Standard disclaimer: DO NOT begin a suppresor project without first obtaining approvale from any and all state and Federal agencies: ATF Form 1 is required from the feds.

This is part 3 of my attempt to build an integral suppressor on a Mauser VZ-24.

Ok Part 2 delt with with the barrel. In this segment I'll cover the baffle cutters and expansion chambers.

Baffle cutters: Guess I better explain the baffle system a little before I get going. After the terminus of the barrel the suppressor tube will continue for another 8 inches. Contained within the last 8 inches will be a series of expansion chambers seperated by polyurathane baffles. The next series of photos showes the process of making the baffle cutters. I need different sized cutters as there will be two sizes of of baffles. The large ones used between the expansion chambers and the small ones used in the end cap.

Started with some scrap pipe I had laying around.



Made good use of an old Saw Master Automatic Hack Saw for this step



Next I cleaned up the pipe a little





For those interested here is a small video of the cleanup on one of the other baffle cutters. (Don't quite remember which one was which - the pics were taken a while ago)

http://s79.photobucket.com/albums/j154/L1A1Rocker/?action=view&current=BaffleCutterLarge_Clip.flv

After cleaning up the outside of the pipe it was time to turn out the inside diameter of the pipe so that it would cut the correct sized baffle.



After the inside was turned to the correct size then it was time to taper the outside down to a nice sharp point.



Sorry I didn't get any pics of sharpening the cutter. After the edge was put on the cutter it was almost razor sharp. I finished up sharpening it with wet stones and crock sticks. The baffle is not pressed out of the polyurothyne, it is cut out using only hand pressure.



The above photo is the small cutter made for the mauser project. The real small holes are from cutting out baffles on my .22.

Now for the mistake that some here may appriciate. The old carpenters addage is to "measure twice and cut once". I discovered that that also applys to lathe work as well.

When I started on the large baffle cutter I used the same scrap pipe I used for the small cutter. I knew it would be close but made a boo-boo somewhere in my calculations. After I got done turning out the inside diameter of the pipe the cutter was just paper thin.





Decided to try it anyway. . . It crumpled like tinfoil!!! Sorry there are no pics of it, the last I saw of it was the third bounce as it went under a bush some 40 odd yards away. "Measure twice cut once!!" as they say.



So I had to order some heave duty high preasure tubing to make the G.D. Large baffle cutter!!
Since you've already seen the making process I'll just show a quick comparison of the two types of pipe.



Here's a nice shot of the two completed cutters.


Expansion chambers: Not much to this. Take a large piece of aluminum round stock, turn down the outside, hollow out the inside, cut to length.





And one more that shows the expansion chambers in relation to the suppressor tube.



OK, I think that's enough pictures for now. The next part will cover the end caps and tube support. Hope ya'll have enjoyed it thus far. . . . .

just noticed something i missed looking at this proj the first time. the notebook in the photo. ****!!!! no wonder you have such nice projects keeping notes like that. you should see my notes, you can barley read half of them, and the other half are all scribbled out!!

I'm beginning to see a pattern here I think that most of you have pretty nice shops setup I think it is time for me to start getting some more tools and machines for this. I want to build my own AK( I never really learned metal working) so bad I wish they were as easy as an AR-15 I can throw those together pretty easy. I love the details of your work man very meticulous notes and the ability to explain everything. Thanks. I will one day have my own can for my gun

Don't let a lack of experience stop you. The first time I turned on a lathe was about 6 years ago. I learned by reading a lathe operation manual and just doing. Should have seen the first threads i made. Perfect 1/2 by 28 threads. . . left handed, OOPS! Any way, it's not as hard as it looks and the learning curve is very steep. You'll be amased at how quickly it comes to you. The only bummer about it is when you DO make a mistake it usually means a days work just went down the drain. All you can do is start over.

The lathe I use is actually a very old Atlas/ Seres Commercial lathe. It is a 12inX 36in and works for "most" projects. I want to build a 50 cal rifle but the lathe is just too small for it. It was a refurb picked up off of e-bay for around 3K. Keep an eye out on you local listings, sometimes a good deal comes along on a good used lathe but you have to move fast, they usually go quick. Do a google search on buying a used lathe to get some pointers on what to watch out for.

It is a lot of fun.

It might suprise you but those "blueprints" are done on windows "paint". Thanks for the complement but it's actally easy.

got an equipment Q for ya', L1A1, does your power hack cut on the "in" stroke, toward the fixed jaw, or on the "out" stroke, toward the moving vice jaw??

I belive it cuts on the "out" stroke.

thanks!, not sure if thas good news or bad news yet.