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Frizzen bounce

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I though it would be fun to expand on this subject after learning of it in last month Muzzle Blast article by Fred Stutzenberger. He said to use Diekem or magic marker but I felt soot would do the job as well and not mess up the frizzen face. I tested this on a Kentucky flint pistol I have and it worked perfectly. What was eye opening for me was to see how little of the frizzen face was actually contacted by the flint edge and still developed a very heavy spark shower.
There was no bounce or chatter but one does not find an even scrape pattern across the frizzen face, only linear, vertical scrapes from the high points of the flint edge on the frizzen arc. This makes perfect sense when one considers that the knapping is about flake removal from platforms that set up an irregular set of chips (saw teeth) more or less, evenly across the edge face. The chips or scarps leave high points between them and these are what are making contact with the frizzen and shear off steel to produce the sparks.
I'm going to get out all my flint guns and give them this test !
I found this test both interesting and educational in how these machines work and how to improve them.
 
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when i knap my flints, i place them against the frizzen to show any "scarps" then knap those off to a even knife edge. ymmv
I find that I have to "eye ball" knapping an even edge as best I can. There is no way to have full contact. Don't try to put too much into it. Good sparks, that's all that is needed.
 
I find that I have to "eye ball" knapping an even edge as best I can. There is no way to have full contact. Don't try to put too much into it. Good sparks, that's all that is needed.
I'm not sure given the nature of how flint reacts to striking hard steel that frizzens can wear evenly. Even a ground edge is subject to microscopic fracture which is why it dulls.
I remember seeing some foreign lock frizzens that had vertical grooves cut into the frizzen face to facilitate flint edge fracture and provide more surface area to generate sparks. Wonder how long flints lasted in this style of lock.
 
I though it would be fun to expand on this subject after learning of it in last month Muzzle Blast article by Fred Stutzenberger. He said to use Diekem or magic marker but I felt soot would do the job as well and not mess up the frizzen face. I tested this on a Kentucky flint pistol I have and it worked perfectly. What was eye opening for me was to see how little of the frizzen face was actually contacted by the flint edge and still developed a very heavy spark shower.
There was no bounce or chatter but one does not find an even scrape pattern across the frizzen face, only linear, vertical scrapes from the high points of the flint edge on the frizzen arc. This makes perfect sense when one considers that the knapping is about flake removal from platforms that set up an irregular set of chips (saw teeth) more or less, evenly across the edge face. The chips or scarps leave high points between them and these are what are making contact with the frizzen and shear off steel to produce the sparks.
I'm going to get out all my flint guns and give them this test !
I found this test both interesting and educational in how these machines work and how to improve them.
Another great article on lock tuning by Fred Stutzenburger in this months MB magazine. I've had a bit of experience on cock bending to get one of my match pistols to make more sparks and to direct that spark shower into the middle of the pan. I got to the point (after trying many other things to get more reliable ignition) to heat bending the cock a few degrees forward as a last resort and that did the trick. As Fred states in his article this is not for the faint of heart as it is absolutely a bridge burner but when nothing else is working then worth a try. The trick for me was to heat bend the cock arm and maintain the level and plumb of the cock jaw to the frizzen face. I was blessed to get the angle correct on the first try but it could have gone south on me at any point and I would have had to reheat and try again or break it and have to make a new cock arm. I did it free hand in a vice jaw but if I was going to do this regularly I would make up a jig to keep things plumb and square during the bend.
The general rule is that the flint should contact the frizzen face about 1/3 down from the frizzen top but as Fred discovered this is not always the best strike positioning for each individual lock.
It is both interesting and gratifying to see these experiments conducted and the results increasing our own body of knowledge in confirming or in some cases conflicting with ones own experiences.
One of the best multi part articles (with many pictures) I have ever seen on flint lock tuning!
 
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I've had some luck by shimming the back edge of the flint. It works about the same as bending but is reversible. I even found some plastic wedges that could be trimmed to tilt the whole flint. A file and piece of aluminum should work to make a wedge as well.
 
I've had some luck by shimming the back edge of the flint. It works about the same as bending but is reversible. I even found some plastic wedges that could be trimmed to tilt the whole flint. A file and piece of aluminum should work to make a wedge as well.
I feel the base of the cock jaw needs to be set at the correct angle in relation to the pan and frizzen as it is the base support (foundation) for the flint. A solid base foundation is always going to be preferable to artificially adjusted "shimmed" base.
As Stutzenburger points out , spark production is only part of the equation in lock efficiency. The spark shower needs to be directed to the middle of the pan charge and not just bounce around the pan area.
 
I have a TC Hawken that wouldn't create a single spark no matter what flint i used. wedged or not! rehardened the frizzen and while i had it hot put a slight curve to the face. got fair spark but the geometry was still off with the cock. bit the bullet so to speak and reangled the cock.
now i can't get the thing to klatch or flash in the pan if i tried! most reliable sparker i have.
 
I have a TC Hawken that wouldn't create a single spark no matter what flint i used. wedged or not! rehardened the frizzen and while i had it hot put a slight curve to the face. got fair spark but the geometry was still off with the cock. bit the bullet so to speak and reangled the cock.
now i can't get the thing to klatch or flash in the pan if i tried! most reliable sparker i have.
I had an L&R frizzen that was too soft. It created deep gouges and weak sparks. I polished it out and used kaesnit twice, and afterwards, it has sparked like a champ.
 
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