Height setting pin drilling jig.

[rick landes]

Here is a pin drilling jig I made up this weekend. It is made of some butter bolts 1/4-20, a few nuts, some 1x 1/8 HR and an eye-bolt from the local hardware. Each threaded item is tapped through the HR.

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t99/RICKLANDES/100_0503.jpg

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t99/RICKLANDES/100_0502.jpg

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t99/RICKLANDES/100_0504.jpg

 I posted it because it has a drilling height adjustment plate that sits on top of the barrel and allows the drill height to be set using the barrel as a guide seems unique to any I have seen.
 This ends having to draw a set of lines around the stock and stops (minimizes!) operator error while drilling.
 To use the plate is unthreaded from the eye-bolt and he eye-bolt is moved up or down to sit on top of the barrel. The nut on the end is set to expose the exact thickness of the plate.
 The plate is turned into the eye-bolt and then set on top of the barrel after the barrel is inserted into the stock channel. Just mark front and back of the tab. The jig can be clamped or "surgically tubed" into place and then drilled. I have a through bolt for the right and left and will still drill from each side to avoid a chip out.
I finished it using a hot application of Mark Lee browning that gave a rather nice plum brown finish to the tool. A bit of my homemade deer tallow and beeswax bullet lube finished it off.

I thought it might help others who dread those little 1/16" pin holes.
The U frame is large enough to accommodate pinning a trigger through a breech area, too.


(After note...a couple of the pics are a bit blurred but will still serve to help you get an idea of the function...I borrowed a friends camera and it took as long to get the dang pics figured out as it did to build this jig! )

[Gunn]

I just joined this Forum, fist topic I opened was this.  Already I am learning.  Appreciate it.

[C. HUMMEL]

         Like it!Good job!

[keweenaw]

Or you could just buy the one I make and sell.  Different sized, hardened bushings for different size drills.  Just centerpunch the two points you want to drill between, put in the floating center and tighten it down.  Remove the floating center and drill  through the bushing.


Tom

[David Rase]

Rick,
If you build yourself a different sized bushing you can swap it out with the 1/16" and drill tang and lock bolts also.  Nice Job!
DMR

[rick landes]

Thanks for the feedback. I use a spike on the drill press for those tang bolts. I would have to make another with a wider U to accommodate the tang to trigger plate distance.

I thought the most interesting was the testing of the browning from Mark Lee. I had not used his brand, nor had I ever tried a hot application of browning to get a finish. I just warm parts, apply and wait for most browns (and rust blues for that matter). This finish was put on in about 30 to 45 minutes from start to waxing. I did try and rough it off with some bronze wool and it held up amazingly well.

Welcome to you Gunn. Beware this site can be addicting!

Tom...I was eyeballing the channel iron in the metal bin and thought to make one like yours. I could have drilled a piece of W-1 tool steel and heat treated it as an insert.  So many cats so  little time...

I also checked out a cheap c clamp to retro fit...another cat

[Glenn]

I just joined this Forum, fist topic I opened was this.  Already I am learning.  Appreciate it.

This site is the ML builder/enthusiasts dream come true.  I aint been here long neither and I trip out every time I go in to this site.  The talent and creativity of these folks on here just blows my mind.  I have yet to go in to any topic on here and not learn something, even when I'm half asleep !!!   

[Jerry V Lape]

The problem I ran into with converting a C clamp was alignment of the two holes was difficult.  Instead we made the two legs of the clamp separately, then clamped them together to through drill.  Then treaded them on one long bolt to maintain alignment while welding both legs to the base.  Perfect alignment.  When drilling the through bolt, relieve the hole fairly large for most of it's length, with about a 1/2" section at the end (which also needs some relief to account for expansion when the bit gets hot. )  For the 1/16" drill guide hole I used a #50 wire gauge drill which gives enough clearance for some lube and heat expansion.  For the 1/8" drill guide a #29 drill provides enough clearance.  I learned about the clearance after the first drill seized up in the guide.

[holzwurm]

very nice job of creativity and coming up with  your own solution to a sticky problem. If  yours works great for you that's all the better.  Mine has worked for me for years but I might try yours some day as a comparison. I'm not at all shy adapting someone else's solution to my problem. That's why I ask so many questions on this site. 

Jerry

[Frank Barker]

This is a great project Rick and it's soooo simple. Why didn't I think of that. ? Thanks and Kind Regards...Frank

[rick landes]

I have found when using this jig to take a small square and aline the flat with the barrel side as a double check to the pre drill positioning. (Of course make sure the squaring is adjusted for a swamped barrel!)

Also a hand held pin drill (I think that is what they are called) works great!