Soft Brass for Sideplate needed

[PathfinderNC]

I guess I have to cut a sideplate to fit an existing mortise for a Fowler I am working on. It’s an unusual shape so either I inlay a matching curly maple patch into the pre- cut mortise and use a spiffy looking sideplate, or more likely I will need to cut out a sideplate from brass to install in place.
Any sources for a piece of soft brass, 1/8” thick (or slightly more), by 6”long and 2” high?
Thanks!
Bob

 

[Larry Akers]

stonewall creek outfitters

 

[PathfinderNC]

stonewall creek outfitters

They dont have brass blanks

 

[dave_person]

Hi Bob,
This is easy to do. Track of the Wolf also sells 1/8" thick brass sheet. Take a piece of paper, place it over the mortise and rub it with the side of a pencil. That will copy the outline of the plate. Then cut out the shape and glue it on the metal. You could also trace the rubbing on to card stock using carbon paper and cut out the card board copy. Then trace that on the metal with a scribe or better, coat the metal with Dykem blue lacquer and trace the card board pattern with a scribe. Cut the metal slightly over size so you can custom fit it into the mortise. If you have a jeweler's saw, drill holes all the way around the edges of the plate and then use the saw to cut the metal between the holes.

That speeds up the cutting.

That side plate design on your stock is common for New England guns. If you desire a fancier plate, you can certainly fill the mortise with wood and cut a new mortise for a different plate but I urge you to do research and choose a design appropriate for a New England gun. Before doing any of that, I would try to wipe out the existing poorly cut lock panel edges and reshape the panels properly.

dave

 

[sussexmuzllodr]

They dont have brass blanks

Bob I have a 5"X 3/4 x1/8 piece if it helps. Sm

 

[PathfinderNC]

Hi Bob,
This is easy to do. Track of the Wolf also sells 1/8" thick brass sheet. Take a piece of paper, place it over the mortise and rub it with the side of a pencil. That will copy the outline of the plate. Then cut out the shape and glue it on the metal. You could also trace the rubbing on to card stock using carbon paper and cut out the card board copy. Then trace that on the metal with a scribe or better, coat the metal with Dykem blue lacquer and trace the card board pattern with a scribe. Cut the metal slightly over size so you can custom fit it into the mortise. If you have a jeweler's saw, drill holes all the way around the edges of the plate and then use the saw to cut the metal between the holes.

That speeds up the cutting.

That side plate design on your stock is common for New England guns. If you desire a fancier plate, you can certainly fill the mortise with wood and cut a new mortise for a different plate but I urge you to do research and choose a design appropriate for a New England gun. Before doing any of that, I would try to wipe out the existing poorly cut lock panel edges and reshape the panels properly.

dave

Dave- thank you, somehow I missed finding the brass sheet in Track.
I had envisioned doing a rub to get the sideplate outline to make a blank. I like the idea of making some piercings like you have shown, though anything I would do will be far simpler.
I am not sure I could get a good wood match to fill in that large crater on the side. So a slightly larger brass plate (to get a sharper fit) following the existing design seems best.
As always, thank you.

 

[PathfinderNC]

Bob I have a 5"X 3/4 x1/8 piece if it helps. Sm

Thanks but it would be small for the space I need to fill. I appreciate your offer nonetheless

 

[CuNosecap]

https://www.zoro.com/zoro-select-flat-stock-0125-12-w-1-ft-curec00544/i/G2704545/I just went through this with Zoro.com. Pretty fast delivery.

Multiple sizes available

https://www.zoro.com/zoro-select-fl...2411884/?variantSelection=width&scrollPos=400

 

[PathfinderNC]

Thanks - found what I need!

