[Cast&Blast]

Did anyone else see that thing on TV last night (American Rifleman, maybe?) about Ruger's investment casting process? It was really interesting to see how that's done. I know they replay that show several times, check it out if you get a chance. That'd be a fun factory tour to take, wouldn't it??

 

[41 Magnum]

Yes, I did, & thoroughly enjoyed the show. I was really hoping they would finish the plant tour, maybe in another show, & cover assembly & finishing also.

I worked in a Steel Mill Melt Shop for fourty years, so I had some knowledge of the process, but it was a very good show. We used to have a TV channel here in Pa. that went to different manufacturing plants & filmed their operations. They went to Custom Gun Builders, archery & fishing equipment factories, food & hardware manufacturing facilities, steel mills, etc. It was one of the best & most interesting stations on TV, till We lost it because some Yak needed 15 MTV channels !!! :evil:

 

[Cast&Blast]

That show 'How It's Made' is pretty good, forget what channel it's on. But they'll cover 3 or 4 things in one half hour show.

 

[Johngoboom]

I like that one too...I think How it's made is on the Travel Channel. John Ratsenburger does a good job with that show.

 

[Bountyhunter]

I didn't get to see the show, damn it. :x

 

[gunman42782]

Yes, I seen it. Very good show. It is very interesting to see how the guns are made.

 

[Cast&Blast]

Yes, I seen it. Very good show. It is very interesting to see how the guns are made.

I know it's just my perception, but I found it fascinating what a LOW tech process it was. I mean, it's all very precise, but the process itself - wax mold, covered with slurry, injected with molten metal which displaces the wax. I don't know how accurate my description is, but the physical process involved is definitely low tech.

 

[Johngoboom]

Speaking from someone that does metal work, the actual process hasn't really changed all that much in the last 100 years. You still have to melt it, cast it, then machine it. The only thing that has really changed is the accuracy and percision of the tools your working with, and the composition of the metals. Other than that, a lathe still works the same as it always has. And a machining center is just a lathe that the tools turn instead of the work piece.

That is one of the best parts of my job, I love watching a boaring bar come in a turn a raw casting into somthing useful.