Just a quick note – when you get a bare receiver, you are literally getting a chunk of aluminum with nothing installed. I really like Palmetto State Armory (PSA) lower build kits and they sell them with different types of components such as just the basics for rifles, for pistols, Magpul furniture, etc. What I like is that the machining is very good and I think they have some of the best Mil-Spec basic triggers that aren’t gritty. I’ve used Anderson and other brands of build kits and just think the PSA kits are superior. Bear in mind that I say this as a customer – nobody paid me to tell you this.
With that said, let’s start building. You’ll notice on any AR magazine on the right side there is a rectangular notch. This is where the magazine catch engages to hold it in place. Okay, so the first step is to install the magazine catch assembly. It’s made up of the “L” shaped catch itself, the mag catch spring and the magazine button.
Now I grease everything that slides with Tetra Gun Grease. Tetra has worked well for me but I also know guys who use all kinds of greases. As a rule of thumb, if it slides, apply grease. It it rotates then apply oil. So grease the shaft and insert it into the round hole on the right end of the recessed area for it on the right side of the receiver. Note, be careful when installing the catch or you may scratch your receiver.
When you turn it over you will see the threaded end of the shaft and you put the spring down over it.
Next, you will screw the magazine button onto the threaded shaft. Before you do, look at the button. You should see that one end is smooth (that is the bottom) and the other has grooves (that is the top). Carefully start screwing the button on but stop before you get near the receiver so you don’t scratch anything. Push the button in, and then turn the long lever arm to continue threading the shaft into the button. Now stop before the lever arm scratches the receiver.
To screw the catch in the rest of the way you need to push the bullet button in all the way so the catch sticks out as far as it can on the other side so the lever arm can clear the parts of the receiver as the button is screwed on. At this point, I use a small pusher tool made from plastic to push the button in even further so I can keep turning the lever arm until the screw is relatively flush with the top of the button. Note, before I had the tool I would use a wood dowel. Just use something non-metallic to protect the finish. There is a model of the tool shaped just like the oval button but I don’t know where mine went so I used a takedown tool and got the job done 🙂
The catch is now installed. To function test, push the magazine button. You should feel spring resistance and see the magazine catch’s lever arm push out. When you ease off the button, the lever arm should smoothly go back into place.
If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@ro*********.com. Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.
AR Parts Sources
There are a lot of reputable AR parts vendors online but beware of eBay and bargain basement dealers that sell airsoft parts and tell you they will stand up to firearm use – they will not. At any rate, here are my top sources of AR parts:
Well, this sucks – Molot, the maker of Vepr rifles and shotguns has been added to the treasury’s list of people and organizations US businesses can’t engage in commerce with.
MOLOT-ORUZHIE, OOO (a.k.a. OBSHCHESTVO S OGRANICHENNOI OTVETSTVENNOSTYU ‘MOLOT-ORUZHIE’; f.k.a. OBSHCHESTVO S OGRANICHENNOI OTVETSTVENNOSTYU PROIZVODSTVENNO INSTRUMENT KACHESTVO), 135 ul. Lenina, Vyatskie Polyany, Kirov Obl. 612960, Russia; Registration ID 1094307000633 (Russia); Tax ID No. 4307012765 (Russia); Government Gazette Number 60615883 (Russia) [UKRAINE-EO13661] (Linked To: KALASHNIKOV CONCERN).
Notice the part I set in bold black – linked to Kalashnikov Concern. Â It may be because Molot was bankrupt and the speculation was that only Kalashnikov Concern was in a position to buy them.
I have to admit that I like a lot of different firearms including both AK and AR platforms. So I am not purely an AK fan though my business is largely built around that. I have owned many, many different ARs over the years including tactical, DMR, snipers, pistols and flat out range toys. I don’t have much free time any longer so the AR platform gives me a chance to tinker with different combinations and see what I like.
At the heart of the AR is a lower-receiver that can be made by just about anyone as long as it is Mil-Spec. Now this is critical. Not all receivers are as accurate as they claim to be with their tolerances, hole positions and what not so ask around. I’ve had very good luck with Anderson (my go to brand for several years now), Palmetto State Armory (PSA), Spikes and Del-ton. I’ve not had a single problem with any of these brands. You may not have as much luck with “Uncle Bob’s Lowers made in Podunk Nowhere” so just start with a good foundation.
For the two AR pistols that I will be assembling for the upcoming blog posts, I will be using Anderson lower receivers.
