How about some tips you may have?

[Larry (Omaha)]

Hey guys,
Ever wonder how you are going to do something? Necessity is the mother of invention and we all come up with ideas to do an assembly/manufacture procedure. Some of our ideas are good and some just plain don't work or are way too much trouble. I would like to start a post to pick your brains on ideas or tips you may have, or learned. There are a trillion good ideas out there, and even some crummy ones. Yesterday, I needed to hold the brass end onto my new nose cap to solder. I chose to cut the front to fit the rifle flats first instead of after soldering. This of course required the front to be held exactly where I wanted it, versus just solder a piece of brass on the end and cut to fit the flats after. I took a piece of 1/8" steel wire and bent it in a I_I shape with the two verticals a little farther apart than the length of my project. I then bent the two verticals inward past the dimension of my project to give it spring tension. Placing the new clamp in the vice as shown in the photos, I then inserted the work and applied soldering paste to the inside of the new nose cap. I know there are better ideas out there than this one, so let's hear them. Remember, not everyone on this forum is on the same level, of knowledge. We have lots of newbies that are itching for your good ideas.
Flintlocklar

 

[Kozmo]

Standing by to gather good ideas from the experienced builders!

As a newbie, having just finished my first build, the biggest lesson/tip I learned was to slow down. Every set-back, re-do and screw up was due to getting in a rush. This caused lack of preparation, missing a step or just being careless. It's a hard lesson to learn, and worse when you repeat it (which i did)!

T

 

[fishmusic]

1. In low humidity climates suspending a barrel above a bucket of damp rags with a trouble lamp on top will provide the humidity needed for rust browning.
2. No matter what the instructions say always degrease the parts you want to rust brown.

 

[Vaino]

I think there's many different ways to make and inlet a Mcap and my procedure is quite different than yours. I start w/ a 1/8" thick piece of brass for the front plate and layout the 5 octagon bbl flats, hacksaw most of the inside off ,file to the lines , stick it on the assembled bbl and stock and touch up the fit for no gaps. On the back of the front plate scribe the shape of the already finished forestock and hacksaw outside the line. Start filing the contour of the front plate but make it .04 inside the forestock when it's on the bbl. Shape the Mcap's body using the front plate inside the body for a nice fit for both.

 

[Vaino]

For some reason I have a lot of difficulty w/ writing replies or new topics on this site. The post right above this is only partially complete because of errors on incurred this site. One question....where's the "delete?....Fred

 

[Zonie]

You should be able to edit your post by hitting the "edit" button. You can do this for up to 15 minutes after you post your reply. After 15 minutes, only a admisistrator or moderator can change what is written in a post.

I think you are offered a Delete button in the "edit" phase but I might be wrong. If you have the button available, use it. If you don't, just erase everything you wrote and write in "delete post" and enter it. I'll do the rest.

 

[Vaino]

Thanks....Fred

 

[Ames]

Always keep a gun on the bench. Change which one it is weekly. And rearrange the ones on the wall from time to time.
Makes it harder for the wife to spot a new one if the herd grows.

 

[Larry (Omaha)]

I think there's many different ways to make and inlet a Mcap and my procedure is quite different than yours. On the back of the front plate scribe the shape of the already finished forestock.

I agree with many different ways. I find it interesting that you would rather fit/manufacture metal to a wood shape than make the metal and then trim the wood to fit the metal. No criticism meant, but it is way harder for me to make/bend and shape metal to an exact size than to just trim the wood to the metal. We all have trim/fit the wood to install a purchased cast brass butt plate.
Thanks for your reply
Flintlocklar

 

[Pete G]

The stock should be properly shaped and the cap made to fit the wood. Fitting the wood to an available cap is the reason for so many poorly shaped stocks.

 

[M. De Land]

Hey guys,
Ever wonder how you are going to do something? Necessity is the mother of invention and we all come up with ideas to do an assembly/manufacture procedure. Some of our ideas are good and some just plain don't work or are way too much trouble. I would like to start a post to pick your brains on ideas or tips you may have, or learned. There are a trillion good ideas out there, and even some crummy ones. Yesterday, I needed to hold the brass end onto my new nose cap to solder. I chose to cut the front to fit the rifle flats first instead of after soldering. This of course required the front to be held exactly where I wanted it, versus just solder a piece of brass on the end and cut to fit the flats after. I took a piece of 1/8" steel wire and bent it in a I_I shape with the two verticals a little farther apart than the length of my project. I then bent the two verticals inward past the dimension of my project to give it spring tension. Placing the new clamp in the vice as shown in the photos, I then inserted the work and applied soldering paste to the inside of the new nose cap. I know there are better ideas out there than this one, so let's hear them. Remember, not everyone on this forum is on the same level, of knowledge. We have lots of newbies that are itching for your good ideas.
Flintlocklar


View attachment 29614View attachment 29615

I would have just assembled it the way you have in the wire jig on a small piece of fire brick, with a bit of weight at the top end. Heated with a propane torch until the solder melted.

