I was expecting to find more budget and DIY Garand stuff

[Flyer]

Thanks for the offer but I think I know what I want for a receiver wrench.

The metal part of it is going to be a 1*1.5 or 2" tube 2-3' long with a steel block welded to it that fits in the area under the barrel threads. I'll probably make a matching cheater for it.

The wood is going to be a roughly semicircular piece of oak with a cutout for the exterior of the receiver.

The reason for being semicircular is that I'm going to use a steel band to compress and locate the wood over the steel handle.

That will make close to 100% bearing surface for 1" of the receiver, non-marring and with the barrel mounted sight side up on the left of my bench, the motion to torque the receiver will be downward and the wrench handle will wind up close to horizontal to the right, parallel to the bench top when properly timed so that I can treat the bench top like a handle on the barrel vise, that should be ergonomic.

It might be a little more work than copying CMP style but I think I will have a better wrench. I want the horizontal setup after reading the poor reviews of the Brownells receiver wrench because one customer didn't like the way it points down. I saw a video of the CMP wrench and it was pointing straight up which is better but still not ideal.

[Flyer]

Yesterday was a bad day.

An exploding cutoff wheel ended my receiver wrench project before it started. My barrel vise is about 30%. I was hoping to do my gas cylinder NM modification but that didn't happen either.

One thing I did look at is how I can clamp the gas cylinder for the NM mod. It looked like a pretty sketchy grip in a standard Kurt vise. The jaws are just too short. I could make a set of tall aluminum soft jaws but I have a small CNC style vise (flat sides) with an angle locking jaw so I'm thinking I'll grab the gas cylinder in the top of my small vise and then grab the small vise sideways in the big Kurt to hold it vertical. That should be pretty stable and I don't have to buy aluminum or machine new jaws.

Next time...

[Orlando]

I hold the gas cylinder in one hand, Dremel tool with small sanding drum in the other. No need to clap it in anything, dont over think it

[Flyer]

So you open up the rear ring with a dremel?

I was planning on doing the rear lug mod with a stone in a die grinder (copying the shape of recent CMP style cuts) but I was going to clamp it to ream the hole in a mill.

If I use the mill, I will raise the piece with the knee rather than lower the reamer with the quill so that I don't take too big of a bite.

For people who don't machine, too big a bite can grab and a mill has enough torque to twist up the gas cylinder if it isn't clamped with 100% support. 100% support means milling a vise jaw to surround the gas cylinder which I don't intend to do.

[Orlando]

Yes I would clamp it doing it your way
I open the ring and bevel the tab with a Dremel and sanding drum. Either way will work

[Flyer]

I'm setting up a workbench for gun stuff including reloading.

A good work bench has a good bench vise. I have always had access to a shop with a good American vise like an old Wilton. Those are great, big and heavy. In the past you could find a used one and buy it cheap, maybe $80 but prices have gone up and I've seen some horrible examples with $300 asking prices.

99% of the time I'm not going to need that much vise so I started looking for something smaller.

Last night I found it and today I picked it up, a 3.5" Babco vise for $20. It's an Oakland model so made in the USA unlike the newer China stuff. It has an enclosed screw so it won't accidentally get hammered or loaded with junk. The base is drilled for two rotation locks but only has one. For $20, that isn't a big deal.

It should do everything I need it to do and last through a few lifetimes if it is treated right.

[Flyer]

After removing a layer of crud, made in Japan.

It is still entirely serviceable but not quite as nice.

So far I have torn down the vise completely and I also found that the anti-reversal clip had been replaced by a piece of wire that was getting messed up.

At first I looked for new clips but one vise restorer had a good idea to replace it with a shaft collar. It makes sense because the next time I have to service it, I won't have to battle with an anti-reversal clip or try to find a new one.

Now I just need to wire brush it, degrease it and pick a new paint color.

The jaws could use a little work too but in general it is going to be a pretty easy restoration and a nice vise.

[Flyer]

Back to American made vises, I got out my CNC vises. I wasn't sure if I bought one or two back in the day, it turns out it was two.

They are American Sun brand and have an angle locking jaw, just like a Kurt but CNC style which means the sides are ground square and they have clamping grooves rather than a bolt down base. The idea is you can gang up a whole bunch on a CNC mill table or tombstone so you can run several parts at the same time on one machine.

In this case it is perfect because when I clamp my small vise in the big Kurt vise everything will be square.

Any way, I knew I had a 4" vise and thought maybe I had two. It turns out I have a 4" and one about 2 5/8" which fits perfect to grab the gas cylinder.

It's a lot easier to fool around with a 10 pound vise than a 30+ pound vise so the small size is going to work great.

The best thing, I think I spent less than $100 total on the two CNC vises. Original sticker price was around $1,500 for the pair.

When I get around to owning a hobby mill, the 4" is about the perfect size and the small one comes in handy too.

I'll probably get a big Wilton if I ever have the space to put together a full shop but as it is, my vise hand is strong.

[timshufflin]

So you open up the rear ring with a dremel?

I was planning on doing the rear lug mod with a stone in a die grinder (copying the shape of recent CMP style cuts) but I was going to clamp it to ream the hole in a mill.

If I use the mill, I will raise the piece with the knee rather than lower the reamer with the quill so that I don't take too big of a bite.

For people who don't machine, too big a bite can grab and a mill has enough torque to twist up the gas cylinder if it isn't clamped with 100% support. 100% support means milling a vise jaw to surround the gas cylinder which I don't intend to do.

I used to do it that way, it's not a critical spec to need a mill. Just dremel, blast, repaint (or not as you can't see it), done.

[Flyer]

You are right but since I have the vise out an appropriate reamer and I will know it is there, I think I will ream it on the mill.

Some times my brain is totally fine with quick and dirty solutions that you never see but if I can do it nice and instead I take the easy way, that can bug me.

If I had read about the NM gas cylinder mod as "hog out the rear ring" I wouldn't think about reaming it but the wording I read mentioned reaming so I want to go that way.

I will get it done next week.

The thing that is currently slowing me down is the roll mark on the heel. I have been trying to contact "European Hand Engraver" for weeks but the phone just rings, no answering machine, no email address.

Hopefully he will pick up some day and I can get the markings deepened. By the time that happens, everything else should be ready to refinish.