Assembling an AR for a rifle or a pistol is almost identical until you get to the gas tube. At that point a pistol must use a pistol tube and a rifle will use whatever tube you wish. I’ll point that out again in post #9.
I am not a lawyer and the following should not be construed as legal advice. I’m just trying to explain my understanding on how to build an AR pistol legally:
One important item for guys making pistols, to be legal, the receivers must be transferred to use as receivers. Your FFL must NOT transfer the receiver as a rifle. There is an FFL notice that once a receiver is built as a rifle, it is a rifle. If you change it into a pistol, then you are making a short-barreled rifle (SBR) that must be registered. Oddly enough, you can build a receiver as a pistol and then convert it to a rifle. [Click here for a link to the ATF letter]
My recommendation is to always take photos of the pistols built appropriately so you can show the paper trail of a receiver transfer from your FFL through to a built pistol.
Also, there is another issue to avoid – do not buy pistol-length uppers (meaning uppers with barrels shorter than 16″) and having them sit around without a pistol receiver waiting. Buy the receiver first, then corresponding upper and put them together. Why you might ask? The concern is something known as “constructive intent”. You do not want the ATF or others in law enforcement to assume you only have that SBR/pistol upper to put on one of your rifles. That requires paper work and fees in order to have a legal SBR. You absolutely can’t just put a sub-16″ barrel on a regular rifle – it will be illegal. [Click here for the ATF letter about SBRs]
The ATF has ruled that braces do not make a pistol into a rifle. I have carpal tunnel and can’t hold a heavy pistol so this is good news for me. So, I bought my Anderson lowers first, my lower pistol build kits from PSA and then an 7.5″ upper from PSA and a 10.5″ upper from Ghost Rifles. The blog posts that follow document my journey building these two AR pistols.
If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@ro*********.com. Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.
AR Parts Sources
There are a lot of reputable AR parts vendors online but beware of eBay and bargain basement dealers that sell airsoft parts and tell you they will stand up to firearm use – they will not. At any rate, here are my top sources of AR parts:
Please note this is an old letter and the ATF doesn’t view these as etched in stone findings any more so just view it for historical purposes. I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice. Â I’m just providing a copy as a service to the firearms community.
Here is the 1999 letter that you should be aware of – I made the two sections that I think semi-auto non-NFA AR owners should know about in bold italics:
DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY BUREAU OF ALCOHOL, TOBACCO AND FIREARMS WASHINGTON, DC 20226
MAR 29 2000
903050:GKD 3311
Dear Mr. :
This refers to your letter of January 22, 1999, requesting information on the legality of possessing a registered full auto AR15 and also possessing one or more semiautomatic pre-1994 assembled AR15 rifles. You appended a number of specific questions relating to this subject which will be answered in the order received.
1. Is it legal to own both?
There are no provisions under the Gun Control Act of 1968 (GCA) or the National Firearms Act (NFA) that prevent an individual from possessing an AR15 registered machinegun and one or more semiautomatic AR15 rifles at the same time.
2. If legal to own both, which spare parts for the registered gun can you also own?
Any weapon which shoots automatically more than one shot, without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger meets the definition of a machinegun in section 5845(b) of the NFA. An AR15 rifle which is assembled with certain M16 machinegun fire control components, and which is capable of shooting automatically is a machinegun as defined.
The definition of a machinegun in section 5845(b) also includes any combination of parts from which a machinegun can be assembled if such parts are in the possession or under the control of a person. Thus, an AR15 rifle possessed with separate M16 machinegun components can meet the definition of a machinegun, if the rifle shoots automatically when the components are installed.
The fact that a person lawfully possesses a registered NFA firearm does not grant authorization to possess additional non-registered firearms. A person who possesses a registered M16 machinegun and a semiautomatic AR15 and a separate quantity of M16 machinegun components could be in possession of two machineguns.
We advise any person who possesses an AR15 rifle not to possess M16 fire control components (trigger, hammer, disconnector, selector, and bolt carrier). If a person possessed only the M16 machinegun and spare M16 fire control components for that machinegun, the person would possess only one machinegun.
3. Is it legal to use the upper receiver off of the semi-auto AR’s on the registered AR if they are different lengths and calibers than listed on the Form 4’s?
Before changing the caliber of a registered machinegun you should notify the NFA Branch in writing of the proposed change.
