Titanium 30cal Silencer Can DIY

[L1A1Rocker]

Well, I've been working on the project (the forever project) and I'm seeing light at the end of the tunnel. It's been a long, long process for various reasons - one big one has been re-tooling and learning about cutting titanium. I've settled on a cone/K baffle combo with two cones followed by four K baffles.

Note: Please do not start a silencer project without first obtaining you federal permission slip, and any state docs if needed.

This sketch is probably about 90% accurate to what I'm building. This is what I came up with, but there's been a few changes during construction.

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j154/L1A1Rocker/Silencer%20Screw%20on%20Project/Titanium%20Silencer%20004_2.png

For those that do not know, this silencer screws on to a muzzle brake. The brake will act as the first two baffles when the silencer screws on.

Here's the first few parts sketched out.

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j154/L1A1Rocker/Silencer%20Screw%20on%20Project/Cone%20Baffles.jpg

Sorry I didn't get any pics of the first endcap in process. I was fully concentrating on titanium and pictures didn't enter my mind.

Here's the first cone baffle coming forth from the round stock.

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j154/L1A1Rocker/Silencer%20Screw%20on%20Project/IMG_20150831_152741.jpg

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j154/L1A1Rocker/Silencer%20Screw%20on%20Project/IMG_20150831_160248.jpg

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j154/L1A1Rocker/Silencer%20Screw%20on%20Project/IMG_20150901_152528.jpg

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j154/L1A1Rocker/Silencer%20Screw%20on%20Project/IMG_20150901_153045.jpg


This next picture shows why a number of people will run their lathe backwards and mount their cutting tool upside down. I don't have that capability with my Atlas so I have to work from the back side while cutting the 60* cone.

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j154/L1A1Rocker/Silencer%20Screw%20on%20Project/IMG_20150901_153307.jpg

And the cone is taking shape.

Please note here the upgraded fingers on the steady rest. The brass fingers super heated on the titanium in just a few seconds. They expanded and caused the work to seize up dead. I had to upgrade to some bearings. And of course no one in this po-dunk town carries such an animal so I had to order them from Enco.

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j154/L1A1Rocker/Silencer%20Screw%20on%20Project/IMG_20150901_155647.jpg

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j154/L1A1Rocker/Silencer%20Screw%20on%20Project/IMG_20150901_220126.jpg

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j154/L1A1Rocker/Silencer%20Screw%20on%20Project/IMG_20150901_220133.jpg

Parting off.

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j154/L1A1Rocker/Silencer%20Screw%20on%20Project/IMG_20150902_135519.jpg

I've learned a bit about parting this last year. In particular when parting Titanium go slow (back gears engaged) and step down. Plunge the parting tool in a bit, then move over and do it again and work your way down. This way you don't get too hot and bind the blade.

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j154/L1A1Rocker/Silencer%20Screw%20on%20Project/IMG_20150902_135532.jpg

And a pic showing how I hung the misting nozzle. (notice the plastic sheeting protecting the wood wall?)

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j154/L1A1Rocker/Silencer%20Screw%20on%20Project/IMG_20150902_140135.jpg

And there it is.

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j154/L1A1Rocker/Silencer%20Screw%20on%20Project/IMG_20150902_193559.jpg

The next step is to carve out the innards. BUT, I'm going to go ahead and do the other cone and spacer while I've got the Titanium round stock in the lathe.

The next series of pics I'll just tack on to this thread. Please stay tuned :)

[alismith]

Damn. Cool.

[Schuetzenman]

Wish I had a lathe, I'd do a suppressor project all legal eagle of course. So you're making this in Titanium because ....? A. Challenge, B. lightness, C. heat resistance, D. just to see if you can?

[L1A1Rocker]

Wish I had a lathe, I'd do a suppressor project all legal eagle of course. So you're making this in Titanium because ....? A. Challenge, B. lightness, C. heat resistance, D. just to see if you can?

Lightness and strength.

It's also bad ass in corrosion resistance. That's great but not a real biggie for me as I tend to keep them pretty clean. I'll try and get some more pics posted today.

[Schuetzenman]

Ok any progress here? Inquiring minds want to know.

[L1A1Rocker]

Sorry Shutz,

Here's the next cone baffle. No spacer section on this one.

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j154/L1A1Rocker/Silencer%20Screw%20on%20Project/IMG_20150905_222116.jpg

It took two and a half days to bore out that darn spacer! I chipped one drill bit, and chipped AND bent one boring bar. Auggg!!!

Well, here are the parts. . .

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j154/L1A1Rocker/Silencer%20Screw%20on%20Project/IMG_20150910_222522.jpg

Here's a couple pics of the spacer on the lathe.

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j154/L1A1Rocker/Silencer%20Screw%20on%20Project/IMG_20150910_213434.jpg

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j154/L1A1Rocker/Silencer%20Screw%20on%20Project/IMG_20150910_213415.jpg


I'm trying to keep my waste/scrap down to a minimum. I almost made this one too close, check it out.

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j154/L1A1Rocker/Silencer%20Screw%20on%20Project/IMG_20150910_223657.jpg
I'm really glad that didn't turn into an oops.

And here's a pass boring this sucker out. That's .005 per pass to a final I.D. of 1.380. Yeah, it took a while.

