Making Plastic Front Aperture Sight Inserts

It's been a while since I made an airgun post. As I mentioned in my previous entry, I recently bought a Diana 75 T-01 10M match air rifle. It only came with one front aperture sight insert, of 3.5mm diameter.
I was having a dickens of a time getting a good sight picture so I noodled around on the internet for information and found that most recommend around a 4mm aperture for 10M airgun. I could have bought either metal inserts or a set of plastic inserts, but I figured I'd save some money and have some fun making my own plastic inserts.

Some squares cut out of 1/8" thick lexan. Acylic might be slightly better optically, but Lexan is what I had. I drilled with a #32 drill bit (.116", just inder 3mm) for a #4-40 screw hole.

Mounted several on a mandrel with a #4 screw

I turned them down to 17.5mm (.689") diameter, which seemed to be the size that fits the front sight mounted on the Diana. Sizing of inserts is confusing, will the common 18mm inserts fit my rifle? I don't think they will, unless that refers to the thread root diameter. But I digress.

Sorry for the blurry picture, I snapped these rather quickly. I mounted the disc in the soft pie jaw chuck, and drilled and reamed to 5/32" dia. although the hole came out smaller due to the springiness of the plastic, .154" (3.9mm). Anyway, I'll have to make a bunch of different aperture sizes to see what works best for my rather amateur shooting ability.
I then countersunk the hole with a 90 degree countersink, figuring that it would transmit the dark tube reflection as a ring, by the same action as a periscope prism.

The finished insert, with the metal insert beside it.

As you can see, I get a nice dark ring, without the added distraction of the little arms on the metal insert sight. I snapped off a quick 5 shots to test and shot the smallest group thus far. So it works! All told it took about 20 minutes to make the one from start to finish, with several blanks left over.


UPDATE 2/28/08
I did a little more futzing around, and made some new inserts based on my experiences. One thing I found is that if the insert thickness is such that it is under the aperture insert slot of the front sight tube, light will enter the plastic insert, spoiling the black ring. The obvious fix is to get some thinner plastic, but for now a piece of electrical tape over the slot takes care of the problem. I didn't notice until I shot with the shop lights on.

I turned the new inserts about .006" under the 17.5mm (.689") size that I did the first one. It seems to center well and is much easier to get in and out. I also chamfered the edges as the blanks were on the mandrel, using a vee cutter, as seen above.

First op. was to gently and lightly chamfer one end of the hole, both to provide centering for the next op. and to debur.

Then I drilled with a 4mm bit at relatively high speed, so as to get a round hole (hard sometimes with a drill bit as they want to make a Reuleaux triangle.

Then I flipped the disc and put the 90 degree countersink in with a 90 degree center drill.

I'll put all this up on a dedicated web page eventually...

Helpful Handyman

I put together some (a torturous process) flat pack cabinets for the laundry room today.

Henry installed all four knobs himself, with no help.

Notice the concentration!

I'm plum wore out, the silhouette thing is a lot of extra work. I did get a bit of fun on Friday when our friend Mike came up to visit and check out the Benton County Library book sale. He also brought up an air rifle a friend of his had for sale. I bought it. A Diana 75 T-01. It reenforces what a poor shot I am. Read "The Owl and the Pussycat" to the kids tonight from the volume I found at the sale. I was quite restrained this year, only bought one box of books. Between the cabinets and the book sale I feel like I ran a marathon...

Silhouette, Alouette, Ohhhh

We had a custom silhouette we did for Stu at 3 Potato 4 receive a blurb in Cookie magazine. So now we are in the custom silhouette pendant business. Many to do, but here's the first one completed.

If you want one you can always contact us, they're an affordable $75.00 plus $15.00 for custom engraving.

This is the first time I've used the word "blurb" in a post.

Industrial Jewelry, Thrift Store Score and Family Fish Dealing

Might as well get this out to you for the weekend...It's been lovely outside lately, sunny and warm. Henry and I walked around Corvallis today soaking in the vitamin D and generally enjoying the crisp, clean air.


80/20 Aluminum t-slot extrusions.


I looked at them on end and thought, "why not make jewelry?"


I walked around town with Henry today and found this lovely Ulmia rabbet plane at the thrift store for $5.00! While I should sell it on Ebay, likely I'll just keep it in my plane collection.



