What work did you just do?

[Davio]

REALLY Nice work, brother!      

I gotta 1399 primed and ready to go, too.  The Backpacker fores are double dips (for us anyway) with wood grain and camo.  The "skins" do fine with a single.  The 1399 will be a double no matter what (and I hate masking, unmasking, re-masking).

Your work looks great... no doubt about it... but my daughter Ames is the film cutter and she is more anal and OCD than I am.  I think she may be sneaking around studying chongman's work.    So she is cutting the CF and wood grains so that the grain runs the same on both sides of grips... and then the fores follow that same line.  Yours look good regardless of that. Maybe we are putting TOO much thought into it. 

[BDS]

VERY nice Mark

You and Dave are becoming film masters

[Tater]

Those look great Mark.

[Mark5043]

Thanks guys. It's seeing all the fine work that the guys on the Forum do,that is a big part in keeping me motivated.Davio,I couldn't agree more.The 1399's definitely are a two hit deal.I spent a lot of time thinking about how to do a single hit with this piece,and see no way to do that,without creating those dreaded voids,due to water rushing in ahead of the film.If it was a solid stock it would be different.Brother I don't think there is such a thing as over thinking..A bad case of Crosmanitis,and natural attention to detail,and that's what happens naturally for us.

Good points as well on pattern direction,and angle.I'm a bit OCD as well,and thought about it quite a bit.Initially my focus was on getting a good hit the first time around,controlling dip speed,and angles,and the other factors that go into a successful dip.Now I can concentrate more on pattern angles/alignment. I'm making some guards for my tanks to keep the film stabilized on the water,which should help keep those angles in check a bit easier.

That is awesome that your daughter helps out with film cutting etc..very cool!  My Wife makes Custom Jewelry,and is fascinated by the dipping process.I can almost see the cogs turning in her head.So naturally I plan on teaching her how to dip. 

Thanks for sharing that tip on rinsing with an extra tank..That really helps out as my rinse water source is located further away from my dip station..It saves a significant amount of time when processing multiple pieces. 

[Davio]

Mark, a little food for thought and consideration (nice way of saying take it or leave it  )... make some thinwall CPVC "floats" with straits and elbows (make squares or rectangles to fit our parts).  Get rid of the stinking tape!  Cut 1" less both directions and it will grow to the floating edges.  You don't even have to glue them.. so have just the straight lengths and a tiny pile of elbows.

Ames does a lot more than cut film. She is the dip witch!  j/k she's a pretty 24 year old.  Got her casting grips, cutting all the metal and delrin to length and getting the center lines bored for the lathe, taking pictures, doing all the parts pulling and packaging, you name it. 

Back to dipping: AS you know most of the gurus advocate using the film itself for touch ups (activate and use paint brush).  Oh HELL NO!  Artists acrylic enamel.  Water based.  Does not reactivate the good that it touches, blends as good as YOU are at making the color, and causes no problems with the solvent or water based lacquers I use for top coats.

Like I said, take it or leave it.  Lots of ways to skin a cat, you know.    

[Tater]

I didn't do the work yet, but I got a nice surprise today. About a month ago I asked the maintenance guy in the office building I work in to keep an eye out for aa metal electrical junction box for me about 12" x 12" for a pellet trap. They are remodeling the bathrooms and lobby.
I haven't even thought about lately and today he said he found one for me. I went down by the loading dock with him and locked in a caged in area he had the box below for me. The box was actually for sprinkler system controls and is very heavy and heavy duty. I think it might be powder coated.
It will be perfect and I thanked him profusely for it. He loves hot peppers and I'm gonna bring some cayennes from my garden for him.









The small flat piece can be removed with just two screws.

[breakfastchef]

Nice score, Jerry. Off to Lowes or Home Depot for some duct seal.

[bgmcgee]

That's gonna work great. Plus with the lock no one will snag your duct seal.

[BillK]

Just saw this on the GTA site.  Sounds good and cheaper than duct seal.
http://www.gatewaytoairguns.org/GTA/index.php?topic=48257.0

[Tater]

That's gonna work great. Plus with the lock no one will snag your duct seal.

I was wondering if anyone would notice the lock. 
Good catch.

[Tater]

Just saw this on the GTA site.  Sounds good and cheaper than duct seal.
http://www.gatewaytoairguns.org/GTA/index.php?topic=48257.0

I've read that thread but forgot about it. I do have an old hose too, hmmmm...

[Mark5043]

Great score on that.It's going to work great! 

[rws_53]

I finally got around to making the mod/repair to the Crosman 357 barrel latch.  The original had a rubber type block that had gone soft and the latch would not stayed closed.   To do the mod/repair I drilled a 1/16" hole and epoxied a post in the latch to capture a small spring.

[BDS]

It's great to fix the gun and make it BETTER than the original.

That latch is one (of a few) of the weak design items in those 357 guns, nice work 

[1377x]

good job on the latch fix
let us know how it works out over time
i gave up on the rubber spacer thing had 3 shred in a week got a new one and sold the 357 after that
it was the noise that was the contributing factor of the sale