[ 3 / biz / cgl / ck / diy / fa / ic / jp / lit / sci / vr / vt ] [ index / top / reports ] [ become a patron ] [ status ]
2023-11: Warosu is now out of extended maintenance.

/diy/ - Do It Yourself

View post   
File: 93 KB, 600x280, Gems.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
847129 No.847129 [Reply] [Original]

Tried asking this on /k/ and got some decent answers, but I think this may be a better place to ask. /k/ thread here >>>/k/26632450
[I am not asking how to build a weapon, pls no ban]

Machinist here, recently my mothers side of the family took my pregnant wife, and 3 year old son and I into their home and took care of us after our house burned down and we lost nearly everything. I will spare you all the details but I want to build them all 1911s as a token of my gratitude.

I will be building them all off 80% frames/recievers, my uncle we be getting an oldschool 1911A1 style, my cousin will be getting a tactical model with a rail, ambi safety extended beavertail, commander hammer, threaded barrel, trijicon night sights, all the bells and whistles, and my Aunt will be getting a stainless steel 1911 polished to a mirror finish, possibly chromed or nickel plated, with ivory or mother of pearl. All of this I know how to do just fine, as I have been building 1911s and AKs for awhile now, and assembling ARs.

Anyway, my question lies in the sights. I would like the rear sights to be sapphires, and the front sight to be a ruby. After searching online, I have been unable to find a jeweler or firearms manufacturer that supplies such a part. Im sure I could reach out and have some made, but I want the gun to be practical and functional. I dont want the gemstones flying out of their setting the first time the gun is fired, and I know how fragile jewelry can be. Do any of you know of any company that manufacturers something like gemstone sights?

>> No.847148
File: 56 KB, 552x552, dafuq.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
847148

>>847129

I am confuse

>> No.847149

>>847129
Cut out some sights for it, mill out a dovetail on each side, epoxy and slid in the (male dovetail) stone. It will hold

>> No.847177

>>847148
What's to be confused about? A thoughtful gift in response to a caring act. A 1911 with a ruby sight is fucking badass.

OP, most major cities have independent jewelers that would probably love to take on something this crazy and unique. I'd start by searching for custom wedding rings as places to ask around, most of these guys typically advertise that way because that's 80% of their business.

>> No.847254

1. Design a form from the sight to spec to fit in the gun (I know nothing of how you attach these) 2. now look at the strongest setting for the kind of cut you want the stone to be. You can go to a jewelers and ask for them to use the design software to combine the sights and the setting. 3.Have the jewelers or a fab shop Mill it out of tungsten and set the stone. I'm thinking something like a two part piece where you use a small wrench to tighten the pieces with the gem in the middle. If you want to put the gem in yourself.

>> No.847470
File: 11 KB, 453x221, sights.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
847470

Like mounting the gems in the iron sights ala pic related?

It's going to be a bitch on pistol sights but you can try mounting it by first making a brass ring mount for the gems which will likely need to be mounted with very close tolerances by making a groove on the inside of the brass ring and using heat to expand the ring and chilling the gems so the outer circumference of the gem fits tightly into the grove on the inside once it cools to regular size, locking it in place. You can then mount the gem-ring into the sights by making a concave groove, matching the ring, inside the holes in the sights to receive and secure the ring using heat/chill again.

Not sure if the heat/chill will damage the gems though.

>> No.847477

>>847129
You cannot build a firearm and give it away without an FCC.. And getting one will be expensive.

>> No.847482

>>847477

Yes you can. You can't manufacture them to sell them. Also, whats an FCC? you mean Federal Firearm License? All I get googling FCC about firearms is Illinois' Firearm Control Card.

>> No.847610

>>847477
>>847482
Sort of. Assuming in the states, and in a non-gun unfriendly state, you can manufacture a gun, and then later sell it as long as you have a unique serial number on it (and if you never sell it, you actually don't have to put a serial on it). This is a kind of grey area as to how many you can sell before the ATF insists on a FFL though. Most just take it as "don't do it as a business, but once or twice a every once in awhile is ok". Doing what OP stated is definitely ok.

Also, most, if not all night sights already have sapphire in them. The windows are made out of sapphire due to their high degree of hardness. Ruby is just a red colored sapphire. You can get loose gemstones on ebay and whatnot for very cheap. They come in a variety of cuts and in generally small sizes (there's a reason these lots are cheap, lol). You might just get a batch and just choose out ones that are already near the correct shape.

>> No.847748

>>847129
Op you glorious bastard you better post some fucking pics of them guns! im in the mood for some machining perfection right now

>> No.847754

>>847477
>>847482
Yes you can. You most certainly CAN give them away, and its the simplest way of getting a gun you made into somebody else's hands. You cannot SELL them. More specifically, you cannot make them with the INTENT to sell. The ATF limits you to building ten guns a year which you can give away or sell as a secondhand gun, after which they require you to have a manufacturers Special Occupational Tax (I do not remember what type- a Type 03 SOT is for collectors).

In short you very much can make guns to give as gifts.

As for OP, I have never heard of gemstone sights. You're likely going to want to find a custom shop and have them install it for you, if I were doing it, over some fiber optic tubes to pump a little light through them.

>> No.847764

>>847477
Sure you can, you just can't sell them.

>> No.847808

>>847754
>The ATF limits you to building ten guns a year which you can give away or sell as a secondhand gun, after which they require you to have a manufacturers Special Occupational Tax
There are no hard numbers, it's all in the grey area of "intent"