DIY Carbon fiber barrel?

[Bucky27]

I am VERY intrigued by this thread! This would definitely be something I would give a go on my manual equipment! I've chambered both BSF and Proof barrels.
What I am most curious about is cost of materials needed, CF and Epoxies? Going to start my search now!

 

[highdrum]

Hells Canyons CF barrels are wrapped

Hmmm, I wonder why he runs a threaded on muzzle shoulder then. I know you cannot get a larger muzzle thread than 5/8x24 even with the heavy tactical contour which has a 910 muzzle.

I am VERY intrigued by this thread! This would definitely be something I would give a go on my manual equipment! I've chambered both BSF and Proof barrels.
What I am most curious about is cost of materials needed, CF and Epoxies? Going to start my search now!

What have you though of the bsf barrels?

 

[Danny1788]

Hmmm, I wonder why he runs a threaded on muzzle shoulder then. I know you cannot get a larger muzzle thread than 5/8x24 even with the heavy tactical contour which has a 910 muzzle.
What have you though of the bsf barrels?

Because he doesnt leave a steel shoulder or stub on the end of his barrels like proof does. His benchmark barrels are turned down all the way to the end of the muzzle and wrapped. When you thread the muzzle you turn down the CF until you get to the metal under it, Then machine your threads. That's why the largest threads you can do is 5/8x24

 

[highdrum]

Because he doesnt leave a steel shoulder or stub on the end of his barrels like proof does. His benchmark barrels are turned down all the way to the end of the muzzle and wrapped. When you thread the muzzle you turn down the CF until you get to the metal under it, Then machine your threads. That's why the largest threads you can do is 5/8x24

I have 3 different barrels shouldered right against the carbon with the brake. These barrels are a strqnd/resin wound design(paradigm/pederson), not sheet wrapped like the hells canyon/Christensen barrels. I wonder if the sheet wrapping isn't as strong as the strand design, in that axis anyways.

 

[Bucky27]

This from my customer who dealt directly with the owner of BSF Barrels,They use E.R. Shaw blanks.

I did a 16" 308 he wanted for deer hunting.
Was a little sketchy hanging onto it to chamber. All I had to hold was the CF tube, I used Viper fixture. But I took my time and it worked out great.

I'm not sure the round count he has on it now but the first 20 rounds shot .5 MOA at 100yds. Also I'm not sure how far out he has taken it. Or what load development has done with it.

Also I do know that I contacted BSF myself and they just make the barrels, they could not help me out on how they recommended setting up their barrels

 

[tobnpr]

eisen. don't all lathes have an auto feed? Everyone I've seen does

Sounded like you were saying the cutter would make a pass, return to the tailstock, dial in automatically for another pass...lather, rinse, repeat- like a combination CNC/manual machine. Yeah, all manual lathes have power cross and carriage feeds.

You used a follow rest when the barrel got skinny? I can't see any way to turn a 2' long x 1/2" hollow steel tube without one due to tool pressure or risk bending the barrel.

 

[D-mon]

Just an idea , you could try the resin infusion method with a vacuum pump to get the resin inside your carbon weaving. You can maintain the first strands of carbon at each end of the barrel against the steel with a small drop of superglue.
The wire nylon sleeves that barrel makers like bartlein use to protect their barrel during shipping could be used as a sleeve mesh around the carbon during that infusion process.( it should pull off or be sanded out in case it stuck well in place).

For a first I would use Remington 7 or mountain barrel, their profile is already thinned out and does not require much work to be thinned a bit more. What would be interesting is to shoot the barrel first , so you can observe the difference before and after the wrapping.

 

[Mram10us]

Sounded like you were saying the cutter would make a pass, return to the tailstock, dial in automatically for another pass...lather, rinse, repeat- like a combination CNC/manual machine. Yeah, all manual lathes have power cross and carriage feeds.

You used a follow rest when the barrel got skinny? I can't see any way to turn a 2' long x 1/2" hollow steel tube without one due to tool pressure or risk bending the barrel.

I used a steady rest when needed. Definitely didnt do .500. The smallest is .625 for the first couple. .030" cuts at 700rpm didnt get too hot. Definitely warm to the touch

 

[Mram10us]

Just an idea , you could try the resin infusion method with a vacuum pump to get the resin inside your carbon weaving. You can maintain the first strands of carbon at each end of the barrel against the steel with a small drop of superglue.
The wire nylon sleeves that barrel makers like bartlein use to protect their barrel during shipping could be used as a sleeve mesh around the carbon during that infusion process.( it should pull off or be sanded out in case it stuck well in place).

For a first I would use Remington 7 or mountain barrel, their profile is already thinned out and does not require much work to be thinned a bit more. What would be interesting is to shoot the barrel first , so you can observe the difference before and after the wrapping.

