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Where did lockplates come from?

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In the 15th-17th centuries, how did gunsmiths acquire/build lockplates?

I am fairly certain it was not when a mommy and daddy lockplate loved each other very much, but my understanding of historical metal working is so rudimentary, that I am not even sure where to start.

Were they cast, bars that were hammered to size, strips that where cut and filed, or sheets that had them cut out?

In current recreations, how are they normally made?
 
Metal work back to ancient times was fine. I saw a gun maker in Los Angeles at a gun show with some flat stock. It was about 9 AM around two he had much of a lock assembled and by five he was tempering the springs having done the whole of the lock.
Admittedly he had an electric forge, but all else was chisels and files.
We have learned a lot about metallurgy since then, but these guys that were making guns started early teen as apprentice.and as long as a journeyman before they became masters. They didn’t have thermometers but knew temp and metal glow colors, and the sound of metal being tempered.
King Tut had a meteoric iron dagger made. This was still late Bronze Age. Iron work was in its infancy. However with little experience this maker could turn out a blade out modren ‘forged in iron’ knife smiths would be proud of
 
Get a copy of Gunsmith of Colonial Williamsburg. The movie shows them building a flint lock from scratch.
That video was absolutely amazing. Really shows how mindboggling labor intensive gunsmithing was.

I had not realized almost every single part had to be forged and hammered into shape.
 
Maybe for future interest. My original question was about matchlocks.
And matchlocks tended to be pretty simple. A flat plate, serpentine and pivot, weak spring. By 1600 lock making, in this case wheellocks was its It’s own subperfession. While matchlocks could be made by a skilled blacksmith
 
Hi,
Matchlocks are so simple that any black smith could make or repair one. You asked if the plates were cast. In a sense they were at one point when pans were integral to the plate rather than separate. Many lock makers hammered the red hot iron into swedge molds to form the plates and then filed them to final shape. Although this is off topic about matchlocks, the film from Colonial Williamsburg is wonderful but it is unlikely that most long rifles were made that way. Most used imported parts, particularly locks from England. With the extreme division of labor in England, no rural American gunsmith could produce parts as well or as cheaply as those coming from England.

dave
 
My dad had (he still does, but I live on the opposite side of the country now) a wood and machine shop in my parents house when I was growing up, so I was exposed to metal working in a machining, but pre cnc context. I had never been exposed to forging. I guess I never really thought about how long into relatively modern history blacksmithing existed as the main form of metal working.

My curiosity had came from looking through the link for matchlock chronology in the other thread. The Colonial Williamsburg video and now seeing forging does help explain how all the gubbins are shaped in three dimensions, which was going to be my follow up question.
Luntenschl.17 kl.jpg
 
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Hi,
Matchlocks are so simple that any black smith could make or repair one. You asked if the plates were cast. In a sense they were at one point when pans were integral to the plate rather than separate. Many lock makers hammered the red hot iron into swedge molds to form the plates and then filed them to final shape. Although this is off topic about matchlocks, the film from Colonial Williamsburg is wonderful but it is unlikely that most long rifles were made that way. Most used imported parts, particularly locks from England. With the extreme division of labor in England, no rural American gunsmith could produce parts as well or as cheaply as those coming from England.

dave
Indeed, the ONE rifle or smoothbore a colonial gunsmith apprentice made entirely himself to become a Journeyman, was probably the LAST gun he ever made entirely on his own.

Gus
 
Now that I have been enlightened to the history, how is it done now?

I believe Rifle Shoppe parts are mostly cast or milled, and Kibler locks are CNC, but when someone makes a one off replica gun (preferably matchlock), with pieces from "scratch"* are they still forging the parts, or is it more common to mill/machine the pieces?

*excluding the barrel, because it seems like most smiths buy barrels
 
Now that I have been enlightened to the history, how is it done now?

I believe Rifle Shoppe parts are mostly cast or milled, and Kibler locks are CNC, but when someone makes a one off replica gun (preferably matchlock), with pieces from "scratch"* are they still forging the parts, or is it more common to mill/machine the pieces?

*excluding the barrel, because it seems like most smiths buy barrels
Hi,
They do it both ways. Some machine them from solid stock and others forge them into swedge dies. I could easily make a matchlock. If the pan was part of the barrel, I would simply cut the plate from sheet mild steel, drill and tap it if the design required screws or forgo tapping if it just used pinned parts. I would heat bend and shape the serpentine, forge the springs from 1075 steel and file everything to shape. I could do it in less than one work day. I could make a "tricker" lock, a "sear" lock, or even a snapping matchlock. No big deal.

dave
 
Hi,
They do it both ways. Some machine them from solid stock and others forge them into swedge dies. I could easily make a matchlock. If the pan was part of the barrel, I would simply cut the plate from sheet mild steel, drill and tap it if the design required screws or forgo tapping if it just used pinned parts. I would heat bend and shape the serpentine, forge the springs from 1075 steel and file everything to shape. I could do it in less than one work day. I could make a "tricker" lock, a "sear" lock, or even a snapping matchlock. No big deal.

dave
Thanks Dave, very interesting. I was considering making a simple snapping lock as a practice project, which partially started this whole thread and why I was going through the matchlock chronology, besides historical interest of course. My workstation is a folding table in my backyard/alleyway/driveway thing and I need to get a bench vise, but it may still be a bit too much of a logistical stretch. The spring for the cock/serpentine seems to be the main hurdle.

27931273_5bbccf0eac_o.jpg
27931274_f237d09667_o.jpg
 
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