I am on a roll or a man with a mission??????

I really like making things in the shop, be it knife or gun related I dig it. So with that I jumped back into 1911 grip work today, wanted badly to make a nice set of grips but I need to stay on the path of planning and jig making.

To that end I designed and made a notching jig, once a grip set has been cutout using the plexi overlay I made yesterday the panel can be screwed down to this jig to cut the notches for the main spring housing pin and mag release, so every set I make those notches are consistent in placement.

While I have had the bench top mill for a few years I have never really used it to do a large milling operation/project, mainly accurate drilling or small things, so this was a big learning experience and a massive time consumption project. I am sure someone like JohnK or Cannon Watts could have whipped it out in an hour, me....5 hours : (

I had itty bitty pieces of aluminum flung everywhere, clean up was a pain but fun project never the less. The notching jig still needs a little TLC in a couple of spots to be complete but it will do it's job quiet well.

Gunner

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https://www.instagram.com/41gunner/
41 Mags rule, Baers rock!

take the first pair you have for sale.

which is why tooling is expensive to make in the shop - but the payback is there if a quantity of parts are planned. Not to mention they will be more consistent with less setup time. To that end, I use a lot of aluminum softjaws to hold parts in my CNC mill.

If you don't already know, WD40 makes a good cutting fluid for aluminum. Just a tiny bit will help if you have galling/sticking issues.

As Charles said, when you get started making grips in earnest,
I will take a set for my new Ruger SR1911 in 10mm.
Presently wearing Goodyear grip panels

Kinda going by the seat of my pants on it, but it was fun and interesting to say the least.

Thanks for the tip, been using WD40 for taping aluminum for a few years now, figured it would help milling it.

Gunner

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https://www.instagram.com/41gunner/
41 Mags rule, Baers rock!

nt

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https://www.instagram.com/41gunner/
41 Mags rule, Baers rock!

nt

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https://www.instagram.com/41gunner/
41 Mags rule, Baers rock!

.

You might become the next success story around here.