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Home made ramrod hole scraper...

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Sidney Smith

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In a previous post, I made mention of my Pecatonica River pre carve stock that has a wandering ram rod hole. The hole that was cut at the factory had veered off and when I cut the lock mortice, the main spring enters the ramrod hole and blocks the ramrod. There was no way not to cut the mortice without entering the hole the way they had drilled it.

I made a tool to allow me to chase the ramrod hole to center it again. The tool started out with a rat tail file welded to a piece of 1/4 inch rod. Well that broke at the weld. But, it gave me an idea. I took Mr. Sparky (mapp gas torch) and heated the end of the rod cherry red. I then peened the end over with a hammer, then filed it into a scraper edge. This tool now, although crude, is working. Hope to have the channel scraped straight later today. I've almost got the rod to seat. Might have to taper the rod just a little more as well.
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Thank you, Sidney for your post. I have forged my own ramrod drills forever but have a precarved pistol stock that needs the RR hole enlarged a bit for a larger wood rod. I believe I can accomplish a tool like yours, having been shown the true path, LOL! Cheers, George.
 
Sid....Question....Is the cutter simply filed or ground into the shaft ,or is the tooth i think I see , a nasty piece of tungsten carbide welded in the shaft?????? My dad was the machinist for a coal mine. Most any bit he made had a tungsten carbide tip for drillin' rock. Had to ask... oldwood
 
Its just the end of the rod that I peened over, then filed to as sharp as I could get it. Clamp in a vice, heat the end until it's red, then peen it until the end bulges wider than the diameter of the rod, then file. I wanted only one side to have the scraper part, so filed everything smooth except one small area. I needed to move the hole away from the lock side so filed it to coincide with the opposite side of the handle. This way I can control what part I want to remove wood from.

It's got to be resharpened once in a while but so is working.
 
I made a tool to allow me to chase the ramrod hole to center it again. The tool started out with a rat tail file welded to a piece of 1/4 inch rod. Well that broke at the weld. But, it gave me an idea. I took Mr. Sparky (mapp gas torch) and heated the end of the rod cherry red. I then peened the end over with a hammer, then filed it into a scraper edge. This tool now, although crude, is working. Hope to have the channel scraped straight later today. I've almost got the rod to seat. Might have to taper the rod just a little more as well.
Great idea, thanks for sharing! :thumb: I assume you are adding some shim tape (paint masking) to the opposite side of the needed wood removal as you are enlarging the elliptical hole.
Flintlocklar🇺🇸
 
Great idea, thanks for sharing! :thumb: I assume you are adding some shim tape (paint masking) to the opposite side of the needed wood removal as you are enlarging the elliptical hole.
Flintlocklar🇺🇸

No I haven't. I bent the handle so it clears the fore stock and I am able to put pressure on the rod so the scraper bites into the wood. Since I broke into the ramrod whole when inletting the lock, I have a light source to see my progress when I sight down the ramrod hole from the front of the stock looking down.
 
No I haven't. I bent the handle so it clears the fore stock and I am able to put pressure on the rod so the scraper bites into the wood. Since I broke into the ramrod whole when inletting the lock, I have a light source to see my progress when I sight down the ramrod hole from the front of the stock looking down.
Sounds like you are getting it done.:thumb:
Flintlocklar🇺🇸
 
I can't take credit. I think someone here eluded to such a device, but there was no photos of one so I came up with what I thought would suffice.
 
It can help to put a slight (very slight) bend toward the lip in the last 2-3” of the rod after you’ve made some progress but need more. That helps push the hole over.

But in many cases like this there can still be an issue. The rod tracks as it wants to then bangs into the mainspring even though there is room to slide past it. One solution, if that happens, is to cut down into the bottom flat of the barrel channel into the ramrod hole and glue in a piece of stock wood to push the rod over. The piece glued in should have a concave groove that gradually pushes the rod over. Then smooth the path up using the scraper. Hopefully not needed.
 
I've rounded the tip of the ramrod, and tapered it to do the same thing. Plus I've put ever the slightest angle on the edge of the main spring so when the rod hits it, it deflects it away from the spring. I've just got to enlarge the ramrod hole a slight bit more amd I will have it.
 
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