4. Can you have several short barrel uppers (less than 16 inches) for the registered AR and still own semi-auto AR’s?
The definition of a firearm in section 5845 of the NFA includes a rifle having a barrel or barrels of less than 16 inches in length. An individual possessing more than one short (less than 16 inches) barreled upper receiver for a registered AR15 machinegun along with one or more semiautomatic AR15 rifles would have under their possession of control an unregistered short barreled rifle, a violation of the NFA.
5. If you change the barrel length or caliber do I need to notify your office if the change is not a permanent one?
This question was answered under Question 3.
We trust that the foregoing has been responsive to your inquiry. If we can be of any further assistance, please contact us.
Sincerely yours,
[signed] Edward M. Owen, Jr. Chief, Firearms Technology Branch
If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@ro*********.com. Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.
Sources For AR Parts
The following are all vendors of AR parts including barrels, handguards, triggers, magaziness and what have you that I use and recommend:
My truck is a 1996 Toyota Landcruiser that is showing its age and I’m always finding ways to keep it going. Â One problem I had was that the power windows were very slow to go up and down because the rubber around the glass was oxidizing and not as soft. Â This was especially a problem in the winter when plowing as I would sometimes have to use my hand to help the window go back up. Â I had been using silicone spray but it’s benefits were pretty short lived. Â A friend told me to use silicone grease and WOW what a difference.
Please note to use silicone grease and not petroleum grease. The petroleum grease can cause the rubber to break down or at least make quite a mess. Â Silicone grease was designed intentionally to lubricate and protect rubber parts such as seals.
Now, one tip, get a flux brush or some disposable brush with relative small stiff bristles so you can wipe down all the rubber window channels where the glass slides. Your brush is going to get old rubber and other debris on it. If you put it back in your silcone grease container, you will have a mess – guess how I know this? 🙂 Instead, put some grease on a paper plate or something as an intermediary to dip your brush in. This will not take much – maybe a tablespoon or two at most. I can do all four power windows on my truck with probably right around a tablespoon or just over. You aren’t looking to leave gobs and gobs of the stuff – just a good coating.
So, a warm day helps. Put all the windows down and apply it. Then run each window up and down a few times to get a good coating on everything. You will see a remarkable improvement with the 2nd or 3rd cycling of the windows as everything gets coated. Then just wipe off any residue on the window frames (I leave it on the glass edge myself).
If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@ro*********.com. Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.
I tell you what it is really hard to get by without a compressor but it can also be but it can also be a real headache if the circuit breaker regularly, or even unpredictably, trips when the compressor tries to top off the tank. There a couple of really easy modifications we can do to the compressor but before that, let’s step through a couple of things first just in case there is another issue at hand:
Safety Stuff
I actually spent more time trying to think about the what-ifs than actually writing the two options to make your compressor start softer but I do want you to approach this safely. I am assuming you are handy with a basic understanding of electrical wiring and compressed air to do this work.
First, you should be using a properly sized circuit or at least one that is very close. If your compressor needs far more than what your circuit is sized for, say 30 amps and you only have a 15 amp circuit, then the fix I am going to tell you may not help. It does often help when you have a circuit that is very close to the required amps but when there is a heavy draw, it exceeds the circuits capacity so the breaker trips. My experience is that consumer air compressors list a low draw number like 15 amps and can draw more than that under peak load. So, for example, if you have a 15 amp circuit and a compressor that says it needs 15 amps – you may be having some challenges that this modification might help with.
In terms of properly sizing a circuit, engineers and others can give you rules of thumb such as doubling the circuit capacity to allow for spikes in demand or to allow 6 amps per 1 HP for 1 phase or 1.25 amps per HP for 3 phase. Doing this means running new wire and installing new breakers. DO NOT JUST PUT IN A BIGGER BREAKER! The breaker is protecting the wiring from over heating and catching fire. Each thickness, or gauge, of wire has a limit to the number of amps it can carry. Never put a higher capacity breaker on a smaller cable – you are asking for trouble in the worst way.
Second, plug the compressor directly into the wall. An extension cord will likely introduce too much resistance and cause the breaker to trip so do not use an extension cord (assuming your compressor is not an air nailer or air brush model – they draw so little that they can use extension cords).
Third, I have only encountered this a few times over the years but breakers can wear out over time. If you investigate and it seems that you should have enough capacity and can’t figure out why your breaker is tripping, then try installing a new breaker and see if that helps. Again, install the right size and don’t put the wiring at risk of fire. If in doubt, bring in an electrician to straighten things out.
