[ak'sr4me]

After taking a break for the holiday, I went to work on my receiver build today. I made the top rails out of .075 thick by 2 x 2 tubing that I cut at opposite corners to make 2 peices of 2 x 2 angle. After cutting it to size and drilling the center support hole I trial fit it to my welded receiver. I will size the upper rails and install my homemade lower rails tommorrow. ak'sr4me

 

[Thanatos]

I had thought about doing this, only welding the upper rails on the inside of the receiver. Would that cause any clearance problems?

 

[ak'sr4me]

I wanted to weld them on the inside too but it will cause clearance problems.The bolt carrier would drag on the sides, especially at the lower rails. ak'sr4me

 

[yosuthnmasa]

Don't the weld packs come with rails to weld on? How far down on the outside will you weld them to the rest of the receiver? Seeing how you are piecing it all together, would it be a safe bet to say that you could buy a piece of tubing with similar dismensions as the AK, and then cut a slant in it to achieve the rest of the necessary dismensions. Then, of course follow suit with where you are at?

 

[ak'sr4me]

The ace weld packs don't come with upper rails. You have to fabricate your own. Usually I button weld the side pieces to my welded frame and then cover the sides with another layer of metal that will hide all the welds. This one is just going to be bolted to the frame at the front and rear trunions and center support. I haven't been able to find tubing the right size to make my frame out of one piece but the 2x2 by .075 tubing that I am using for the top rail pieces is making it a lot easier than my past builds. I decided to put the underfolder on this build. I got afew of the holes in today and will get the rest tommorrow. ak'sr4me

 

[yosuthnmasa]

Looks great!

 

[Rhino_66]

Will the extra thickness of receiver cause any problems with the underfolder pieces? I think you could probably just lengthen the slots in the cross pieces to allow for enough travel to clear the thicker side walls.

My other thought would be the length of the tube that goes through the receiver and gets the threaded ring attached. IIRC the threaded ring is only about 3/16" thick. The thicker receiver walls would leave you with none of the tube exposed. You could get around this by just milling or boring a cup in the side walls until the tube fits. If you put a cup on each side and radiused them to clear the stock, you wouldn't have to make any modifications to the underfolder parts at all.

BTW, the beefy build looks pretty good. Those things you've been making have to feel SOLID!!

 

[ak'sr4me]

Thanks for the ideas on the underfolder. I knew I was going to run into problems with the thicker reciever but I didn't have any solutions worked out yet. I had thought about cutting and lengthening the shaft with the slots in it but haven't done anything yet. I will get the rest of the holes in the reciever for the folder tonight and start messing with it. I don't have access to a mill, but that sounds like the way to go so I wouldn't half to "customize" the stock underfolder. Could I get a mill cutter and possibly use it in my drill press? Cutting cups into the receiver sounds like the way to go. ak'sr4me

 

[yosuthnmasa]

What is button welding?

 

[ak'sr4me]

Button welding is where you drill a hole through what you are welding into what you are welding it to but not all the way through. I usually try to make the hole in the inner part that I am welding to larger than the piece I am welding to it. Then you fill the hole with a puddle of weld and grind smooth. That way the weld will not be able to pull through the outer piece.. I don't know if you can understand this. It would be easier to draw a picture of it than to explain it. ak'sr4me

 

[yosuthnmasa]

2 Pieces. One under, one over. The one under you make a bigger hole on and the one over you make a smaller hole. Or is it exactly backwards of that?

 

[ak'sr4me]

You've got it. You really don't have to make the holes different sizes. I do this because I feel it will hold better. There are several ways of doing any one task. Who is to say which is the best. A matter of opinion. As long as you get good penetration on the weld it isn't going to let loose. ak'sr4me

 

[ak'sr4me]

I worked out the underfolder problem tonight. I had to grind off some material on both sides of the underfolder where it contacts the sides of the reciever to compensate for the extra thickness of my receiver. It seems to have taken care of the problem. ak'sr4me

 

[yosuthnmasa]

Nice Pictures!