Saturday, March 6, 2021

Still falling...block

Just an update on my 3D printed falling block rifle.  I had a question on how strong the 3D printed barrel threads will be, or how much force it would take to blow the barrel forward out of the receiver.  Someone much smarter than me did the math on the thread shear strength using the rough numbers for PLA, and came up with a minimum of 6,815 lbf, with "ideal" threads giving me 13,583 lbf.  That's well over the amount of force that the DAG training ammo can generate.

I think I've got my design far enough along that I can make a test print.  I'm not sure what I want to do with the top of the handguard.  I don't really want a top handguard, but it looks like it's missing something without it.  I can't make the front of the receiver smaller or longer because of the barrel nut.  I like the Space Cowboy look, so I might end up with some sort of optic mount(my Savage Axis barrel doesn't have a front sight on it anyway).  





Monday, March 1, 2021

La Llama XV esta completa

I'm done with my little Llama XV 22lr.  After test firing, I cleaned the frame and painted it.  I tried something new with the paint, and I'm not really happy with how it turned out, but it will do for now.  I tried to replicate the nickel plating on the metal as best I could.  I use Rustolium Chrome spray paint and topped it with a matte clear.  It looks ok, but it didn't seem to stick to the print well and it chips super easy.  Next time I'll try a base coat of SEM Color Coat under the top coats because that stuff sticks to prints great.  The entire frame as well as the grip panels are 3D printed and here's how it turned out.  It's easy to forget just how small the Llama XV is when you see it alone in pics, so I included my partially printed full size 1911-ish in some of the pics for scale.