Fourth, if you look at your outlets and/or wiring and they look burned, there is any trace of soot or a burned smell stop and get an electrician to inspect the line. It may sound funny but I have seen lines fail over the years for a ton of unexpected reasons.
Now, on to making a compressor softer starting
IMPORTANT SAFETY ANNOUNCEMENT – BE SURE YOUR SYSTEM IS FULLY DRAINED AND THE COMPRESSOR IS UNPLUGGED (ENSURING THERE IS NO WAY IT CAN TURN ON) BEFORE YOU DO ANY WORK. The pressures involved can hurt you and we do not want that.
Make sure the unit is unplugged also just to be safe.
So, with those things said, let’s say you need to make your compressor work better with the circuit you have for whatever reason, let’s talk about what some folks call a “soft start” modification. It’s called this because it makes it easier for the pump and compressor to start and come up to speed before a heavy load is introduced.
The way a compressor works is that a motor has to turn the pump and send air through a filler tube into the main tank. Between that little tube and the tank is a check valve that screws in right at the top of the tank that keeps air from rushing backwards. Now when the compressor fills the tank each time, the switch controller opens a bleed off valve to empty the air in the filler tube to make it easier for the compressor to start next time. The problem is that the volume of air in that tube is relatively small and when your compressor starts, it can only turn a few times before the tube is full and then the motor must work much harder and thus draw more amps to overcome the check valve to put air in the tank. Depending on the amps required, this can then trip the breaker.
Look at this next photo. See how short and small that left tube is? The pump can only turn a few times before that left tube is pressurized – it never has a chance to build up speed and momentum in the flywheel. As a result when the pressure of the tank is reached it puts a lot of strain on the motor.
Note, the second smaller tube, which is often a flexible plastic, provides pressure to the cut off switch that automatically turns the motor off when the tank reaches a specified pressure. We are interested in the larger tube that runs from the head (top) of the compressor pump down to the top of the tank. It is usually much larger than the pressure switch tube.
The fix is simple – increase the air capacity between the pump and the tank! You want the motor to be able to start and the heavy flywheel build up momentum before it encounters the pressure behind the check valve.
Option one: Simply make a longer tube so there is more potential volume to fill
There are two options to make this softer starting. One is to just add a long length of copper tubing in between the compressor and the tank. You roll it into a coil and it kind of looks like a moonshine still and it does the job. The con is that it looks really funky. I did this with one of my early compressors and the photo below shows about 8 to 10 foot of tubing installed. I would replace whatever the original tubing was with the same size so you would do the same. You need to replace the compression fittings also and you can do the job in about 30 minutes. Note that I used hose clamps to keep the coils from rattling. Ugly as heck but it worked until I finally wore out the pump. I checked the date on my photos and I ran this setup from 2010 to 2014 – it does hold up.
Option two: Add a reservoir to really increase the volume
The second approach is a little bit more elaborate and involves putting a 1/2 to 1 gallon small air tank between the compressor and the tank. This allows the pump and motor to come up to speed before they must overcome the check valve. This works great. The only slightly annoying thing you will notice is that once the pressure is reached and the compressor cuts off, the pressure relief valve opens and the air runs out longer because there is more air in the line.
A couple of quick design considerations:
I carefully bent the aluminum using a tubing bender and tried to avoid abrupt turns.
The small tank you see is a Firestone 9125 1 gallon 150 PSI tank. The compressor filled the main tank to 135 PSI so the tank needed at least that rating to be safe. Be sure your tank is at least rated as high as your compressor.
Factor in the length of tank and if you will have enough room. The one pictured is 12″ long.
The tubing should be at least the same diameter as the original and the tank’s fittings should be adequately sized. This is a fairly small compressor in the photo.
I secured the tank to plywood and the plywood to the original compressor using the screw hanger fittings you find with conduit. I wanted it to be relatively portable and I also wanted the wood to take up some of the vibration.
I installed a T-fitting at the bottom of the tank to drain off moisture and never really found any. I would recommend you still add it even if it just gives you an ability to bleed off air if something happens.
Use quality Teflon/PTFE tape on all of your fittings to prevent leaks
An optional recommendation I would urge you to do is to either use brake-line wrenches or at least quality fixed wrenches to avoid rounding over the fittings. It is easy for an adjustable wrench to slip and round over the edge of a fitting. You need to tighten things firmly so they do not leak or come loose.
