O1. I turned the 1/8" shank on the lathe, ground the form on the belt sander and grinder, hardened and then sharpened it. I almost completed the first cut, but the cutter shank broke at a stress point. I made another with larger radii and tempered the shank, leaving the cutting edge nearly full hard and the shank a bit springy. This one worked much better and I was able to finish what was left from the first pass plus a bit more. One more cutter will take the pocket to the full .406" diameter.

These simple paddle cutters are easy to make and should be considered when making a project. You can make them exactly the size needed and not have to settle for something close or spend a lot of cash to buy one. This one would work just as well as a boring bar instead of an end mill with some slightly different angles,. The cost was a 3" long piece of 3/8" drill rod and about 10 minutes worth of time.



The first cutter. This one was small enough that it fit straight through the 9/32" hole.



The second cutter, slightly larger diameter with the shank tempered blue for flexibility. This one had to be rocked through the hole which was a pain to set up, but it worked great.



The cutter in place, with the lever mounted on the rotary table, after taking three passes to cut the internal pocket.

Now that it is all finished I've found there is a better way to do the counter-bore. Jim Wisner pointed out that on the samples he uses to make reproduction parts, the counter-bore is cut through one side of the lever and then the outside part of the counter-bore filled with a bushing. Sounds like a good addition to REV B.



The next task will be to make the link and pins that connect the lever to the breech block. Then operating the lever will actually open and close the breech block.





The lever is finished, save some contour filing and polishing. I went ahead and made the link and the pins to attach it to the breech block and put it all together. Unfortunately I got ahead of myself and didn't take any pics. It's pretty encouraging to see everything operate as it's supposed to when the lever is cocked.

[ETC57]

WOW!!!!

Tom, this is amazing!

Fine art coupled with skill and creativity.

Thank you for taking the time to share this with us.

Jerry.

[ScrapMetal]

Tom, I really believe this would make a very good book. With the good photography and details it would be a great "how to". I'm sure the gun guys would eat it up. I would really urge you to look in to self-publishing as Lautard has done with the "Machinist's Bedside Reader" or Frank Marlow's "Machine Shop Essentials"

JMHO

-Ron

[Rickabilly]

Hello Tom,
As far as Patent restrictions go, I doubt you have anything to worry about at all, I have quite a few Patents myself (35) and have been working around the international patent system since 1997, As far as I know it is extremely difficult to stretch a Patent's usable life beyond 16 years, I assume the original Rifle is way older than this, so there is almost no chance that a Patent used in it's manufacture could be live.

In terms of "Copywrite", this only applies to written information, in this case drawings, so if you were to use the original drawings there would be an issue, but making your own drawings off of old worn parts and then changing them slightly will make any copywrite infringment as close to impossible as will ever matter, For copy write to apply your drawing would need to be identical to the originals, or use identical passages of text, to the originals, there is also a time limit on the life of Copywrited data, for Copywrite held by a person I think the right dies with the individual + 75 years, For company held Copywrite I'm not sure.

Either way I'd not be worried about these risks at all, as anyone trying to prosecute for Patent or Copywrite infringement would need to prove damages, which, if the gun is no longer in production, I doubt they could, and also bringing a claim would be very expensive.

So definately double check what I have said here with a local Patent Attourney, most will do this sort of thing for free if you lead them to believe that they will get any work arising from your efforts, which you probably would give to a helpful Attourney anyway, and then go ahead and publish without fear.

In terms of Liability, there is insurance of course, and to make this affordable you would need to riddle your drawings with disclaimers, keeping in mind that very rarely does a hobbyist make from plans without modifying something in which case your liability nearly disappears, on this I would absolutely take legal advice, and have the advisor write up the disclaimers.

Oh, and nice Job, If only I lived somewhere that had the same laws I would love a similar challenge, I am watching intently, can't wait for more.

Best regards
Rick

[TomG]

Not much time for the project tonight. Between a couple of chores and tip-off time time, I was only able to make the screw that attaches the end of the mainspring plunger to the receiver. Just a simple 8-32 thread, a .04" wide parted groove and a screwdriver slot in the head. This is the perfect application for a collet block.





The next task will be to make and install the pin for the clevis and to wind the mainspring if I have the right size music wire on hand.

Tonight I got started on the mainspring plunger. The Steven's uses a compression coil spring for a mainspring and it sits on a rod with a clevis on one end with a pin in it that pushes against the hammer. The other end rides in a bushing that hooks on the grooved screw that I made last night.



The first step was to square up a piece of O1, rough out the turned end and center drill each end so it could be turned between centers.



I rarely turn between centers so I didn't have the proper size dog on hand. The alternative was to drill an oversized center in the yoke end and use that to drive it. Thye driving center is just a piece of aluminum turned to a 60º point. It should work fine because the shaft is only 5/32" diameter and won't require much torque to drive.





The radii were cut with a corner rounding end mill. Next, the center of the clevis gets milled out. Not tonight though, it's been a long day. I'll be working at home in the morning and will need the mill so I guess I'll just have to finish it then.



Toolmaker's clamps aren't used often, but they worked well here to stabilize the .075" thick fingers on the clevis. Even so, with the long thin fingers and the long end mill, the potential for a spectacular wreck was high.







It's a nice day outside but I still managed to sneak into the shop for a bit and wind the mainspring. The method I use to make springs is to set the lathe up for the number of coils per inch, put a slotted wooden insert in the tool block to pinch the wire and provide tension and wrap it around a mandrel under power. The spring always ends up larger than the mandrel so figuring out the right size mandrel requires some experimentation. Once wound, it was clipped to length and the ends ground square on the belt sander.



This is the wooden tensioning block sawed out of a leftover piece of walnut from the stock. The amount of tension required depends on the diameter of the wire and sometimes takes some trial and error to get right.



Safety glasses are a must when working with any kind of wire, especially when winding springs. The mandrel I ended up using was a long aircraft drill about .015" under the finish diameter of the spring. Forcing springy wire to conform to the shape you want is a dicey proposition, so it's best to run the lathe at slow speed and stay well clear of the wire. The end of the mandrel is supported with a drill chuck snugged up and well oiled. The start of the spring has a 90º leg bent on it and pinched in the lathe chuck along with the mandrel.



The finished spring mounted on the mainspring plunger.



The spring force on the hammers feels a tad light, but it is only a .22. If it misfires I'll just re-wind the spring with .055" or .063" wire instead of the .047" I grabbed at the hobby shop. The hammer doesn't fall all the way yet because I still need to cut the notches and the extra stock is hitting something inside the receiver.