How was this done?

[Doc Ivory]

OK, how did the artists back in the 1700s and 1800s accomplish the engraving and carving like the Lock I posted here.

If that lock is made of steel, then the engraving tools had to be harder than steel to cut it.
The engraving and carving tools (chisels and files?) had to be pretty dang precise.

Am I correct in saying the cock and plate were cast first then finished?
Even the engraving on the barrel is amazing

How was it done???
Here I go again, off on another research project.

If anyone knows, please point me in the right direction.

 

[LawrenceA]

That is an impressive looking piece.

I do not believe they would have been cast as cast steel was not readily available.
I would suggest that the pieces were soft when engraved and then heat treated to toughen and or harden them up.

There are steels and steels and even the same steel can show different properties depending on the heat treatment.
Silver/brass fittings etcetera were likely mostly cast

 

[Zonie]

Like LawrenceA said, there are steels and steels..... and then there is iron.

Each of these have different hardness's depending on the type of steel or iron and the heat treatment of them. They can range in hardness from Brinell Hardness 80 thru BH 745. BH 80 would be something like steel used for water pipe. BH 745 would be something like a fully hardened High Speed Cutting tool.

A cutting tools hardness allows it to cut thru softer steels without a problem so, if the craftsman who made that lock was using the tools I think he was, carving that fancy lock would have taken a lot of time but it would have been possible.

It is also possible that the lock parts were investment (wax) cast to roughly the finished shape and the surfaces on the castings were finished with cutting tools.
Wax casting has been around for thousands of years so, it's nothing new.
It's called wax casting because the shape is originally carved out of wax. The wax is then coated with clay or some other ceramic like material leaving two holes in some unimportant place to create a hollow shell. The wax is then melted out of the shell thru the two holes in the wall of it.
The shell is then fully hardened or glazed.
After heating the shell to almost as hot as the molten metal, the metal is poured into it thru one of the holes while air escapes thru the other hole. It is then allowed to cool. Following cooling, the shell is then broken off of the metal casting.

The process is called "investment casting" because you "invest" the wax pattern which will end up being destroyed in the process.

While I'm at it, hollow castings can also be made using the investment process. To make a hollow casting, things are the same up until the time the metal is poured. The molten metal is poured into the shell and a little time is given to allow the metal to start to harden. It does this from the outer surface, inward.
Before all of the metal is hardened, the shell is turned so that one of the holes is pointed downward. This allows the still molten metal in the interior of the casting to pour back out leaving the hollow casting behind.

 

[Doc Ivory]

This is great, thanks to both of you.
My understanding of metal working is pretty much nil but even at my age, I wanna learn about it.

Off to find more info about investment casting and mild steels

 

[Tumbledown]

That looks to be a big inlay. You can see the seam if you zoom in. Perhaps a cast piece set into a hardened lockplate.

 

[LawrenceA]

That looks to be a big inlay. You can see the seam if you zoom in. Perhaps a cast piece set into a hardened lockplate.

I agree
Different color as well. I think it is silver inlayed in steel but the cock is steel.

 

[Tumbledown]

I agree
Different color as well. I think it is silver inlayed in steel but the cock is steel.

Yes, silver. I hadn't considered that, but the tone of the inlay looks right.

 

[appalichian hunter]

If you look up KEITH CASTELL he is a long rifle builder, a few years back I had the opportunity to watch him do a flint hammer with a old man of the mountain face carved in it. I also believe there is a book about his rifles and work.

 

[ohio ramrod]

When I see some of the old engravings I realize the only way they could do such fine work was MAGIC.Which is why they had wizards back then! I watched a true master several years ago at Friendship( I don't remember his name) engrave a lock plate for over an hour and was totally blown away by how much detail he could put into a lock plate in an hour.Looking closely at the "pumpkin" the nipple screws into shows signs of being cast , so I assume the piece was cast then engraved also some parts seem to be overlaid. which would seem to be an assembly of different parts.But no matter how it was made it is truely a work of art.

 

[Doc Ivory]

When I see some of the old engravings I realize the only way they could do such fine work was MAGIC.Which is why they had wizards back then!

Some of that old stuff truly is magic.
I even marvel at the stone carvings.. HOW DID YOU DO THAT!

 

[Sam squanch]

Is that grandpa munster’s pistol?