Raygun Update

My big present from Julie and Steph this holiday was a drill press. Some of the fabrication steps for the rayguns require some precision drilling, and taping stock down with duct tape and then trying to drill a hole with a hand drill was tricky, especially when it came to triggers, where I would end up tossing out two or three triggers each time when I couldn't get the pivot hole in right. Of all of the power tools that I could think of, a drill press would solve my biggest fabrication problems.

I assembled and mounted the drill press to the workbench last weekend, and got to use it for the first time this weekend. I'm working on a new raygun, a throwback to the earlier pieces that I had done. I was able to cut some of my wide brass tubing for the body of the raygun (and cutting a perpendicular line to the tubing has become my newest 'step which needs to be repeated to get it right'), and used the drill press to put some holes in it for the supports to go through (an easy job, could have done it with a bench vise and a hand drill, but wanted to break in the new tool.). I also fabricated the trigger guard, and torched it into place. There is a lot of cleanup that I need to do, both from heavy oxidation, burning painter's tape (oops....), and a few beads of solder that need to go away.

If I get time tomorrow, I will work on the trigger for this piece. Once that is complete, I will sculpt the grip, then finish the piece with cleanup and painting.