see if you can spot it. --
caption: see the mahogany strip on your right which runs the full length of the trigger well. and, see the "interrupted" mahogany strip on your left which doesn't run the full length of the trigger well.
well, it was supposed to. but, it got taken out when i laid the trigger well out, and put a line on the wrong side of the late & much lamented strip. sheesh.
well, god made elmer's glue and wood epoxy to cover up for the mistakes of those who don't pay attention. that's what is so nice about wood, ... , it breaks, or you make a boo boo, and you just slop a little epoxy on, and never tell a soul.
except for the little patch job involved in replacing the offended mahogany, the wood work & mortising is all done except for fitting the pistol grip stock, and a little "fairing" of square corners and the like.
caption: at the top of the picture the recess for the lug on the rear of the upper receiver is cut, and the fit is good, and the holes in the upper receiver match the holes laid out for the 1/4" action pins in the lower.
the front hole for the front lug is also cut, and the fit is pretty good. it's a nice and snug fit, but, not too tight.
the only bit of layout and fabrication left is fitting a nut to the rear of the lower to hold the upper receiver extension, which is the part that stock is attached to on an ar-15. with that done, all that will remain will be to sand, true and fair, and then paint over all my mistakes.
so far, i've got $16.00 expended for parts and materials that i didn't already have in the basement. now, i won't have to be packing all that around. and, oh yeah, about $4.00 for a tube of gorilla wood glue/epoxy. all that this project has cost me is some thought, some conceptualizing, and a fair amount of labor.
next time around, i could build this thing in 1/4 the time its taken so far, because i've worried myself through the procedures, and figured out how to do it more efficiently. and, i've identified all my neighbors who own joiners, mortising machines, and vertical mills. very handy to have neighbors like that, when a file won't do.
now, i've deviated a bit from my original course, which was to build the thing in the basement w/ parts and tools on hand, but, this is mainly to make sure this thing works when the trigger is pulled. i think i could have done it without the machine tools, but the results would not have been so predictable.
maybe next time.
update, 01.04.2013. the oopsie is fixed. a little piece is cut out, fitted, epoxied and everything is o.k.
caption: the little piece of 1/8" mahogany is in place, and the little clamp is holding it until the epoxy cures.
caption: all better.
really, the nice thing about a repair like this is that it is probably stronger this way. epoxy is great stuff. end update.
john jay @ 01.02.2013
post script. why use wood laminates to fashion a "plywood firearm" when a solid piece of wood will do? maybe this will explain.
caption: the above shows an old receiver laying around the house, that i have been using to check out my layout on the "plywood project."
look at the junction between the metal upper and the wood lower. look right at the "seam" between the two objects. do you notice the strip of brown walnut, and then the thin strip of golden mahogany running just under the metal upper?
that friends, is a straight line. it shows that the two receivers are very square, and that things are also "level" to each other. it's the way it's supposed to be, and it is readily apparent to the eyeball without a whole lot of confirming measurements (though it passes muster with that, as well.)
with a sold piece of wood that is sometimes very hard to see. and, if you lay out with laminates, going outward with the same thickness of laminate, the middle is also very easy to find, and to see. it just helps you see if things are right.
things are right in the above picture.
so how did i not notice my boo boo? well, that's a good question. end post script.
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