My mother emailed Max with a picture of this blotter:
Dear Max, remember yesterday when you talked to me on the telephone? You said that you liked fish. I reminded your daddy that your great-grandfather (his grandfather Munden Allan) sold fish to supermarkets in Canada. Here is one of his advertisements. The business was his father's, and he worked with him. This fishing picture is on a blotter (which I used to dry the ink from my letters). Ask your mommy or daddy about blotters.


One beautiful link for Friday:
The Vibrating Lever 1/2 Trunk Steam Engine of the U.S.S.Monitor

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This and That

My dad emailed me this picture taken in October 1944

(L to R) Lewis, Lawrence, Muriel, Laney, Rev. John Franklin Carter, Michael, Alice and Nick

and their relevance to me:
(L to R) My Great Uncle Lew, Great Uncle Larry, Grandmother "Nona", Cousin Laney, Great Grandfather John Franklin, Uncle Mike, Aunt Alice and my Dad

My dad has great ears.

I bought Henry a "new" computer at the OSU sale, a CTL desktop P4, 3 Ghz, Win XP with a 19" CRT, for $165.00. It was unused, which again reminds me that not all my tax dollars are actually at work. Often they are just wasted.

This meant that stuff had to be moved out of the way in the computer/dining room. So I moved all of the Lapidary Journals into the bedroom. I need to sell them to someone who needs an entire bookcase full of magazines. I just don't refer to them any more, having extracted the knowledge I needed. That's 13-1/2 feet of magazines. (Any takers? I'm open to offers from anyone who will pick them up!)

Henry and Max each have their own computer now. The sound that dueling Wiggles Youtube videos makes is incredible. Cat 5 cable is everywhere. But now we can all surf the internet together.

I spent some time watching episodes of "Earth 2" on Netflix "Instant Watching" last week. Not a bad, if somewhat cheesy, series. What struck me is how similar the story is to "Lost" I googled around and it turns out I'm not the first person or even the second to notice the connection. I probably watch too much Sci-Fi.

I also fixed our refrigerator problem. The freezer door was popping open when the main door closed. This is actually good, as it means the seals are working. The fix is to tilt the fridge back by about 1/2 a bubble on the level (adjust the feet) and oil the door hinges.

Links:
Historical Globes of the Red Planet

Prof. Alexander Slocum's Fundamentals of Design is now online for free.

noformdesign bought some Taig parts from me, didn't realize at the time that he was also on Etsy. He makes awesome industrial jewelry. His DeviantArt page has even more cool stuff.

George's Whatzit and Brackets Under a Tarp

So this is what George brought over to Open Shop on Thursday. I know what it is, but do you?

It's steel.

It has parts.

Internal parts.

The back end.

Today our friend Maria came over with her son, Hunter. She needed me to fix her old treadmill so she could give it to her mother. I decided that it was easier to work on it it in the bed of her truck, under the tarp she had wrapped around it, around than to drag it in. That's why the pictures are so blue.
It was raining, which is why the tarp stayed on. I'm still a bit damp.

The bad bracket. Both sides needed replacement.

The bracket had fractured.

The new bracket, lovingly crafted from rusty angle iron.

You can see the vibration mount it fastens to.

I used lock washers, not the best choice, but I am out of 1/4"-20 nyloc nuts. Maria was pleased.

Hunter and Henry played while I worked.

Henry Is Still Taking Pictures

Found that Henry had 120 pics on his camera card, here's a few to peruse. As always, pictures taken by Henry and laconic comments by Henry.

Carrier truck and tow truck.

Me, screaming.

Grandpa.

Grandma.

You can just call yourself Nick.

Fidel on the couch, looking at me, looking at the camera.

Max.

Mommy and Max and Daddy, Nick and Max and Felice.

Two X's, bottom of the table.

Juice, just juice, three juices.

Refrigerator, the high one, what's that called?

Like the "i" in "pencil"

We thought we'd have a bit of a break, but that hasn't happened. So we work and work.
I finished some new dies for geeky earrings, this time in a linguistic vein.

The Schwa
Yes, it's an upside down "e", but I designed it start to finish upside down. That's "Design" for you.

Exclamation Mark

Question Mark

Still more dies, more CNC work to do.

My dad emailed me a picture of my great, great grandfather Aaron Carter's Brooks Brothers bill from 1864:

He says, "Aaron bought
Pants $10.00
Coat $22.00
Shirt $ 3.50
Sack (suit) $43.00
$78.50

Note also the date of the bill. Apparently Brooks sent quarterly bills like a London tailor on the ecclesiastical schedule.
Note also the 2 cent stamp tax on bank checks collected by the U.S. Internal Revenue."

