splitting sleeves for bolts

K

KenG

Guest
I use to use a hacksaw to split the sleeves for bolt sleeving; but I just got a mill how can I use my mill to split those sleeves, mainly how do I clamp those sleeves in my mill? Would a magnetic v-block work? I'll welcome all ideas because i'm drawing a blank. Thanks
 
Last edited by a moderator:
How thick are the sidewalls of your sleeves? Doesn't using a hack saw make a big void that shows up when you put the sleeve on the bolt? I make my sleeves about .025 thick per side and cut them with a dremel tool. After attaching them to the bolt, the cut is nearly invisible after they are turned to size. The mill will only make a larger cut yet.

Jim Carstensen
 
KenG said:
I use to use a hacksaw to split the sleeves for bolt sleeving; but I just got a mill how can I use my mill to split those sleeves, mainly how do I clamp those sleeves in my mill? Would a magnetic v-block work? I'll welcome all ideas because i'm drawing a blank. Thanks
Click to expand...

Clamp the sleeve ends in the side of your mill vise and run your mill thinnest slitting saw blade along the furthest exposed radius, longitudenly.............Don
 
Last edited:
I used a #32 starret blade, and oversized my bushing slightly so I could file the cut and file the bushing flat leaving as small a seam as possible. I didn't think of the dremel mostly because I don't like using that thing, I don't have enough control with it. I guess I will use my mill vise longitudenly, thanks Don
 
KenG said:
I used a #32 starret blade, and oversized my bushing slightly so I could file the cut and file the bushing flat leaving as small a seam as possible. I didn't think of the dremel mostly because I don't like using that thing, I don't have enough control with it. I guess I will use my mill vise longitudenly, thanks Don
Click to expand...

Ken, I have found the easiest and very accurate way to slit my bolt sleeve bushings is to grab them in a pair of vise grips and cut them using a verticle band saw, done in a couple of minutes, no setup time................Don
 
Jeweler's Saw

I have used a Jeweler's Saw. Very thin kerf but it is not fast by any means. I kindly like Butch's idea. I'd probably never thought of that. Once you set up you can just do several sets for future use.
 
Butch, thanks that's a great idea I also like that one the best, however it doesn't lend itself to getting familiar to my mill. Oh well, I wanted to use the mill for fluting work so I guess I'll start thinking about how to set it up for fluting and scrap the bolt bushing sleeve splitting on the mill idea.
 
Ditto to Butch's method.. after splitting I bore it to the correct size....
 
Splitting bolt bushings

I suggest the smallest slitting saw blade you can get. Turn a piece of soft steel rod with half the length the same OD as the bushing and the other half the same ID of the bushing. Insert the rod through the bushing and put it accross two V blocks on your mill bed . Use a clamp on each V block and one on your bushing. Saw from the front in the direction of the larger diameter rod. Cut the opposing side. I prefer to have the bushings laser welded or tig welded then turn them down. I know many people glue them on but I think this is a poor excuse for quality work. One can off set the lathe and make the bushing work(cam) like Jim Bordens "Bumps" and tighten up as they close.

Rustystud
 
I guess I'm a poor excuse... :rolleyes: I used Locktite and I filed my offset to make "bumps"
 
I followed Brackney's article (Rifle Mag) and used a jewelers saw, .028 thick, IIRC. I bored the inside and turned the o.d. very close to finished, made the bushings .500 +0/-.002 long and then slit them. I marked them so that the two halves ended up back together and correctly aligned.
I think that I put them on a mandrel that was clamped in a V-block in the mill. Clamped them with a 3/4 "Kant-Twist" clamp and made the slits after locating the saw to the center of the mandrel.
After deburring them and attaching them with epoxy or Black Max®, I turned them to finish diameter. Brackney also had the dimensions for the grooves on the bolt. After finishing them, you really had to look hard to find the seams. Polishing the sides to about .002 undersize gives you the "Borden bump" affect.
TIG welding or laser welding them is a good idea but I lack the skills to do that.
 
Oh, by the way,

Bill Leeper's idea of cutting dovetails in the bolt body and installing a piece of dovetail blank (Brownells) and finishing that is much better than the bushings, IMO. And it looks really neat when done well.
 
Why to go to all the bother with sleeves?

As four 6-8mm thick TIG welds on the bolt, turned down as required would achieve exactly the same.

Shoot well
Peter
 
Thanks Dennis.

It would be great if someone could post some pictures of dovetail (pre installed plug), plug installed and final machined piece.
 
No photos but more info. The cut looks like the cut in a typical .22 RF barrel, where the sights are installed. Buy a strip of sight blank material first and then a small dovetail cutter. I like MSC for cutters.
After installing the small pieces of sight blank material, I did mill most of the material away before finish turning in the lathe. To mill the excess material away, I just clamped the bolt in a V-block in the mill vise and kept rotating the bolt between cuts. A few minutes here means a lot less pressure when finishing in the lathe.
 
Yes, I quit making sleeves when I started doing this. I make the dovetail cut .050 deep (shallower than typical iron sight cut). I do this on Remingtons, Winchesters, Howas, and anything else I think might benefit.
For Savages I like to do something more in keeping with the overall quality of the unit. I just squash the bolt body in a vice until it fits tight. (note to Savage owners, I'm just kidding). Regards, Bill.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top