ADA: Ask Doc Anything!

[DavidBoren]

-Sure. I have a wide selection of hammers.

Doc.

Cold blooded. Lol.

[Carp]

Do you consider a hotdog, a sandwich or a taco?

[Siress]

Anthony Bourdain once said "There's a guy in my head, and all he wants to do is lay in bed all day long, smoke pot, and watch old movies and cartoons. My life is a series of stratagems, to avoid, and outwit that guy". Who is "that guy" for you, and what do you do to avoid him?

[DocsMachine]

Do you consider a hotdog, a sandwich or a taco?

-Technically a hotdog is a subclassification of a sandwich, technically a variant of a 'sub', being elongated bread sliced lengthwise with a 'hinge' of sorts. It's as much a "taco" as a Greek gyros is.

Shape, after all, doesn't define similarities. If it did, a skunk would be considered a type of cat, and a pony would be considered a type of large dog.

Doc.

[DocsMachine]

[Anthony Bourdain once said "There's a guy in my head, and all he wants to do is lay in bed all day long, smoke pot, and watch old movies and cartoons. My life is a series of stratagems, to avoid, and outwit that guy". Who is "that guy" for you, and what do you do to avoid him?

-Oooh, good quote and better question.

I don't have time to read that thread, but yeah, I think most of us have a version of 'that guy' somewhere in our heads.

My biggest drive is simply that I want to see this stuff done. Finishing a project- virtually any project- and especially finishing it successfully, is a great... I don't know if "endorphin rush" is the right term, but there's definitely a very strong satisfaction of both completing a job and completing it well.

Going right along with that is the project itself- I'm looking forward to shooting this marker, I'm looking forward to driving this car, using this milling machine, whatever. I can't wait to see what these parts look like when they get back from the anodizer. I can't wait to hear what this engine sounds like when it's done and fired up.

And yes, there's also "I can't wat to see what the guys on MCB [or whereever] have to say about this."

Doc.

[Siress]

I think about that Bourdain quote every once in a while. Staying motivated to simply exist can be such a struggle at times. It is, as you say, satisfying to improve the world around us.

Looking forward to seeing your next creation, Doc!

Got another question - shop related this time. Say you have a simple aluminum bore that was machined a little to large to keep a SS dowel from having a precise fit that still allows rotation of the pin. Would something like bearing retaining compound fill the gap such that you could knock the pin out to break it loose, then reinsert the pin and have that more precise fitment? I'm not worried about the bearing load here at all... it's practically nothing...

[DocsMachine]

Got another question - shop related this time. Say you have a simple aluminum bore that was machined a little to large to keep a SS dowel from having a precise fit that still allows rotation of the pin. Would something like bearing retaining compound fill the gap such that you could knock the pin out to break it loose, then reinsert the pin and have that more precise fitment? I'm not worried about the bearing load here at all... it's practically nothing...

-Probably not. First off, I'm not sure what you'd use as a release agent, and also it's been my experience that Loctite type products crumble to dust when they fail or are wrenched loose.

I don't know your exact application, of course, but the proper fix sounds like you should machine the bore slightly larger, and press in something like a thin bronze bushing, or a replacement aluminum insert. The trick to that kind of thing is to not try to make the bushing too thin- if you have the room, give it some body. The trick to that is to press in a much thicker busing than you need (that is a smaller or even solid bore) and once it's properly fixed, then redrill/rebore to dimension.

Doc.

[JasperStout]

If I were trying to machine my own nelson type paintball gun from scratch which part do you think would be the most difficult? Body, frame, internals, barrel, etc,

[Siress]

in b4 "barrel"

[Axel]

You're never going to finish those last three strips, are ya?

[DocsMachine]

If I were trying to machine my own nelson type paintball gun from scratch which part do you think would be the most difficult? Body, frame, internals, barrel, etc,

-Generally speaking, the grip frame has the most machining. Profiling, hollowing, slotting for the trigger, holes for pivot pins, etc. I wouldn't call it "difficult", just time consuming due to all the different cutters, setups and positions you generally have to do.

I've recently been working on the grip frame for my "Recreating a Masterpiece" thread, if you remember that from before the forum kerflooey, and while none of it is complex, or needs any real precision, there's just a lot of fiddly swapping, moving and rotating to get it all done.

The body- for a Nelson- I'd say is a close second. A lot of it can be done in just a couple of setups in the lathe, but it's generally relatively easy boring. Parts might take a little more precision, but again, this isn't rocket surgery.

If you can successfully make those two parts from scratch, all the rest of the pieces are comparatively easy.

Doc.

[DocsMachine]

You're never going to finish those last three strips, are ya?

-I cleaned up the linework to the first one, and had plans to fiddle with the second today, but I have a LOT on my plate right now. I'll get 'em sorted out, though I might not have all three finished 'til the weekend.

You do know that a typical strip takes around four hours, start to finish, right? And that's ON TOP of my day-to-day work.

Doc.

[Siress]

-Generally speaking, the grip frame has the most machining. Profiling, hollowing, slotting for the trigger, holes for pivot pins, etc. I wouldn't call it "difficult", just time consuming due to all the different cutters, setups and positions you generally have to do.

I've recently been working on the grip frame for my "Recreating a Masterpiece" thread, if you remember that from before the forum kerflooey, and while none of it is complex, or needs any real precision, there's just a lot of fiddly swapping, moving and rotating to get it all done.

The body- for a Nelson- I'd say is a close second. A lot of it can be done in just a couple of setups in the lathe, but it's generally relatively easy boring. Parts might take a little more precision, but again, this isn't rocket surgery.

If you can successfully make those two parts from scratch, all the rest of the pieces are comparatively easy.

Doc.

Hol' up. Are you saying you can machine a like-quality, typical 12"-14" long barrel on your lathe(s)? How? I threw in the towel on that kind of work and sent it out to shops with gun drilling machines.

[JasperStout]

Hol' up. Are you saying you can machine a like-quality, typical 12"-14" long barrel on your lathe(s)? How? I threw in the towel on that kind of work and sent it out to shops with gun drilling machines.

I will say I bought one of docs tanto barrels fore freak inserts and it’s a nice shooter. It’s only 9” though I think

it also came in a cool envelope with the polar bear letterhead that my girlfriend really liked

[skinnyfatguy]

What color/pattern should I anodize this? I know these were sold as body kits, but any parts you'd change if trying to be period correct?

[Axel]

-I cleaned up the linework to the first one, and had plans to fiddle with the second today, but I have a LOT on my plate right now. I'll get 'em sorted out, though I might not have all three finished 'til the weekend.

You do know that a typical strip takes around four hours, start to finish, right? And that's ON TOP of my day-to-day work.

Doc.

Oh no, I get that, hence my prediction.

Leave it as is, it's funny