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precisionworks

Flashaholic
Joined
Apr 19, 2007
Messages
6,623
Location
Benton Illinois
Off site work has kept me busy for about the past month. Finally got into the shop, fired up the milling machine & cut six slots into a C2 before leaving town for the Memorial Day weekend.

My shop primarily provides trouble shooting, emergency repairs & fabrication to local area business owners. Flashlights are machined whenever the time is available, meaning that your light may not be machined for many weeks after arrival - some lights may wait here for 6 months before they can be machined. Please don't send your light if you need it back by a date certain. Lights are machined in the order in which they arrive.
 
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precisionworks

Flashaholic
Joined
Apr 19, 2007
Messages
6,623
Location
Benton Illinois
Finally caught a break & spent some time at the lathe & mill ... on flashlights :)

The light that is now on the lathe has been here 5 weeks & the lights that came in after that have spent less time waiting on the bench. Trying to get the turn around time down to 4 weeks but that all depends on the volume of work outside the shop. Nice to see some light at the end of the tunnel ... hope it isn't the headlight of a train :devil:
 

precisionworks

Flashaholic
Joined
Apr 19, 2007
Messages
6,623
Location
Benton Illinois
Been thinking about training a younger person & finally found a really dependable candidate. Not sure how to work around the two hour nap she takes every afternoon but she tries hard.

Image-9853934-160608411-2-Web_0_8e5337f4f1fbbce108bcb42573afc27d_1
 

blitz255

Newly Enlightened
Joined
May 17, 2012
Messages
17
Yeah I think you found your replacement. So all of her friends will be finger painting and playing with barbies while she is in the shop modding a haiku. Start them young. My grandma had always told me that when I was little. She would always buy me these "boring" electrical kits for Christmas and now 25 years later I am so thankful that she did. She saw something in me as a little kid and helped to guide me down that path.
 

precisionworks

Flashaholic
Joined
Apr 19, 2007
Messages
6,623
Location
Benton Illinois
About the same thing when I was small. My dad would twist together a pair of bare copper wires & hand me his American Beauty soldering iron. Probably went through enough solder to build the Space Shuttle. Still have the old soldering iron as a keepsake but now use a Weller temp controlled iron.
 

precisionworks

Flashaholic
Joined
Apr 19, 2007
Messages
6,623
Location
Benton Illinois
As mentioned in the Boring thread the backlog of lights is starting to thin down. Still have a dozen more E-series to bore, quite a few M3's, some V10R's to mod, etc., but at least they are getting done.

Changed my avatar to reflect that gunsmithing services are now part of my business. Operating a firearms business in the USA requires a Federal Firearms License (FFL) & getting the FFL has been a long process, just short of 90 days. Glad to have it done as I've spent well over $1000 so far (license fee, zoning fee, setting up the work area, etc.) and have yet to make the first dollar.

My thought is that the gun work will replace much of the welding. Welding becomes less appealing with each passing year & with every new ache or pain. It is great work for young people but I no longer fall into that category :)
 

Kestrel

Flashaholic
Joined
Oct 31, 2007
Messages
7,354
Location
Willamette Valley, OR
Changed my avatar to reflect that gunsmithing services are now part of my business. Operating a firearms business in the USA requires a Federal Firearms License (FFL) & getting the FFL has been a long process, just short of 90 days. Glad to have it done as I've spent well over $1000 so far (license fee, zoning fee, setting up the work area, etc.) and have yet to make the first dollar.

Congrats on the FFL, it's not that hard to find gunsmiths but rare indeed to find good gunsmiths w/ excellent attention to detail and a full machine shop. :thumbsup: I kinda liked your previous avatar more though. :eek:
 
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precisionworks

Flashaholic
Joined
Apr 19, 2007
Messages
6,623
Location
Benton Illinois
Thank you for your kind words Kestrel.

I totally agree about the "old" avatar, still working on this one. Will probably do some type of combined avatar that merges PW & PG into one image, at least that's the plan for the website. IMO the logo looks a lot better on the business card:

Image-9853934-173385201-2-Web_0_712f7d07cf6eb259845a020993b06acb_1


Image-9853934-173385197-2-Web_0_25713da7618e4bd3a9e84509fc435331_1


I feel fortunate that both the domain name & the email address were not taken. The name Precision Gunsmithing was suggested by the BATFE Investigator who conducted my on site interview. Turned out to be a great choice as there are very few businesses with similar names. Far different from Precision Works - about two dozen websites with some variation on that name.
 
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precisionworks

Flashaholic
Joined
Apr 19, 2007
Messages
6,623
Location
Benton Illinois
18650 battery note
Most of us who run 18650's know about size variation. The cells from AW are very consistent - I've read on CPF that AW uses bare Panasonic cells & applies the protection circuit & black over wrap. AW cells that I've measured (meaning 3100 mAh & smaller capacity) will fit into a .738" bore (18.75mm).

A couple of years ago Panasonic brought out their bare 3400 mAh cell & I started buying them from R-L Sales on eBay & also from Orbtronic - these sellers apply the protection circuit & over wrap. The cells require a .744" bore (18.90mm)

Another difference on the 3400 is length & these cells measure (about) 69mm long. This isn't an issue when using 1x18650 button top in a Surefire light but when running 2x18650 the stack length may exceed the tailcap spring range ... in other words the standard tailcap on a Fury may not fully seat & the light may not work. Switching to the Z59 tailcap is one solution or running a flat top at the light engine & a button top as the second cell may also work.

My last order of cells (from R-L Sales) is once again different & this batch of cells is 1mm longer than before. A couple of ways to tell the new cell from the prior ones:

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Again this should be no issue when running 1x18650 but may present a problem when running two cells.
 

precisionworks

Flashaholic
Joined
Apr 19, 2007
Messages
6,623
Location
Benton Illinois
A quick update - all lights have been machined & shipped out, the wait list is zero at this time. If you need something machined & back before Christmas, please send it in now. Trying to keep the turn around at 2 weeks more or less.
 
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