The creation of the E-11 blaster rifle
Page 08
Page 08
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For the part on the back of the endcap that holds the ring in place, I used a part from an old vacuum cleaner tube because I couldn't decide whether I wanted to make the small round version of this part or the larger pop-riveted version, so I decided to make my own version that looks like something in between the two of them since I think pop-rivets look cool.
In this photo, the holes were drilled for the pop-rivets.
Before I pop-riveted the ring holder onto the endcap, I used a cutting wheel on a Dremel tool to remove a small piece of the ring in the middle of it, then glued a small piece of plastic in the middle of the inside of the ring holder to prevent the ring from moving from side to side.
Fortunately I had a rivet popping tool nearby so I didn't have to buy one of those expensive things in order to pop-rivet the parts together.
This was my first time popping rivets, so see in the next photo whether I could do it or not.
Popping the rivets went very well, and they looked good enough afterwards.
Now that the endcap and most other parts were finished, I wanted to start working on the parts for the clip housing again, so I brought back the templates and reference photos for the clip housing along with some sheet metal and various parts.
The triangle shaped part for the back of the clip housing was made out of a sheet of 1.5 millimeter thick aluminum.
The triangle shaped part was super-glued onto the back of the clip housing.
Using a grinding bit on the Dremel tool, I made the hole for the part that will be placed over the triangle shaped part that I made earlier.
The part that I mentioned before will be made out of the same fiber tubes that I made the targeting sensors and the folding stock mount out of.
3 millimeter wide threads were made through the part for a set screw that will be screwed into it later on.
A small set screw was screwed into the part.
The top of the tube was machined away to make the flat area that will be placed towards the triangle shaped part on the clip housing.
The part fit well into place and was super-glued on top of the triangle shaped part later on.
The three imprints on top of the part were made by filling the large hole of the tube with bondo and grinding in the three imprints by slightly touching the surface with a drill bit.
A cutting wheel on a Dremel tool was used to make the hole for the clip lock.
After the hole was finished, I started making the clip lock out of a piece of 2 millimeter thick aluminum.
The clip lock was grinded down to the right shape and fit right into the hole.
The three imprints on the clip lock were made the same way as on the other part, and a hole was also made.
The hole for the clip ejection button was also made earlier, and the part that will be made into the clip ejection button fits right into place also.
Because I had lost the chuck for the Unimat machine that I wanted to make the right shape for the clip ejection button with, I had to stick it into a drill instead and file the edges of it round with a large flat file.
After getting the right shape for the clip ejection button by using a strange method to do so, I used a small file to make the slot on top of it.
To make the circles on top of the button, I had to do something even stranger than what I had to do before to get the edges of it round, so I'm not going to tell you what I did, or you'll just laugh at me.
I only got to make 3 circles even though there should probably be 4 on it, but I like the number 3 anyway, and it's my own blaster, so I don't care.
I only got to make 3 circles even though there should probably be 4 on it, but I like the number 3 anyway, and it's my own blaster, so I don't care.
Now that all the parts for the clip housing were finished, they could be glued onto it, and here is a view of the underside of the clip housing and its parts.
And here is a view of the topside of the clip housing and all its parts.
Whatever you think you're seeing in this photo, you're probably right, and it was fixed later on.
Whatever you think you're seeing in this photo, you're probably right, and it was fixed later on.
The next thing I wanted to make was the ejection port cover.
This was made by cutting a vacuum cleaner tube in an angle.
This was made by cutting a vacuum cleaner tube in an angle.
The back of the tube was cut off from the rest of the ejection port cover using a hack-saw.
The ejection port cover fit right inside the gun body.
The tip of a small file was used to make a mark where the cocking handle should be.
This small rod of aluminum was transformed into a cocking handle for the ejection port cover.
After sticking the rod in a vise, I started grinding it to the right shape with a large flat file.
The other sides were filed down as well.
After I had filed it thin enough, I bent it to the right shape.
I also got the time to make a hole for the cocking handle through the side of the ejection port cover.
To prevent the cocking handle from falling out of the hole in the ejection port cover, I cut a slot around the bottom of it and cut the side of a washer that I pulled apart and pressed back together again inside the slot that I made in the cocking handle earlier.
Since the washer is wider than the cocking handle track, the cocking handle will stay in its hole unless it is pulled back to the cocking handle removal hole at the end of the track.
Since the washer is wider than the cocking handle track, the cocking handle will stay in its hole unless it is pulled back to the cocking handle removal hole at the end of the track.
Now that the washer was attached to the cocking handle, the washer would probably get stuck inside the cocking handle track by scraping against the walls of the gun body, so I made a groove into the ejection port cover where the washer would stay clear from the walls inside the gun body.
Because of the bolt used to hold the grip in place, I couldn't insert the ejection port cover after the bolt was mounted or the other way around, so I had to make a hole through the ejection port cover where I could slip the bolt through to mount the grip when the ejection port cover is in its backward position.
Here I'm marking the ejection port cover with the point of a small file where the hole should be.
Here I'm marking the ejection port cover with the point of a small file where the hole should be.
After the hole for the grip mounting bolt was made, the head of the bolt fit through it perfectly.
For the underside of the ejection port cover where the head of the grip mounting bolt will be, I cut a track that will slide along the head of the bolt, stopping the ejection port cover at its backward position, making a functional cocking action just for the fun of it.
Using a grinding bit on a Dremel tool that was just as wide as the head of the grip mounting bolt, I grinded the track wider along the ejection port cover.
Here is a composite photo showing the ejection port cover in its backward position, being stopped by the grip mounting bolt.
This is a spring, and so on.
It was used to keep the ejection port cover at its forward position and to push the endcap outwards.
It was used to keep the ejection port cover at its forward position and to push the endcap outwards.
Now that the spring is inside the gun body, the ejection port cover is being pushed forwards, and the endcap is being pressed backwards.
I am pleased.
I am pleased.
On some E-11's out there, the ejection port cover had a smooth silver surface, but I wanted to make it look like the original ejection port covers of the Sterling Sub-Machine Guns.
The shapes were cut out using a small file.
The shapes were cut out using a small file.
After the shapes had been made, the ejection port cover looked very cool.
Because of the thin walls of the ejection port cover, the cocking handle would wobble around in it and hit the walls on the inside of the gun body when being cocked, so I had to cut a piece of wood that was glued to the inside of the ejection port cover to support the cocking handle, also preventing the spring from going far inside the ejection port cover.
After placing the wood on the inside of the ejection port cover, I could then stick it in a vise and cut the rest of the excess wood off from around the edge of the ejection port cover.
When gluing the wooden plug inside the ejection port cover, I left a small distance of the ejection port cover's back edge clear so that the spring would stay inside of it without sliding around sideways inside the gun body and curl up when the blaster rifle is cocked.
Now that the wooden plug had been glued into place, I could use a small grinding bit on a Dremel tool to make the hole for the cocking handle that will prevent it from wobbling around.
