barrel channel

[yip]

 who makes a barrel channel cutter for a router?
 or   whats the best way to do this

[northmn]

One good way is to send it to David Rase and let him do it.  Some have modified their own.   Depending on the barrel size, I have ground off the tips of V groove router bits to get the V in the channel.  I always found a good table saw best for roughing out the barrel in a step fashion.  I have seen where some have modified shaper blades for the operation.  It seems as we get more advanced we tend to use hand tools more as power tools can mess things up big time in a hurry.  Also swamped tapered and fowler barrels are difficult to set up for power tools.  I have gone to more hand work as I like fowlers.  One thing I will point out is that those that have studied originals, even the best ones will tell you that they did not have mirror image barrel inlays.  Many were somehat round.
The hand work takes a while but it does work.

DP

[caliber45]

Yip -- I had a machinist friend make a cutter blade for me for 13/16ths barrels. He did a great job, charged me a great price, and I love it. However, he now works where he can't do "freelance" work any more, so when I needed one for 3/4ths inch barrels, I ground one out from a cheapie 3/4ths-inch spade bit. Since barrels are 360 degrees around, each of the eight "corners" is 45 degrees. Bottom flat, 45 degrees  up both sides and straight sides inlets the barrel. Grind cutting edges the same direction as the original spade bit. I couldn't "herd" my router tight enough, so now use it with an "all-purpose" lathe/mill machine. I still haven't learned to post images here, but if you'd like an image of my bits, send a pm. -- paulallen

[T*O*F]

Use a 3/4" square cutter.  Work from the right side of the gun.  Plane the right side and the top so they are 90 degrees to each other.  Leave the forestock about one inch longer than necessary so you can cut it back to remove the starting cut.  Mark where the breech of your barrel will be so you can stop before cutting too far.

Lay your barrel in front of the blank and draw its outline on the nose.



Using the line on the nose, set your fence to cut A.  First to cut the right side of the channel (left side in picture) then extend fence to cut the remainder on the other side.  Then repeat process and cut to line B.


You now have a square channel.  Switch to a 45 degree cutter and cut to line C.



This will give your octagon and only require that a small amount of wood be chiseled off on the bottom flat.  When done, cut from the nose to the breech along line A, or 1/2 the depth of the barrel.

To do a swamped barrel, you will have to make a fixture and use a bearing on your cutters.  Cut 2 1" pieces of Masonite and force them against the barrel to match its profile.  Then screw them tight.  You will have to cut to the narrowest dimension of the barrel and then make short progressive cuts to deepen the swamp.

I do this free hand rather than on a table, as the chips will build up in the channel and force the cutter off track.

[caliber45]

Yip -- What TOF is telling you is basically the same thing I was telling you -- except with my cutter you cut the entire channel with one cut, rather than having to cut one side at a time. If you are using a 1-inch barrel, grind a 1-inch spade bit, making the bottom "flat" the same width as the flat on your barrel. If you're using a 3/4ths-inch barrel, use a 3/4ths-inch spade bit and follow the same procedure. You  can buy a cheap-o set of (Chinese-made, of course . . .) spade bits in various widths for less than $10, and they work fine for cutting wood. The channel is clean, smooth and ready-to-go. -- paulallen

[yip]

caliber45     years ago i did just that i ground a spade bit down for a 13/16 barrel channel, it did work! but i did buy a cutter for a 15/16 channel but i can't find one for a 7/8 at this time. so i think i'll try to grind one again.thanks for the help

[T*O*F]

I never trusted the spade bits for some reason.  Anyway, that was a long time ago.  I use these now instead on a spindle shaper.  Have a complete set for barrel sizes 3/4" thru 1" and round profiles for ramrod channel in 5/16" and 3/8".  These also cut on one pass and are the same as used by Jack Garner, TVM, Jackie Brown, and several other makers.  They are ground from one inch square HSS cutters and each has its own bushing that limits the depth of cut.

[Bill of the 45th]

Dave Rase, postage is a bit steep, but then there's no sawdust to clean up, and it's about as perfect as you can get.  For me it's a combination of being chicken to do it, and lazy.

Bill

[caliber45]

Yip -- a quick p.s.: I cut my barrel channels in three or four passes. Never tried doing one full depth all at once. Not sure how a spade bit would hold up to an all-at-once workload. Also, of course, shorten that long shank to a couple of inches or so, whatever's needed for your router, mill, etc. -- paulallen

[davec2]

http://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=914.0