vertical mill would be the best choice, as you can do all kinds of gun work with it. You will also need a
coolant pump. This can be from a air conditioner pump, the evaporative type.
This will be needed when you grind carbide tools such as rifling buttons, and deep hole drills. The
coolant that you should is a water-soluble type that can be found at any machine supply house or oil bulk
plants.
A good small mill can be bought from Wholesale Tools. See listing at back of manual under suppliers.
DRILL PRESS
Most shops have these. You will need a drill press for most of your fixture making. There will be quite a
few fixtures to be made to drill barrels, and ream barrels.
SHAPER
A shaper is not a necessary item to have but it will save quite a bit of time in making the necessary
fixtures that will be needed.
Most of the work can be done on a shaper can be done on a milling machine. However, some special
shapes can best done with a shaper. It is easy to shape a lathe bit to what you want rather than to try to
reshape a milling cutter.
SAWS
A good band or cut off saw is necessary when you are working with barrel steel. It gets old real quick
cutting off a 1 1/4 bar steel with a hacksaw. It will come in handy also in the fixtures that you will be
making.
Wholesale Tool has a good one that works as a cut off saw or a vertical band saw.
HEAT TREAT FURNACE
This is necessary to have. There are many small furnaces available on the market that would work for
what we want. It should go up to at least 2000 degrees, if you are planning working with high-speed
steel. I have found that an oil hardening tool steel (O1) works just about as good. You will need to have
good control to hold precise temperatures of the oven.
This can be used to draw the temper of the reamers and cutters also. The furnace can be made fairly
easy, and a blower from a vacuum cleaner can provide the air. More on this later.