Ok, I finally got around to getting some pics up from my Form 1 .30 cal suppressor.
A lot of initial pictures are missing because of a brain fart on my part, but I'll show what I can. I made simple cones by shearing SS circles into quarters. I then rolled each quarter into a half cone on a sheet metal break. Then welded 2 halves together to make a cone. I then placed that cone onto a mandrel on a lathe and I cleaned up the rear edge and the welds.
I took the cone off the mandrel and held it in the jaws to clean up the leading edge and center drill the hole.
I then cut sections of stainless tubing and chamfered the edges so the cones would sit nicely together and the whole assembly would stack up. I clamped this all in a fairly robust jig and carefully spot welded it all so that it wouldn't warp much.
After welding, I chucked the whole thing up between centers and I cleaned the welds up.
There was a little bit of warping so all the welds didn't clean up perfectly without cutting too deep on the other side. I cleaned the rest of them up with an angle grinder.
After the welds were cleaned up I rolled a shorter piece of sheet metal to create and extra layer of steel on the back and welded it in place (no pic of this, sorry). This gives me 2 times the wall thickness in the rear, higher pressure area of the suppressor.
After that I put it in the lathe between centers and clean up the remainder of the welds, threaded it, and center bored it (.340 at the rear, up to .370 at the front) with a special boring tool that I made.
Then, I took it home and mounted it to see how it all looked.
I stamped the sweet, rounded end-cap on a press with a set of dies that I made.
After that I called up a friend and he did some AWESOME engraving for me for really cheap! (I'll try to get a pic of the engraving later).
Then I began to prime it with VHT ceramic primer.
And the first coat of primer is currently drying.
After the primer will be a sanding job to smooth out some of the rough spots from grinding it, then another primer, then the paint, then the baking.
The best part is that it actually works. My best friend, and fraternity brother was up from Titusville, FL for homecoming so we went shooting last weekend. After he took a few shots, he turned around and said, "That is really awesome, you need to get your license and start manufacturing these!" That means a lot to me coming from an engineer and avid shooter that works at KAC (Knights Armament Co.).
I already know how to improve the design and make it much more aesthetically appealing. This one could be called the prototype, or proof of concept.
The Specs:
Length: 10" I think (I'll measure it when its dry)
Diameter: 1 7/8" rear half, 1 3/4" front half
Weight: about 25 oz.
A lot of initial pictures are missing because of a brain fart on my part, but I'll show what I can. I made simple cones by shearing SS circles into quarters. I then rolled each quarter into a half cone on a sheet metal break. Then welded 2 halves together to make a cone. I then placed that cone onto a mandrel on a lathe and I cleaned up the rear edge and the welds.
I took the cone off the mandrel and held it in the jaws to clean up the leading edge and center drill the hole.
I then cut sections of stainless tubing and chamfered the edges so the cones would sit nicely together and the whole assembly would stack up. I clamped this all in a fairly robust jig and carefully spot welded it all so that it wouldn't warp much.
After welding, I chucked the whole thing up between centers and I cleaned the welds up.
There was a little bit of warping so all the welds didn't clean up perfectly without cutting too deep on the other side. I cleaned the rest of them up with an angle grinder.
After the welds were cleaned up I rolled a shorter piece of sheet metal to create and extra layer of steel on the back and welded it in place (no pic of this, sorry). This gives me 2 times the wall thickness in the rear, higher pressure area of the suppressor.
After that I put it in the lathe between centers and clean up the remainder of the welds, threaded it, and center bored it (.340 at the rear, up to .370 at the front) with a special boring tool that I made.
Then, I took it home and mounted it to see how it all looked.
I stamped the sweet, rounded end-cap on a press with a set of dies that I made.
After that I called up a friend and he did some AWESOME engraving for me for really cheap! (I'll try to get a pic of the engraving later).
Then I began to prime it with VHT ceramic primer.
And the first coat of primer is currently drying.
After the primer will be a sanding job to smooth out some of the rough spots from grinding it, then another primer, then the paint, then the baking.
The best part is that it actually works. My best friend, and fraternity brother was up from Titusville, FL for homecoming so we went shooting last weekend. After he took a few shots, he turned around and said, "That is really awesome, you need to get your license and start manufacturing these!" That means a lot to me coming from an engineer and avid shooter that works at KAC (Knights Armament Co.).
I already know how to improve the design and make it much more aesthetically appealing. This one could be called the prototype, or proof of concept.
The Specs:
Length: 10" I think (I'll measure it when its dry)
Diameter: 1 7/8" rear half, 1 3/4" front half
Weight: about 25 oz.
