doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com whizz bang technology

My Nextengine scanner was bought from another gunmaker who gave me an incredible deal on the machine. Thank you to both the Gentleman who sold me the machine and the forum member who pointed me in his direction.

So what would the cost be to make and fit a left hammer based on using the right hammer as a model? Is this a practical thing or just one of those things which is totally cool but not cost effective?

I have tried waiting for a set of rough cast hammers from the trade in Great Britain. Last pair I inquired about he could not give me any estimate when he would have them. I think he was really thinking which year more than which month. Waited more than a year so far. Now I am on vulture watch looking for old hammers or old side plates with hammers on them. I hate mismatched hammers but understand why you see them so often. Some where in Great Britain there must be a box, bin or drawer full of hundreds of old hammers s stripped off decrepit hamnerguns.

Well I would not build another for the cost I quoted this job at. I do think it could be done more efficiently with a bit of practice. I would think 1200-1500$ for a completed hammer about the price point for making it a profitable job.

SKB,
Going on your price above and taking the exchange rate into consideration, your price equates to roughly �1000 for a hammer ? Maybe I could buy a spare gun with the required hammer for that price?

That too was my question but I guess it wasn't phrased proper. And can you break down the minutes or hours per device as well as man hours? I was curious how it would compare to file stroke hours.

Cheers,

Raimey
rse

I never claimed to be a cheap date

Seriously though, the overhead is huge for a CNC mill, Software and yearly maintenance, tooling etc. Well north of 40K so far and I am thinking about upgrading to an enclosed mill. The story of a repair costing more than a gun is worth is not unique to this project. Surely you see similar situations regularly in the UK. I currently have over 40 hours in this project, though much of that was learning the new software. I think you could have a workable new hammer in need of fit and finish in about 12 hours with some practice.

Raimey,
with some practice I think about 6 hours of computer time, 4 hours on my mill(could be faster with a bigger machine) and 2-4 hours to fit and finish, IF your first model is correct and does not need revision. The amount of time required to make changes to your model and write new toolpaths etc. would depend upon several factors. I use an integrated CAD/CAM package so much of the toolpaths can be reused from the old model and updated as need be.

Steve

Many thanks & I see. So it is not plug & play by any means nor is the effort measured in minutes but man hours. Is the steel type a factor?



Cheers,

Raimey
rse

Raimey,
The type of steel is not a large factor in time required for machining. Your feeds and speeds are calculated using software and you can adjust for steel type. Not a lot of difference unless you are cutting something far outside the norm.
Steve

I am sure there is some do and learn as you go to this, with a natural increase in speed as you repeat the process. But each hammer will be unique and require a lot of item specific points to get exactly right. Your price seems about what I figured maybe a little low.

People fail to understand jobs like this are both man time and machine time jobs. The steel cost is trivial. A 40K machine wears out, needs to be paid for and replaced so that must be figured as part of the cost. Is that machine a thousand hour life machine? If so that�s $40/hour break even, no profit margin and no saving for its replacement.

It is interesting but I�ll let you have the fun.