 

[Larry (Omaha)]

I guess I have to cut a sideplate to fit an existing mortise for a Fowler I am working on. It’s an unusual shape so either I inlay a matching curly maple patch into the pre- cut mortise and use a spiffy looking sideplate, or more likely I will need to cut out a sideplate from brass to install in place.
Any sources for a piece of soft brass, 1/8” thick (or slightly more), by 6”long and 2” high?
Thanks!
Bob

I purchase some of my brass from Amazon. Don't know if they have specifically what you want, but they have a good selection.
Prime is free delivery too.
Larry

 

[Compressorguy]

I see you found what you needed and like Larry (Omaha) I have bought this on Amazon, free shipping with Prime, so $14.99 seems like a good deal considering delivered in two days and shipping would run a couple bucks.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08224K889/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

 

[The Crisco Kid]

Our local Ace Hardware has it.

 

[IanH]

Almost all of the Amazon brass is 360 which is very hard to begin with, pale, and in a work hardened state. It's for knife bolsters mainly but would work fine for a side plate. Just don't try to bend it. For bending, less zinc is wanted, like 70/30 cartridge brass. I had to pony up and buy a 3' stick of 2"x3/32" flat stock from McMaster-Carr to get what I needed for butt plates and trigger guards. At half-hard it's still tough, and has a nice golden-yellow hue that tarnishes well.

It is a simple matter to melt cartridge cases in a torch crucible with O/A (or in a furnace crucible in pile of charcoal force fed with a hair dryer taped to an iron pipe), flux with 20 mule team borax, skim with an old spoon, and pour a big amoeba shape in a preheated, open-faced mould, then planish it out thin and flat (with frequent annealings) enough for your use.

 

[Larry Akers]

They dont have brass blanks

Strange, I bought 3 pieces from them a few months ago.

 

[dave_person]

Hi Bob,
I wasn't suggesting you pierce the side plate rather when cutting it out, drilling holes around the outside edge helps speed up the process of cutting it out. Here is an original example of a John Hills gun showing what I believe your side plate was meant to be.

dave

 

[LME]

I guess I have to cut a sideplate to fit an existing mortise for a Fowler I am working on. It’s an unusual shape so either I inlay a matching curly maple patch into the pre- cut mortise and use a spiffy looking sideplate, or more likely I will need to cut out a sideplate from brass to install in place.
Any sources for a piece of soft brass, 1/8” thick (or slightly more), by 6”long and 2” high?
Thanks!
Bob

I saw where you mentioned you needed solf brass. If you have some brass that is hard heat it with a torch to anneal it. I do copper when it becomes work hardened and brass has a lot of copper in it. It to can be annealed.

 

[Rebel bull]

Almost all of the Amazon brass is 360 which is very hard to begin with, pale, and in a work hardened state. It's for knife bolsters mainly but would work fine for a side plate. Just don't try to bend it. For bending, less zinc is wanted, like 70/30 cartridge brass. I had to pony up and buy a 3' stick of 2"x3/32" flat stock from McMaster-Carr to get what I needed for butt plates and trigger guards. At half-hard it's still tough, and has a nice golden-yellow hue that tarnishes well.

It is a simple matter to melt cartridge cases in a torch crucible with O/A (or in a furnace crucible in pile of charcoal force fed with a hair dryer taped to an iron pipe), flux with 20 mule team borax, skim with an old spoon, and pour a big amoeba shape in a preheated, open-faced mould, then planish it out thin and flat (with frequent annealings) enough for your use.

as a long time metal worker if the brass is to hard to work with for your purposes heat to a glowing red and drop it in a pan of water the non Ferris metals act opposite to steel you just have to be extremely careful with cast parts. it well turn brown/black you just polish to the level of shine you desire

 

[IanH]

Brass and copper don't need to be water quenched after the anneal, just heated above 750⁰F. How the material is quenched after reaching annealing temperature (air, water, etc) makes no difference.

 

[longcruise]

Brass and copper don't need to be water quenched after the anneal, just heated above 750⁰F. How the material is quenched after reaching annealing temperature (air, water, etc) makes no difference.

I always just let it air cool. I guess quenching is for the impatient

 

[PathfinderNC]

Hi Bob,
I wasn't suggesting you pierce the side plate rather when cutting it out, drilling holes around the outside edge helps speed up the process of cutting it out. Here is an original example of a John Hills gun showing what I believe your side plate was meant to be.

dave

I hadn’t thought of drilling out holes to help cutting it out. Very good.