Love the idea, just dont know anything about that process. I'll look it up. Planned on doing a process like PR. Slather with epoxy then wrap slowly avoiding epoxy all over my shop

edit: just watched some vids on the process and i think it might be easier to use the shrink tape over the wet cf material for the barrels. I could be wrong.

I have some basic 7mag loads here. I will fire off 3 x 3 shot groups to compare for later. I dont shoot more than 3 shots out of my magnums.

 

[lancetkenyon]

You said you turned 9 oz off a #5.
You will probably add 6oz+/- back with the CF and epoxy.
Meaning maybe a 3oz weight reduction overall.
Why not just flute at that point and avoid all the work?
I think you need to turn down a lot more steel to see a true weight savings over the #5.
Or are you attempting to stiffen the barrel rather than reduce weight? Which is usually the argument between a #5 vs larger contour CF barrel.

 

[Mram10us]

You said you turned 9 oz off a #5.
You will probably add 6oz+/- back with the CF and epoxy.
Meaning maybe a 3oz weight reduction overall.
Why not just flute at that point and avoid all the work?
I think you need to turn down a lot more steel to see a true weight savings over the #5.
Or are you attempting to stiffen the barrel rather than reduce weight? Which is usually the argument between a #5 vs larger contour CF barrel.

All a test good Sir. That savings was with CF built up .785". Still need to add up to an inch then contour. Might add another 2 oz. As for the goal: save as much weight as possible while leaving a very safe contour underneath and add as much stiffness as possible. All R&D right now since proof won't give me their recipe

edit: I put the wrong value above. It is built up to .785 when I weighed it. The cf material and epoxy used added 2.1oz to get to the 70.1oz that we are at now.

 

[Clay Target Guy]

I just saw this thread, I did a lot of work in aerospace with composites.
We built all kinds of parts with CF as well as other materials. We mainly use pre-preg and you have to lay up some of your part, draw vacuum on it and debulk it, then finish your layup. The layup and debulk may have to be repeated several times depending on the thickness of the part.
After that we could "cook" the parts under vacuum in an autoclave with pressure and heat to cure the resin.
We had big CNC tape laying machines to do the layup but would do repairs or small parts by hand using 12 in wide single ply layers of CF tape. The tape came in 12 inch wide roles and the orientation of each layer was laid in different directions (0, +45, 90, -45 ) to build rigidity into the part .
Round layups were done with the part spinning and a rope (more than one strand) feeding into the layup like a spider web. There my be some video's on the web about arrow (like in bow and arrows) making. That is the same process we used. It was large scale and millions of dollars worth of equipment. There may be other ways to do it but I am not aware of what that process is.

 

[Mram10us]

This from my customer who dealt directly with the owner of BSF Barrels,They use E.R. Shaw blanks.

I did a 16" 308 he wanted for deer hunting.
Was a little sketchy hanging onto it to chamber. All I had to hold was the CF tube, I used Viper fixture. But I took my time and it worked out great.

I'm not sure the round count he has on it now but the first 20 rounds shot .5 MOA at 100yds. Also I'm not sure how far out he has taken it. Or what load development has done with it.

Also I do know that I contacted BSF myself and they just make the barrels, they could not help me out on how they recommended setting up their barrels

Standard threading and chambering is easy on a cf. No difference in the way I do a cf or a fluted.

 

[Mram10us]

I just saw this thread, I did a lot of work in aerospace with composites.
We built all kinds of parts with CF as well as other materials. We mainly use pre-preg and you have to lay up some of your part, draw vacuum on it and debulk it, then finish your layup. The layup and debulk may have to be repeated several times depending on the thickness of the part.
After that we could "cook" the parts under vacuum in an autoclave with pressure and heat to cure the resin.
We had big CNC tape laying machines to do the layup but would do repairs or small parts by hand using 12 in wide single ply layers of CF tape. The tape came in 12 inch wide roles and the orientation of each layer was laid in different directions (0, +45, 90, -45 ) to build rigidity into the part .
Round layups were done with the part spinning and a rope (more than one strand) feeding into the layup like a spider web. There my be some video's on the web about arrow (like in bow and arrows) making. That is the same process we used. It was large scale and millions of dollars worth of equipment. There may be other ways to do it but I am not aware of what that process is.

Seems to be only a few parts to this process
1. turn down a barrel - easy
2. put epoxy on the barrel - easy
3. wrap some form of cf material on the barrel - not sure yet
4. add pressure to cf material before cooking - easy
5. cook cf material - easy
6. contour barrel to your specs - easy
7. polish cf to desired finish - easy
Maybe my ignorance, but the process seems very straight forward if you have a bit of time and the correct materials. Seems the material selection is the hardest part