Building another flintlock

[Knotty]

Very very nice! Keep up the good work!

I just want to see you put a finish on that wood and make it shine 😊

[Eric Krewson]

I made a fixture to test my patchbox catch and release spring, it worked perfectly.



When I tried to fit it to my patchbox i found I had made the first bend too short. I tried to rebend it but I never could get it just right, I started working on a new spring this afternoon.

[JEB]

Guess I am going to my hand at building a handgun.  My bow making buddy has been making flintlocks and I just mentioned I would like to try a handgun and he handed me an unfinished (never started) stock and a smooth bore 52 cal barrel. Now to decide flint lock or cap. Because I am flint knapper I may try to make the flint lock style.

[JW_Halverson]

Guess I am going to my hand at building a handgun.  My bow making buddy has been making flintlocks and I just mentioned I would like to try a handgun and he handed me an unfinished (never started) stock and a smooth bore 52 cal barrel. Now to decide flint lock or cap. Because I am flint knapper I may try to make the flint lock style.

*in my best cartoon villain voice:*  Excelllleeeennnnntt!

[mullet]

Wow! Wish I had a friend that would hand me one.

[Eric Krewson]

After making spring # 5, I GOT IT, lots of good pictures to follow. I am putting all the patch parts together for a test run, I know it will work, it did in a dry run without all the screws in place.

Don't you just hate it when someone keeps you hanging........

[Eric Krewson]

I will start with the patch box spring wall of shame, there was at least 3 more failures not in the picture.The one that is intact actually worked.



A test fit showed it to be a little tall so I will have to inlet a deeper spot for it in the box.





First test run, putting everything together.



It works!





Just a little more adjustment to get the box lid down tight and WE ARE DONE!

Next, sanding staining and finishing the wood, and greying the barrel and metal parts.

[mullet]

Eric, will you remove all of the metal parts to gray them?

[Eric Krewson]

I will for the most part,  I think I will leave the muzzle cap in place. It is a long process sanding out all the file and casting marks on the metal, the butt plate is particularly rough and will take at least a day to smooth out. I still have to sand all the external lock parts to get rid of the factory orange peel surface.

I will sand everything down to 220 and stop there.

[Eric Krewson]

Polishing out the factory casting marks is a pain. Below you can see a lock plate I have polished and a cock that I am just starting on that still has the rough factory grey finish. There is no good way  to hold things while you work on them, some fit in a vise, some don't.

[JW_Halverson]

You have inspired me to replace the double set trigger in my .36 flinter with a single trigger.  Now I gotta find something roughly the right size to modify to fit!

[Eric Krewson]

Make a trigger, super easy to cold forge one.

Start;



Finish;

[Eric Krewson]

As I started sanding I noticed a discrepancy in my side to side stock shaping and had to make some corrections to even things out, this required some inletting and metal thinning to make things fit again.



I cut and fit all my pins today;

First measure how long the pin should be;



Mark the length to cut;



Test fit, just right;



I put three pins in the barrel lugs, three in the ramrod pipes and two in the trigger guard. I like to keep them straight after I remove them from the stock.



Tomorrow it is whisker the stock, stain and apply the first coat of finish.


 

[chamookman]

Getting close Erik - can't wait to see the final product ! Bob

[Eric Krewson]

As a side note, my dremel gave up the ghost on me, it was only a couple years old. I called the company and they said the max charge for a repair was $59 and could be nothing if it was a factory defect and anything in between if it wasn't a serious problem.

I took a 20% off coupon to Harbor Freight and bought a similar tool for $21 out the door, the dang thing work really well.