Ok. I am currently wrapping up the last few touches. And by that, I mean I'm saving my parts as .STL files, and the drawings as .PDF's so that the company can quote my components. Just a few more to go and they will be turned over on Saturday. So by Monday evening/Tuesday I should have a quote. Once I receive that, I'll share with you guys the cost per part. I'm hoping for sub $2K total package (fingers crossed
).
For this post, I'll update you on the revisions and I'll attach some of the reports that I've done for completeness.
Ok, first update:
1: Moved the mounting holes, added locating dowels, and added a .1875" radius everywhere possible. Basic concept is to allow a 3/8th inch endmill. On the exterior I added fillets where the part would be machined by a ball mill. Nothin fancy.
2: Split the grip into two pieces for lightweighting and ease of machining.
3: Modified the BCG and receiver. Added more fillets on the receiver for machining and tweaked some small spots. For the BCG, I split it into three components; two wings and a central component. I then added bearings on the top and bottom to make the cycling action more smoothly and I extended the back end by an inch so that the tail would sit in the buttstock rather than trying to roll over a gap where the two body pieces meet. Hopefully this will prevent jamming on the return cycle.
4: I made more lightweighting cuts in the magazine halves, fillited the corners and touched up the edges to make the part easier to machine.
5: The magazine catch was changed to brass (from aluminum) so that it will be easier to manipulate since the brass is self-lubricating.
6: The bipod legs were broken up into 4 pieces for easier machining and a feature was added so that I could insert a spring-loaded bearing to act as a detent. Slots were also cut into the receiver block so the bearing can locate and index the bipod leg. The bipod has two positions, the "up" position that we always see in the game, and a "down" position so the legs are full vertical and actually usable.
These components will be made out of steel (for wear resistance and so that the receiver block can have the pocket burned out to hold the tight radii's.
7: Redesigned the hop mount.
Mostly it's been converting all of the screws and dowels to metric and making sure that the faces are machinable and attempting some lightweighting wherever possible (although the CAD model says that it's still approx. 45lbs. :'( ).
I also printed the gas tube block. I just need to clean it up and it will be a part that I will use in the actual airsoft replica and not a cast part.
So this is where I'm currently at. Lots of long nights after work trying to get this done in time. I will let you guys know as soon as I get the quote/place the order!
