First Build-48" Teak/Padauk Rolller

[brtc]

All,

Thanks for the replies. I don't know how I've never seen any of Gil's videos. That was incredibly useful!

[berry79]

Straightening jig on the table saw then plain the opposite side first, then flip back and plain the table saw side.

[brtc]

Well, after several weeks of vacation, and not being able to straighten this blank out, I finally gave in and bought a jointer. I got the track and mech pocket cut. Still need to buy a drill press. I noticed when I was cutting the track, the bit chewed the track pretty bad. I've been sanding it until it's almost unnoticeable, but is there anything I can do to prevent that? It was really bad when I got done with the cut. Now I've just gotta work up the courage to cut the muzzle shape. I don't have a scroll saw, was thinking about using my jig saw to cut the round shape of my roller muzzle, bad idea? Thanks.

Will post pictures as soon as I can. Mac is messed up.

[brtc]

Let's see if this works.

[Benny]

Originally Posted by brtc

Well, after several weeks of vacation, and not being able to straighten this blank out, I finally gave in and bought a jointer. I got the track and mech pocket cut. Still need to buy a drill press. I noticed when I was cutting the track, the bit chewed the track pretty bad. I've been sanding it until it's almost unnoticeable, but is there anything I can do to prevent that? It was really bad when I got done with the cut. Now I've just gotta work up the courage to cut the muzzle shape. I don't have a scroll saw, was thinking about using my jig saw to cut the round shape of my roller muzzle, bad idea? Thanks.

Will post pictures as soon as I can. Mac is messed up.

Did you cut the track in one pass? I do pretty small increments when cutting the track. It will go really smooth with small cuts and a little help from some feather boards.

With the muzzle shaping I'd just cut off the excess with any saw you've got then do the shaping with some files, rasps, heavy grit sand paper and really any tool that helps get the shape you want.

Keep in mind, you want to do every critical cut, drill every critical hole and pretty much everything possible while the blank is still square.

[brtc]

I thought about that after I cut the track. With the shape of the dovetail but I didn't think I could do multiple passes. Now I know, thanks!

[Benny]

Originally Posted by brtc

I thought about that after I cut the track. With the shape of the dovetail but I didn't think I could do multiple passes. Now I know, thanks!

I hadn't realized you were doing an ET. That final cut is just gonna be a one pass deal, but I'd still remove as much possible with the straight cut bit. Maybe even run a smaller dove tail through it before the final cut.

Feather boards go a long ways too. No need for anything fancy, just clamp some make shift ones to your router table

[brtc]

I have no idea why I didn't think of that. That was dumb. Oh, well, lesson learned. It'll sand

[brtc]

Just cut the muzzle tonight, I will drill it and hopefully have rollers in it tomorrow. I'll post pictures of it tomorrow. Also, does anybody have the dimensions of a Red Tide or similar reel base. I haven't ordered one yet and need to include that in my gun. Thanks!

[brtc]

Well, after a series of mistakes, this is what I came up with. I'm ready to rebuild, start another one. I'm gonna finish this one up and hopefully go shoot next week. Question before I seal it up. Do you glue the track in before doing the epoxy coats to seal the gun? Or should I seal it, then put the track in? Thanks.

[Benny]

Looks good man.

Do you have a stainless standoff passing through the stock and both rollers? My only concern is the amount of material you have on the outside of the rollers, looks a bit thin in the pics. You could easily remove that material though and replace it with some stainless flat bar or just add some more teak to it and get a longer standoff. Stainless can be had pretty cheap at McMaster Carr and they have 316 SS in a bunch of lengths/thicknesses. You can get stainless rod too for pinning mechs, line guides, etc.

http://www.mcmaster.com/#standard-st...sheets/=yrrezy

On the track, I've read of people epoxying those tracks in but I think the standard approach is a single countersunk screw back near the mech. Not sure how much wiggle room the track has but if its tight you can do a coat of epoxy , let it sit for 10 or 15 minutes then wipe it off. Repeat a couple times.

Keep it up, you're really not too far from finished

[Jamil]

Great build and am sure you've learnt a lot and will improve as you go We all did..

If you are using a UHMW track. I would recommend against gluing/epoxying it in, especially if you live in a hot place or will leave the gun under the sun. It will expand dramatically with heat. a 150 CM track will expand by 1 whole CM if kept in a very hot place. This could crack the wood.

You should coat the the gun all round to seal. But always wipe off excess epoxy from the inner dove tail in opening in the wood. you only need a very very very thin coat. if you don't do that it will be impossible to slip in the track and you will have to use lots of sand paper and hours of cleaning it up.

Then leave the track loos and pin with a screw from one side. I have a close up up pic in my latest thread here to explain this.

Good luck.

[brtc]

Originally Posted by Benny

Looks good man.

My only concern is the amount of material you have on the outside of the rollers, looks a bit thin in the pics.

Yep, that was my first mistake. My bit slipped, so I had to step it up to a 3/4. Next mistake was doing the bottom taper on the table saw. I took a chunk out of the muzzle that took a lot of sanding to clean up. I did get the stand-off for the roller axle, and have stainless rod to make wishbone hooks, line anchors, and such. I made a lot of mistakes, so this one will be a do-over. But, it's gonna shoot first!

On the track, thanks for the help! My track is really loose right now though, should I just epoxy until it's snug, then sand it smooth? Hopefully I'll finish drilling my holes and get ready to coat it this weekend. That should be a learning experience itself

[Benny]

Where are you located? If you're interested I have a blank on deck that I'd be willing to sell. Its burma teak, all lams cut from the same board and I have a couple small pieces saved to glue on the muzzle for a roller project. Its been glued up for at least 5 months.

If you are local to Socal you are welcome to come by for some shop time too. That goes for the rest of you too, I guess. (bring beer )

[brtc]

Benny, thanks for the offer, but I'm in Florida. I'd take you up on that blank but I'm about to pick one up from another member for a small build. This gets addicting