<embed width="600" height="361" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowFullscreen="true" allowNetworking="all" wmode="transparent" src="http://static.photobucket.com/player.swf" flashvars="file=http%3A%2F%2Fvid79.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2 Fj154%2FL1A1Rocker%2FSilencer%2520Screw%2520on%252 0Project%2FVID_20150910_205659.mp4&title=">

Well, I'm having trouble embeding the video. Here's a link: http://s79.photobucket.com/user/L1A1Rocker/media/Silencer%20Screw%20on%20Project/VID_20150910_205659.mp4.html

Ok, I'll have some more in a bit.

[Schuetzenman]

She's singing pretty good with that boring bar. I've machined (lathe) 300 series Stainless, it's a bitch to work also. I've alwas heard Titanium is a pain to machine, supposed to be chewy and you need to take light cuts. The pieces look really good. Can't wait to see and hear the final product.

[L1A1Rocker]

She's singing pretty good with that boring bar. I've machined (lathe) 300 series Stainless, it's a bitch to work also. I've alwas heard Titanium is a pain to machine, supposed to be chewy and you need to take light cuts. The pieces look really good. Can't wait to see and hear the final product.


Yeah, it's a bit noisy. I found that when cutting using the compound (manual feed only) that I can get cleaner cuts by listening to the tone, and adjusting my feed rate to keep the same "note" during the cut. I recall once turning some stainless tubing I actually had to put on some hearing protection it got so loud.

Yes the titanium is very hard, and soft at the same time. You have to keep your tools very sharp or they will try to "dig in" and cause uneven cuts, and a bad finish. Also the swarf is rather soft and kinda like aluminum. I tried taking cuts at 10 thou. and succeeded in chipping my tools. I settled on 5 thou. cuts. Also, anything under 2 thou. and you get a rough finish. Also have to run the spindle speed slow, and the carriage feed fast.

Thanks for you kind words.

[L1A1Rocker]

Well, after making the muzzle support I removed the big peace of titanium, cleaned the lathe, and got ready for the next step. It was time to carve out the inside of the cone baffles.

And here we go.
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j154/L1A1Rocker/Silencer%20Screw%20on%20Project/IMG_20150915_212528.jpg

The first part was to bore out the "skirt" portion to a wall thickness of .06.

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j154/L1A1Rocker/Silencer%20Screw%20on%20Project/IMG_20150915_223734.jpg

After drilling for a bit I switched to a boring bar.

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j154/L1A1Rocker/Silencer%20Screw%20on%20Project/IMG_20150916_135633.jpg

Getting bigger

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j154/L1A1Rocker/Silencer%20Screw%20on%20Project/IMG_20150916_142701.jpg

And there

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j154/L1A1Rocker/Silencer%20Screw%20on%20Project/IMG_20150916_155102.jpg

The next part was/is to bore out the inside of the cone portion.

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j154/L1A1Rocker/Silencer%20Screw%20on%20Project/IMG_20150916_225254.jpg

Well, it's just a touch over .07 but I think it'll be fine. I'll probable turn down a jig with a 60* cone on it to sand the inside down a bit. The cone on the right is the next one that I need to carve the inards out of.

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j154/L1A1Rocker/Silencer%20Screw%20on%20Project/IMG_20150918_221414.jpg

Here's a pic of the two cones together.

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j154/L1A1Rocker/Silencer%20Screw%20on%20Project/IMG_20150918_221429.jpg

I don't know how well you can see it in this picture. But this is looking down the bore at the second baffle inside the blast baffle.

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j154/L1A1Rocker/Silencer%20Screw%20on%20Project/IMG_20150918_221517.jpg

And now the second cone baffle - the one without the skirt on it.

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j154/L1A1Rocker/Silencer%20Screw%20on%20Project/IMG_20150919_164235.jpg

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j154/L1A1Rocker/Silencer%20Screw%20on%20Project/IMG_20150920_223536.jpg

And a glimps of how the parts kinda look together.

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j154/L1A1Rocker/Silencer%20Screw%20on%20Project/IMG_20150921_164013.jpg

The above photo has the rear endcap in it. But it's not finished yet. It does not have the acme threads in it yet to screw on to the muzzle device. The next post will show that being done.

Thanks for watching

[Schuetzenman]

Nice work. So if I'm understanding the print at the first post you still have two more of the ones with the rim on it to make and an end piece.

[Helen Keller]

what are you paying for titanium?

[L1A1Rocker]

Nice work. So if I'm understanding the print at the first post you still have two more of the ones with the rim on it to make and an end piece.

I've make a bit of a change. The first drawing has two cone baffles with skirts (spacers) followed by four K-baffles. I've eliminated the skirt on the second cone. Also the K-baffles are a bit different. The top drawing shows a semi-circle carved into the plate. I've changed that to a notch design.

[L1A1Rocker]

what are you paying for titanium?

I don't really remember as I picked this up a rather long time ago. The tubing is from Titanium Joe - an onliine dealer. And the roundstock is second hand stuff. There's an outfit in Cali that goes around picking up the "drops" from the arospace industry and resells it. IIRC, I gave around 100.00 for a one foot stick of 1.75" Gr5 roundstock. Retail, that goes for around $30.00 an inch.

[Schuetzenman]

So any progress since 11-27-15?