Polishing Octagon Barrels - easier way?

[bighole]

Hello,

I'm polishing a Green Mountain barrel in a kit rifle and it's taking forever to get the surface grinding marks out. Is there an easier way to do this?

I'm using 100 > 150 > 220 > 400 grit sandpaper on a sanding block. The corners are staying sharp but it's taking about 1 hr per flat. Even after that I can see some marks going lengthwise on the barrel.

Thanks!!

 

[LRB]

The easiest for me is to draw file it, and let it go at that. A 400 grit finish on a muzzle loader is just not needed, in my opinion. The originals in this country were seldom if ever finished out to a very high degree, unless it was really something special. I can draw file the top five flats in maybe two and half hours. Sometimes, after fileing, I will block sand them a little with 220 grit, but no more than that.

 

[George F.]

Draw filing. Are you familiar with draw filing with a mill file? If not, it's a very fast and simple procedure. Assuming you have a bench vise, clamp the barrel in the vise. take your file, and at a right angle to the lenght of the barrel hold your file by the handle ( or tang ) with one hand and with the other hand on the other end. Now lay the file on the barrel flat and "draw" the file from the breech to the muzzle, trying to keep the file in full contact with the barrel flat...no tipping to either side.. as you draw the file you will see the results in little shavings of steel wool like metal being removed. Repeat that until the mill marks are removed from the barrel flat. Then repeat for each barrel flat.NOW A WORD OF CAUTION... SOME TIMES A LITTLE PIECE OF STEEL WILL CLOG YOUR FILE AND WILL SCRAP THE BARREL BADLY.. THAT'S CALLED GALLING. Don't fear it can be removed with more draw filing. Watch your barrel afor this galling, and clean your file often.... George F.

 

[LRB]

I have better luck, and less problems holding the file at maybe 45o. I don't rock the file this way.

 

[CrackStock]

"The corners are staying sharp but it's taking about 1 hr per flat."

Actually, that is not so bad. It is a labor intensive task.

"Even after that I can see some marks going lengthwise on the barrel."

You may be pressing down to hard or keeping paper that has become encrusted with metal dust that smears the otherwise finished surface. This comes from being a bit hurried. Going easier and using new or clean tools might give you a quicker and better result.

As to the mill file, I have always called it a draw file.
See:[url] http://www.brownells.com/aspx/ns/store/ProductDetail.aspx?p=548&title=DRAW+FILE[/url]

And never use a good metal file without:
[url] http://www.brownells.com/aspx/ns/store/ProductDetail.aspx?p=7950&title=FILE+ACCESSORIES[/url]

There are cheaper verions, but this will give you the concept.

CS

 

[hirocker]

I have had good luck using diamond-coated 'sanding blocks'; they are available for very little cost from Harbor Freight or other suppliers. The 200 grit blocks USED WET will remove a lot of metal quickly and leave a smooth surface with sharp edges. If you want a real polish, the 600 grit block will do it. Just remember to oil the surface immediately after drying, as a diamond-honed surface will rust almost instantly.

 

[flashpanner]

Echo the part about over polishing. If you plan on browning the barrel, too fine of a finish will not color very well. BTW, don't forget the chalk for a "lube" and anti-clogger for the file.

 

[Stophel]

The Brownell's "draw file" is much too stubby. I have no idea how one is supposed to get one's hands on it. I use a plain bastard file from the hardware store. That pretty well leaves the final finish. I will usually quickly sand with 180 or 220 grit paper, but don't worry too much about it. Look at most any old gun, and you will see PLENTY of file marks...

 

[paulvallandigham]

I can only suggest that you also buy some chalk at the hardware store, and load the draw file with chalk to keep filings from clogging it, and make it easier to keep clean with your file card. You can buy adequate draw files at your local hardware store. The secret to using them is to treat them like a fine diamond, and store them so that nothing kinks their fine teeth! put them back in the plastic wrapper they come in, and then put it in a wooden bock, or cardboard, until you can make or find a wooden box the right size. If you have a drill press or milling machine( Right!) there are easier and faster ways to finish the flats, but for most of us, using a draw file is the way to go. I also can't recommend trying to get a mirror polish on the flats. Even if you are leaving in the white to make its own patinal under oil, you don't need, or even want a fine finish. Forget using sand papers, or emory cloth, or other fine polishing mediums. If you decide you just HAVE to use emory cloth in some grit to polish the surface further, than by all means oil the surface, and the emery cloth so that the steel bits removed are held in solution and a slurry which can be easily whiped away, without scratching the surface again. Be very liberal with oil for this kind of work. More is always better.