I got by with the above for a number of years until I could afford to both get a bigger compressor and pay an electrician to run a 240 volt service into my shop. I don’t need it now but these two approaches got me by for almost six years before I bought my current Ingersoll Rand.
If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@ro*********.com. Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.
I am a huge fan of Nepalese khkuris including ones from Himalayan Imports and GK&Co (Deepak Sunar). I do like customizing them also and have made handles many ways for both the full-tang and rat tail tang blades. What I am going to show below is a rat tail tang and you’ll notice the curve the tang has. This is the traditional tang and is very strong. Westerners have a mistaken belief that full-tang is better.
The Nepalese bladesmiths, known as “kamis”, have evolved their design over centuries based on real world experience. Their rat tail tang is very strong, allows for the traditional handle to be changed relatively easily and since the handle can flex somewhat on the tang, some of the shock is absorbed there vs. by the wielder’s hand. When the British arrived they mandated a full tang on their Army models based on their experience and beliefs. In short, when you are looking at khukuris, do not discount rat tails as weak because they are not.
The first step I do is to blast my slabs of Micarta to prepare them for maximum adhesion. I am a zealot on cleaning too before gluing. Do not attempt to glue the shiny micarta to the blade or it will knock right off with the first shock. Basically we are going to make a handle by sandwiching a piece in the middle that has the tang outline cut out between two outer slabs. These are black canvas micarta slabs that have already been blasted – that is why they are dull.
The thickness of the middle slab needs to be the same thickness as the thickest part of the tang to keep things simple.
Next, I lay the middle slab under the tang and trace its outline.
I was doing two blades at once. See the one above sitting in the cut out notch and the one below I have just traced the outline with a Sharpie marker. Please note I have not taped the edge of the khukuri’s blade yet. I would recommend you do that at some point to protect yourself.
This is slightly out of sequence but see the two round drill holes at the end of the tang? I did them before sawing to make turning around at the end easier. The numbers marked on the micarta correspond with which of the two blades I was working with.
I would then use a jig saw or band saw to cut the section out where the handle went. Note, I more often use a band saw these days and you can do whatever works for you.
[Update 7/19/18: Don’t buy the above Skilsaw. It’s not strong enough and I wound up giving it to a friend. Either get a Dewalt scroll saw or use a band saw]
See how the tang fits in? It does not need to be perfect as this will all be filled with structural epoxy.
I do not have a photo, but I would abrasive blast the tang until it was clean shiny steel. I would wear nitrile rubber gloves and hose everything (tang and slabs) down with brake cleaner to make sure no oils from my skin contaminated the work pieces. Note, I often drive a 1/8″ brass cross-pin in through the thick part of the tang to lock everything in place just in case and also use a piece of thick wall 3/8″ brass tube at the rear to make a lanyard hole. I did not do these things on this particular model and they are features to consider. For people new to this, I would recommend the brass cross pin. I always do this now even though I have never had a handle fail but I evolved this method and learned over the course of a number of years.
Next, take the outer slabs and round the outside edges over. What you want to do is to create the taper you want before you glue the handle on. It is hard to sand up front on the handle once it is glued together. I would take the three pieces, clamp them together and then work on the belt sander until I got the shape I wanted on the front leading edge. This is all we want to shape at this point. I always preferred to do the majority of my shaping once the handle was epoxied onto the blade.
For gluing the handle, I will only recommend Brownell’s AcraGlas liquid. It is a very strong, durable, and shock resistant epoxy. Absolutely do not use a cheap epoxy as it will likely break down and crumble (“sugar”) over time with repeated heavy blows. Always bear in mind that the big khukuris are choppers and heavy. What you do needs to hold up under extreme use compared to many knife handles that see very light relative use. To be safe, I would recommend you always abrasive blast the steel and the micarta before applying the epoxy – don’t try and just get by with sanding or otherwise scuffing the surface. By blasting you are almost doubling the surface area for the epoxy to adhere to and the irregular surface creates countless shapes where the epoxy can get under “ridges” in the micarta and the steel to really securely hold the parts together.
