Spent a bunch of hours tonight slowly figuring out how to make the fixture used to hold the barrel in the vise while unscrewing the frame from it. I'm not sure what took so long other than I didn't realize very quickly that you could just take a big ass milling tool bit and bore out the central hole rather than first piloting it, drilling it, then finally milling it out. By the end I was able to work out a system and the last one took 10 or 15 minutes (including squaring up the pieces since I made them from scratch). Not having to change the bridgeport tool multiple times was a nice thing.
Here's the current version. I still need to put in some some press pins in and then mill out the main hole more to ensure it doesn't touch the barrel much (I thought the main round part of the barrel was supposed to be in contact with the fixture, but only just now realized that would be A Dumb Idea):
In the future it's probably better to not make the cuts below the barrel and above the rib so far away. Live an learn. Hopefully.
The amputated barrel was a rusted one I got from Poppert for $33: it's turning out to be a great investment. I may be able to make the threaded piece into a short barrel, getting practice with crowning and cutting the shoulder back. The one with the sight I'm going to make into a tool so that you can quickly narrow a front sight on a mill. And the middle piece I can bring into the shop w/o much comment, which is a happy thing.
DRE, Looks like you are becoming quite a machinest. I know that those bridgeport mills are alot of fun. I see you are really good with it. If I need some work on my pythons I would definetly want you to do it. I am still thinking about a 4" if you know of one around here. All the best. BQ
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