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I recently bought an ak parts kit and I was wondering if anyone could give me quotes on how much they spent on tooling for building an ak and also any tips for cutting costs on tooling without sacrificing quality. I might be able to cnc some tools for this build as well if anyone has drawings/plans for tools.
Hey forum folks. This kid is all right and is trying to put together a kit. Any help you can render will be appreciated. Tooling, web guidance etc.
Curious as well. Have done several 80% ARs, would be interested in graduating to commie guns, then maybe German guns.
Tooling. My 1st and only Ak build was done using 1/4-20 all thread to install bbl in to trunnion. Rivets were done with some round stock i used a ball end mill on to match the rivet head. Harbor freight spot welder to install side rails. Furniture and metal was left as is. Oh yeah you'll need drill bits and reamers if you can't get a kit with the original bbl.
Now a days they have tooling that can run a few hundred for a decent set up. Sign up on AK builders forum, or other similar site. Browse the FAQ's , use their search function and READ, READ, then read again, every thread discussing a build. IIRC, there's a few places that rent the tooling for a build. Which said info will be on one of those forums.
When I first started into ak building I think the most expensive things I got were bolt cutters and a harbor freight spot welder. Modified the bolt cutters to do the trunnion rivets. I had a press at work to do the barrel. Made a flat bending jig out of angle iron also made a long rivet jig out of channel stoc. I think I used bolts diveted so I can do the long rivets. I made plates with dimples so I can back the rivets.
Been building aks for many years now and came across all kinds of good tools for decent prices. Think with all through the years it must be about $300 or so.
One can easily spend over$1k in just starting out now.
Damn AK kits are expensive now... I went and took a quick look around out of curiosity.
I remember buying matching numbers parts kits on eBay for $99/ea shipped.
I never did build them... Sold them off as parts kits after sitting on them for ~5 years. Made a nice profit.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Grant H.
If one were to buy the tooling and a parts kit, in todays market. It's actually cheaper to buy one, from your lgs.
Yeah. I know. But until last week there were none in the LGS, so that prompted this build. But the experience is priceless. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Great-Kazoo
Same applies to an AR, but that didn't stop me.Quote:
Originally Posted by Great-Kazoo
Cerakote too. $1k in shit to do a $450 job.
Heat treatment can be done with a mapp torch, and the high melting crayon and a cheap infrared temp gun for the second part.
You can skip the spot weld if you're willing to plug weld it.
If you want to screw build it, you can tack the heads and it will work just fine
If you want it riveted, You can grind your own bolt cutter jaws.
Long rivets can be done with a press or hammering after you do your front trunion you can pull the jaws apart and use them to hammer into
Same with the trigger guard. Make sure you put the safety stop in correctly
Barrel can be done with the all thread method.
The other problem I noticed when buying a kit off gunbroker is that people were scalping. I lost the bid on a kit for around $800 with an original chrome barrel and everything and then a few days later I saw the same kit for sale for over 1K.
I made all of my own jigs too. Later on I bought some store-bought jigs and ended up going back to the ones I made myself. They might look a little crude but I get good results with them. Scrap metal, a little imagination, and elbow grease.
+1 on the all thread barrel press, but I ended up using grade 8 all thread, 1/4X28, I broke a couple 1/4X20 pieces.
HF 24" bolt cutters, and I ground thee jaws out myself and then used a ball end mill for the rivet head.
100% receiver or an 80% with the rails welded in will save you the spot welding
AK kit prices are nutty. I just sold a super nice Romy G kit with intact barrel for quite a bit less than $800. I remember buying them from Apex for $60 all day long. Wish I had bought a truckload.
I think you can build one pretty cheap if you don't mind working for it and building your own jigs. If experience is what you're looking for, you'll probably have way more time in your fixtures than you will building your kit.