• This Forum is for adults 18 years of age or over. By continuing to use this Forum you are confirming that you are 18 or older. No content shall be viewed by any person under 18 in California.

Barrel polishing fixture

urbanrifleman

Site $$ Sponsor
My friend has a machine shop that makes barrels and he is looking for a simple fixture to polish barrels so he doesn't use a lathe. Any ideas?
 
Clymer has been making a "barrel spinner" for at least 30yrs. I made my own while in gunsmithing school. Matter of fact, I think it was a "required" tool to make.

and I thought a required tool to have. I hate to think id have any type of polishing compounds or abrasives falling down on my lathe bed. gotta replace those wooden tips on the old ones or you'll wear a barrel. and also need to replace the white UHMW ones on the LRI spinner too. a sharp crown will eat em up quickly
 
I made the centers of Delrin. made 'um a bit long so I can re-dress the points as needed. No need in having sanding grit around or near 'precision' machine tools. If ya' do, they won't be 'precision' for long.
 
If ya' let the barrel 'free wheel' the sanding belt doesn't 'cut', so ya' gotta' slow it down. I've got belts from 80g to 600g. I think I'm using the 6th or 7th set of centers I've made. Good thing I bought 3' of material when I ordered the Delrin. I didn't even know there were "cassettes" made that you can buy until I clicked on the links in this thread. I've made and make a lot of the tools I need instead of buying them.
 
OR, if you're cheap...like I'm..... ya can make a ball-bearing one for not much money. (I don't like the non-turning delrin ones because running the sawblade of the rifling against the delrin always cuts a groove and the mental picture of my barrel whirling about the room makes me ill)

Two hunks of AL plate, two skateboard bearings, a 1" AL bar and some delrin.

She spins like a dervish

Sorry about the pic, I snapped it for a friend.
 

Attachments

  • 0125182000.jpg
    0125182000.jpg
    502 KB · Views: 202
Tubing and bearings from home Depot, turned 60 degree delrin centers. Spin on a Kalamazoo 1x42 belt. 5-10 minutes and done. Little more work on the manufacturers that like to rough their blanks with 40 grit, lol.
 

Attachments

  • 1521263407-picsay.jpg
    1521263407-picsay.jpg
    222.1 KB · Views: 137
those cassettes from LRI are very nice. they have actual ball bearings.
The ones I made have ball bearings. I can't see NOT running the centers in bearings! You'd just destroy your centers, otherwise. Sealed bearing is press fit into the aluminum, stem on the Delrin center press fit thru the hole in the bearing.
 
Last edited:
Would depend on how you ordered, turned or finish turned & polished
A few clients brought them in. They thought they were saving money until I told them there was an extra charge for the time time it took to finish them.
 
A few clients brought them in. They thought they were saving money until I told them there was an extra charge for the time time it took to finish them.
I hear ya'! "We're saving money now!", aren't we? Custom work ain't cheap. It all costs. Always have some who'll pull up in a new $65,000 pick-up looking for discount.
 

Upgrades & Donations

This Forum's expenses are primarily paid by member contributions. You can upgrade your Forum membership in seconds. Gold and Silver members get unlimited FREE classifieds for one year. Gold members can upload custom avatars.


Click Upgrade Membership Button ABOVE to get Gold or Silver Status.

You can also donate any amount, large or small, with the button below. Include your Forum Name in the PayPal Notes field.


To DONATE by CHECK, or make a recurring donation, CLICK HERE to learn how.

Forum statistics

Threads
165,852
Messages
2,204,321
Members
79,157
Latest member
Bud1029
Back
Top