 

[Stophel]

I have never been able to get the chalk to help me at all. I still have some sticks of it languising on a shelf in the shop. I make sure every few strokes I take the file and wipe it off on my britches leg to knock off the loose metal. I brush out the stuck-in bits of metal with a wire brush (I need to get around to getting myself a real file card brush!) :winking:

 

[Dave K]

I draw filed mine and used a card with every pass. It really is upsetting when you get that burr in the file that leaves that drag mark. I then took the same file and wrapped it with 220 followed with finer grit until I got to 400.I used the sand paper wrapped file like I was draw filing.

 

[WRussell]

I second the comments about diamond hones.

Look for the ones with small spots of diamond grit. The open spaces in between help keep the metal dust from balling up and causing galling.

I find I get better "feel" with a short, light diamond hone - it's easier to feel it tip, so it's easier to keep it flat on the surface you're filing. Just my two cents.

Also, sticky tape is available with diamond grit on it. Just the ticket for curved surfaces. It's not very expensive, especially considering how long it lasts.

 

[bighole]

Thanks for all the replies.

I'm quite familiar with draw filing. The problem is I didn't want to take that much metal off and also risk a good scratch if when the file starts to load up. They surfaced ground the barrel so it has a grain type texture that runs the length of it like a piece of wood.

What type of chalk do I need? Can I use chalkboard chalk? The office supply stores has all kinds but they are dustless. They also have sidewalk chalk. I've seen the stuff at Brownells and they want $10 for 6 pieces of it. I've never seen filing chalk at any of the hardware/home centers near me and I have all the stores you can imagine, Home Depot, Lowes, Menards, Ace Hardware etc.

 

[fatboy]

Gym chalk is what you could use come's in a block and is soft at least thats what we were getting at the place I use to work . Try some of the bigger sporting goods stores like Dicks or Dunhams they may have it

 

[paulvallandigham]

There are all kind of teeth sizes for draw files. You want one with small teeth for finishing work. Talk to the guys at a good hardware store, or surf the internet . Stay away from the big discount places, unless you happen to know they have a clerk working there that actually knows something about tools. I used to buy tools at Sears, but stopped when one of their older clerks retired, and the young ones had to ask someone else where to find draw files! Ace Hardware stores and the like tend to have people who actually know something about tools.

As for chalk, if you can find any that doesn't send up dust, use it! Just take it easy and remember why you are using it. by loading the teeth with chalk, you prevent filings from getting stuck between the teeth. By cleaning your file each stroke, you make sure there are no metal filings caught in the teeth( inspite of the chalk), that will scratch the surface you are trying to file. You don't want to put your weight on such a file. A good, new, sharp file, taken care of, will remove a small layer of steel with just the weight of your hands and its own weight. So, take it easy. I have seen more work screwed up because the guy operating the tool thought he had to be Godzilla, than for other reasons. I think their problem comes from using dull files, or old files that have been abused. A file is a knife with hundreds of edges, all razor sharp. Don't do anything to those edges you would not want done to that razor you shave with every morning!

Paul

 

[bighole]

I've got an industrial supply near the house and got several "fine" cut files. You can only get std bastard files at the hardware stores near me.

What I found using chalkboard chalk (no dust type) wasn't that the file wouldn't load up as it did without it but that it was very easy to clean out the metal once it started to load. Is that what the chalk is supposed to do? Make cleaning easier?

 

[Scota4570]

Use the chalk and a file card. Get a brand new file for each job. Hold the file 90-degrees to the flat and pull it toward you. Do not use the same spot on the file for more than one stroke before cleaning. Work your way acroos the file then turn it over. You can do about 1/2 a flat per cleaning. Keep an old fired cartridge case to cleanout he pins. The brass case mouth will pust them out.

This business about keeping the corners razor sharp, hmmm. Look at an old rifle. The corners are not sharp. If you do this it looks wrong. I polish the flats with 100 then 150 grit paper wrapped around the barrel. Stop at 150. Again look at an old barrel, it it not not polished to a mirror finish. Back to polsihing, I use my thumb to put pressune on the flat. I want a small amount of rounding on the corners, so I do not back the paper with an old file, as is often suggested.

 

[paulvallandigham]

ABsoolutely, Big Hole. That chalk makes cleaning a one pass thing, and all the chips come out. It saves the edges of the teeth, during the cutting, and allows a file to finish a piece very smooth, so that you don't have to spend the added time going over the same metal surface with emery cloth, pumice, etc.