So a week and a half ago, I came across a thread on another forum about replacing a broken plastic trigger guard with a brass one made out of a solid block.  I have an airsoft gun which had a trigger guard which also houses one of the action screws.  Unfortunately, that housing had broken in half, so it was a bit loose.  I wanted to make it a bit sturdier, and glue wasn't gonna cut it.

That thread got me to do a little research, and I ended up ordering a block of 6061 T6511 aluminum measuring 5/8" x 2" x 4" for about $7.  

Now, unfortunately I did not take a photo of the raw block, but I did start taking a couple pictures of my progress.  

I used a drill press, hand drill, various drill bits, various sanding bits, various milling bits, Dremel, cutoff wheels, hacksaw, coping saw, various files, and probably a bunch of other stuff I have already forgotten.  Oh, and most important - vacuum for all that dust and filings...uggg...everywhere...

I managed to break a number of cheap drill bits, and even bent some good ones.  And some of those cheap ones managed to wedge themselves in the aluminum, so that was real fun working around that and getting them out.  It screwed up things on the bottom of the trigger guard, but it is what it is.  It is also still so much stronger than the original piece ever could have been, so I am hardly worried.  A sub-1mm thick piece I sawed off won't even bend.

 

I am pleased to say that it turned out great and I couldn't be happier with it.  If I'd had access to a CNC or other real milling machines, I'd have done it better/cleaner and a hell of a lot faster, but I'm still happy.

nice work...

 

Nicely done!

Very nice.

I'm so pleased to see this kind of stuff.  Hand work can provide some excellent results.

That is awesome. I wish I had the fortitude to do something like that, but i'm too lazy.

With the tools you used that’s an amazing job! I love projects like this even when they fail they are fun to take on. Great work!

Thanks for the kind words. I expected this project to turn out a lot worse than it did, so I am really happy. It has zero slop or play, so I don't know how I managed that by hand. Usually when I take on such a project, there is some kind of massive gap somewhere, lots of play, or some other annoyance like that.

And after all the work, I covered it paint and it looks like it was always there... though I did a good job matching the existing paintjob...