Looking at Brooks Brothers online, it seems that a pair of pants will now set you back about $150-$200. Instapundit recently remarked on some unfortunate and hilarious fashion in the latest catalog.

Thanks for giving me something to blog about, dad!

In other news, I set up a new Dell Vostro for Felice, so she doesn't have to steal time on my computer. It was a bit of an ordeal that involved getting new grounded outlets for the "dining room" (those who have been to our house know that it is such a room in name only), as well as running network cable, loading software, getting network permissions set up, etc.

Now that Netflix has unlimited "Watch it Now", Felice can work at her desk and watch movies or TV at the same time.

On the subject of Netflix, I am extremely peeved that they removed their "Releasing this Week" page. It is still up (but not linked from the New Releases page or anywhere else on Netflix), although no one is sure if it will continue to exist in the future. I called Netflix to complain, and I urge you to as well, if you're a movie nut like me. I do still love Netflix though.

Some links:
Videos on how to use a Foredom flex shaft

10 Dangerous Things You Should Let Your Kids Do

Why Boys Should Be Allowed to Play With Toy Guns

I recently watched Things to Come on TCM, not a bad little sci-fi movie.

Breakfast, Dinner, etc.

I made pancakes this Sunday morning.

Apples fried in butter and glazed with brown sugar, the whole thing drizzled in maple syrup. 1/2 whole wheat, 1/2 white flour pancakes, recipe largely from the Joy of Cooking.

Max says "wipe my hands", overlooking the fact that he probably needs a shower as well. This is what happens when you don't supervise a dinner of rice noodles.

We couldn't decide which of the two pictures was cuter.

This webcast has a segment 2 minutes in on our html head earrings. Yay, we're on fake TV. Now I need to get back to work and make more as we're out of most of our geeky stuff right now.

This is why I love America.

Various Stages in Making a Girandoni Receiver


Ok, only one air rifle picture, this is the ugly green Crosman 400 I resealed this week. The stock is now stripped and stained a walnut brown, and I reblued the metal parts, and painted areas where the original paint rubbed off. I'll post a picture of the completed project later...

Happy New Year!

Drilling Paper

Someone asked on the Etsy forums about drilling paper. I figured that it would be a good learning experience to try drilling paper with some pretty low tech methods.

A 3/8" diameter thin wall piece of tubing from the hobby store. I countersunk the end with a 82-1/2 degree countersink.

The "zero-flute" or "weldon" style countersink, but any countersink would do.

Set up in the drill press, rotating around 1200 rpm, I brought it down into a stack of paper.

Drilled 1/2" deep, a little ragged, but overall a very quick way to put holes in a bunch of paper at once.

The tube is jammed up with paper discs, it would be best to add a slot/hole in the side to allow the discs to eject. I then tried this using a hand drill and it worked fine as well. While not as good as a professional paper drill, clearly this method works well enough for short runs.

Yet another topic to address in my massively outlined, completely unwritten, guide to drilling for craftspeople.

You'll Put Your Eye Out!

Just a few staged pictures for your Christmas.

My Little Sharpshooter

Is this how it works?

Deadeye Max.

Having brought Christmas Cheer to my Redneck friends, let me reassure those of you who may be ready to scream at me about gun safety that:
1) I know the internal workings of the Daisy BB gun, and removed the shot tube, determined that there were no BBs in the rifle (or anywhere that the children could lay hands on them), plugged the shot tube (barrel) so that nothing could escape the gun were it to be fired, and finally that Max is incapable at this point in his development of physically cocking the rifle in order to make it shoot.
2) Max was under my watchful eye at every instant of this photoshoot, and I do not let him wander around with a BB gun normally. This rifle is always locked up in a cabinet. He was reminded constantly not to aim the rifle at any persons or animals, the last picture was taken by holding the camera away from my body, so at no time was the rifle being aimed at my person.
3) This is a part of our embracing Korean culture, as Korea has a great tradition of using air powered weapons for hunting and shooting.
4) Were I to let Max fire a BB gun, he and I would be outside, with a suitable backstop, and both wearing safety glasses.
5) This is part of my clever plan to get one or both children into the 2016 Olympics.

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.