Follow the AcraGlas mixing instructions to the letter. I add in a bit of milled 1/32″ glass fiber to increase the strength in the filled areas. The ratio for AcraGlas liquid is 1 part hardener to four parts resin and I’d add about 1 part of the glass fiber. It is a bit of a balancing act because you do not want to make the resulting epoxy too thick. You need it to run in, fill voids and seep into the micarta as much as possible. [To get the most out of your epoxy, please click here to read a post I did a while back detailing my lessons learned over the years.]
Next, cut a piece of wax paper to wrap the handle. You want to apply a ton of epoxy, clamp the heck out of it and let it sit and cure for 24 hours. When you remove the wax paper, if there are any imperfections you need to fix by adding more glue, first blast the surface, clean it and then glue it. Do not just put epoxy on top of epoxy without preparing the surface first.
Next, if you haven’t done so yet, tape your blade’s cutting edge to make sure you don’t get sliced when sanding the handle. When working with a belt sander it can grab hold of the work and surprise you – you don’t want a sharp edge to be flying around!!
I do a lot of my handle work on a Rigid oscillating belt edge sander from Home Depot with 40-80 grit sand paper. Hook your shop vac up to suck up the dust and be sure to wear both a good dust mask (such as a N99 rated mask/respirator) and eye protection. The dust goes everywhere so be sure to have the vacuum hooked up and stop periodically to clean up and also to inspect your work.
In terms of shaping the handle, I will relay a piece of funny sounding advice – remove all the material that isn’t part of the handle. Really useful, right? When the fellow told me this years ago his point was that making a handle is applied art. You are sculpting a handle by removing material and working towards a shape you have thought out. I would remove a bit and test the feel, remove a bit and test the feel over and over.
I have experimented with many shapes over the years and it is really up to you. I would stick with coarse sanding to keep the handle from being slippery and did both one handed and hand-and-a-half models. In all cases, I wanted to user to have control while chopping / hacking with the blade. One real strong recommendation: ALWAYS build a finger stop or hand stop into your design. You do not want a hand to slide forward onto the blade. I always built the stop into the handle but you could certainly make your own metal cross guard or do something else — just be sure to protect the user’s hands.
The below blade is acid etched with a combination of apple cider vinegar and phosphoric acid and then everything, including the handle, had boiled linseed oil (BLO) applied to it. [Click here for my post about acid etching blades.]
This is a handle from a big HI WWII model blade. Note the lanyard hole at the end. I would drill the hole both for a friction fit and I would cut the tube longer than needed, blast it, clean it and then apply epoxy liberally before inserting it into the blade. I would then sand it down to size as part of the final shaping of the handle.
This is black paper micarta that comes out a beautiful obsidian black. It is on a long, elegant 24″-ish Sirupati. Notice the oversized pommel to serve as a hand stop and the finger groove up front for indexing and grip. This is a hand-and-half design meaning a person could grab hold with their second hand if they really wanted to.
The cool thing with the handles is that you have a ton of materials and options to consider to make a very unique functional piece. I hope this blog post gives you some ideas.
If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@ro*********.com. Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.
When car companies moved to plastic headlight lenses they opened the door to them oxidizing over and majorly reducing the transmitted light. I’m surprised they haven’t been sued yet actually. I really do not like the fact that light is reduced and people are driving with less and less visibility at night – that seems wrong to me. However, if they don’t correct this problem we can at least fix it with annual polishing of the lenses.
For badly deteriorated lenses, I use Meguiar’s Heavy Duty Headlight restoration kit. It comes with sandpaper and polish to really let you get through the yellow oxidized plastic. I have sworn by that kit for several years now and you can do a number of vehicles with each package. It was also a pretty good price considering you could avoid having to buy new lenses for at least 3-4 cars.
I just learned a trick from my son who was home for a visit. He uses toothpaste to fix lightly oxidized headlights. Yes, plan old Crest toothpaste. Now this isn’t some odd chemical fix that disappears in a few hours. Toothpaste has a very mild abrasive in it for cleaning your teeth. Apparently it does an awesome job on car headlight lenses also. The following is my wife’s Camry that has gone about a year since I last polished it:
Basically he would pour water on the headlight, get the toothbrush wet, added the toothpaste to the old tooth brush and then vigorously rubbed all over the lens. He’d then pour water, wipe it off, look at the results and repeated it about three times per light until he got it just the way he wanted it. I’m impressed.
He really didn’t use much toothpaste either. This is real cheap and effective on light oxidation. I’m doing this for now on and saving the Meguiar’s HD kit for lenses that are badly damaged.
If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@ro*********.com. Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.