 

[Larry (Omaha)]

I would have just assembled it the way you have in the wire jig on a small piece of fire brick, with a bit of weight at the top end. Heated with a propane torch until the solder melted.

Interesting, I have never used firebrick. I assume you would have inverted what I did to place the muzzle cap end on top so it would receive the heat better. Since I have never used firebrick, maybe your intent is to heat the firebrick. Please clarify.
Flintlocklar

 

[M. De Land]

Interesting, I have never used firebrick. I assume you would have inverted what I did to place the muzzle cap end on top so it would receive the heat better. Since I have never used firebrick, maybe your intent is to heat the firebrick. Please clarify.
Flintlocklar

Heat brick loads and holds heat well. A small piece would work either way. If on the brick as in the picture then just heat with a propane torch perhaps two at once or you could invert as you suggested. I was thinking of using the brick as a heat sink to evenly melt the solder paste. I have to use two propane torches at the same time when sweating in a barrel liner to get enough heat load and heating a small slice of brick might require the same approach. I use heat bricks for welding and heat treating tool steel fairly often.

 

[Eterry]

Here's my tip.
1, keep working on it, every day if possible.
2, take off more wood. This is the hardest for me, but it's essential.
3, have a good idea what you want, then stick to your guns. Lots of people will try to change your mind, telling you what you should do and want.
4. Know when to call it a day. Most of the mistakes I've seen made were after something went wrong and people got frustrated. It's time to walk away for a while.

Warning...I am a rank amateur, there are many on here that build better guns.

 

[Larry (Omaha)]

Hey guys, not too many tips coming in, hard to believe with all that talent out there. Well, I am going to post what I believe to be a good suggestion. If you have a better way or want to comment, go for it. I need 8 brass oval wedge key escutcheons for my in progress scratch build Early Lancaster rifle. The last one I put together had 6 escutcheons and I made each one individually. This time my pea head had an idea. Why not do some of the work in multiples of 8? Photos show my process. 1 & 2.. rough cut .040 sheet brass and super glue together. 3. Brass outside shaped together on the belt sander. 4. Cavity in wood for brass and wood putty filler to hold brass in place. 5. 4 holes drilled for making key slot 6. Wood split and brass removed. 7. Final result after heat is applied to release the super glue. My keys are about 1/16" thick. The holes I drilled are a little over .050. The final slots will all be finished individually.
Flintlocklar

 

[Ames]

Smart. I like it!

 

[M&P]

All the nine books written by Kit Ravenshear are full of useful tips ! They were written from another time. Some techniques are obsolete (my opinion), but most of the tricks were useful for me. I got my set from Track of the Wolf years ago. Most of them are now backorder. I found the website to buy them online, looks like official website for these books.

https://yhst-37334683002880.stores.yahoo.net/handbooks-for-the-antique-guncraftsman.html
The official website of Kit Ravenshear (to know who he was)
http://www.kitravenshear.com/History.html

 

[Col. Batguano]

A basic one for inletting;
Cut the space to fit the part, rather than the other way around.

 

[Eterry]

Bob Brownell collected tips or "kinks" on gunsmithing for decades from other gunsmiths, he got so many he put together several books. Gunsmith Kinks 1 thru 4. I think it's almost all for modern firearms.

 

[stewart.leach]

Best advice I received from a local master builder:

Draw filing a barrel is easy, because you get to practice on the lower flats. Do this every time!

When you feel like really leaning on the chisel and moving some wood, set the tool down and take the dog for a walk.

When sanding, always use some kind of block to support and control the paper. Might be square, rectangular or a piece of dowel, be sure to use it. I have a shoe box assorted sizes.

Sand and sand and sand. Start with coarser grits, work up through grit sizes, don't skip a step. Have light from two directions at your bench, you can spot areas that need more sanding by shining light across the direction of work.

A good big vise is important. I like what is called a pattern makers vise- large capacity, jaws can swivel to grasp angled and rounded areas. Also have some sort of support for the other part of the stock or barrel- stack of blocks, adjustable support, something to keep the work piece from turning in the vise jaws. Have several options for padding vise jaws- wood, brass or copper, leather, conveyor belting. A big machinists vise is useful if you will be installing or removing breech plugs. Keep your vise jaws clean, brush wood and metal debris off frequently to keep from scratching your work piece.

SAL