Barre finish prep

[Appowner]

About to build my first ML. A Kibler Woodsrunner. To that end I've been reading and thinking a lot on the various processes.

So, rather than draw a file down the flats of the barrel. What if I took a pre-finished shelf, supported it perfectly flat and attached two or more sheets of a wet/dry sand paper of appropriate grit. Add a fine oil for a wetting agent and drew the barrel along this? I could also rig a fence to keep the barrel straight.

I do a similar thing with the shelf and sandpaper to sand and shape the leading edge of radio controlled model airplane wings up to 4 feet long. Works great for that and wondered about the barrel. I draw the work along the tool better than I draw the tool against the work.

Thoughts?

 

[waksupi]

Making more work for yourself, and with dubious results on a swamped barrel.

 

[Nazgul58]

What waksupi said. The barrel is swamped. It is narrower in the middle than the ends.
Draw filing the barrel is not hard if you pay attention. Get a new file and go at a slow pace.

Don

 

[Appowner]

Oh yes, I forgot all about the barrel being swamped. That's why we've got you guys here. Right?

Thanks for the reminder.

 

[dave_person]

Hi,
There is so little work that needs to be done to finish the barrel on Jim's kit guns. Some 100 and 220 sandpaper are all you need backed by a short flat surface like a ruler held crosswise. It is useful to use wet and dry paper so you can dip it in water.

dave

 

[deerstalkert]

should you draw file (not needed), powder your file with talc. keeps the filings from clogging up the file and creating gouges.
follow dave's advice and it will turn out great.

 

[Mgbruch]

Drawfiling, and sanding with a hard-backed surface is pretty simple. Hold the file close to the work to avoid tipping to one side or the other.

However... I'm sure someone can think up a more difficult solution than yours, if we try.

 

[centershot]

Hold the file close to the work, as mentioned, and let the file do the work, not your arms! I've filed more steel in my professional life than most men will ever think of doing and I'm here to tell you, the work goes smoother if you let the tool do the work!

 

[Daveboone]

My kibler was the first draw filing I ever did, and I had little to worry about. Piece of cake. It only took about an our or so, and I enjoyed the task. Just get yourself a new file for the job...be nice to your new rifle.

 

[centershot]

My kibler was the first draw filing I ever did, and I had little to worry about. Piece of cake. It only took about an our or so, and I enjoyed the task. Just get yourself a new file for the job...be nice to your new rifle.

Oh yes, file selection and care thereof is a topic for several new threads!

 

[wiscoaster]

...

Thoughts?

No harm thinking outside the box. No harm considering appling methodology from another skillset. You expressed your thoughts and asked for other's thoughts. You got some good and helpful ones. Best wishes on your project.

 

[James Kopp]

Do you really need to draw file the barrel from Kibler???/ That the real question.

 

[wiscoaster]

Do you really need to draw file the barrel from Kibler???/ That the real question.

Functionally, no, but esthetically, yes. It'll look a lot nicer if you do. Those mill marks run side to side and they're going to look really ugly if you finish the barrel (whichever method) without removing them. And mere sanding isn't going to remove them completely.

 

[James Kibler]

Lots of people don't draw file or sand our barrels, but they look a lot nicer if you do. I like to just draw file with a nice sharp 8 inch mill file. This leaves an amazing finish considering it came from a file. I do think a file takes more skill than sanding it as Dave Person suggested.


Jim

 

[reddogge]

Stop and think about the effort it takes to move the whole barrel up and down repeatedly for 8 flats vs. moving a file up and down. It would be like clamping a drill bit in a vise and turning the stock round and round to drill a hole.

 

[Pete G]

. It would be like clamping a drill bit in a vise and turning the stock round and round to drill a hole.

I’ve done that!

 

[user 34300]

Do you really need to draw file the barrel from Kibler???/ That the real question.

No. I recently assembled and finished one.

The machined finish is so good that filing was as step backwards. I then used I used 120 grit wet dry then maroon scochbrite. It takes only a couple of strokes of 120 to obliterate the factory finish. The LMF slow rust etched it enough to obliterate any remaining finishing marks.

I left the the three bottom flats as machined. They looked fine after the rust brown too.

When sanding or filing an octagon barrel put crosswise sharpie pen parks on the flats. Use the marks to keep track of what you have done.

 

[TDM]

Do you really need to draw file the barrel from Kibler???/ That the real question.

I always draw file, that’s my preference. But, as said, only the top 5 sides. And I still go back over it with backed 400 & 600 grit sandpaper. I just don’t like any swirl marks. Now if your going to do a heavy browning of the barrel it’s less of an issue.

 

[IanH]

I draw file with a fine, single-cut file and leave it. They didn't have much for sandpaper in 1800 and that's the way I like them to look. Watch the sight dovetails, they'll rip open your thumbs if using thumb tips to guide the fill off of the flats adjacent to your working flat. You can accomplish almost the same thing with fresh, hard-backed 180-grit sandpaper. If rust browning it won't matter much how you finish it, just get the scratches going lengthwise and the deeper milling marks out. As a hobby machinist I marvel at how smooth the final finish is on the later Kibler barrels. Some of the earlier ones had more typical, deeper milling marks but the relentless Kibler "pursuit of perfection" as I'll call it continues.