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While I agree with the first part of this statement, and am in partial agreement with the second, I would modify that part about "patina". Patina is nothing more than oil covered rust. Rust that used to be blueing. I would NEVER take the gun to a wire wheel and REMOVE the patina. What I DO...

Since I discovered them, I use cobalt drill bits all the time now. Yes they're expensive. They seem to hold a point well, and go through metal when the cheaper bits don't want to. They're. a must for drilling stainless steel. Carbide would work too, but I don't have any. Haven't been able to...

A bit off topic but I've seen that too. We put out mouse poison in our boat house (it's not mouse proof) and they took it and stored it all in 1 drawer. I've found mouse droppings inside carburetors before too. The lower edges of the brass butterfly valves turned green and corroded to stick...

Executing symmetrical carving is very difficult in not making one side just. little bit different than the other. It's a slow process--tweak it, look at it, tweak some more, and even then, it's VERY hard to have both sides come out perfectly symmetrical. Maybe that's why rococo carving became...

That is such an unconventional and (to me), "odd looking" toe line that I'd like to see some pictures of some of the originals that you're (presumably) patterning it after. I want to reserve any comment or judgment on the rest of the architecture until then. Maybe it's the pictures, but the...

The thing that makes gun carving trickier than furniture is that, generally, our American Long rifle carving is done in low relief, and furniture is done in high relief. The trick with low relief (max of 1/16" but most of it is much lower than that) is to make it LOOK like high relief in...

Thanks Phil. That's a great help.

Then add in the cost of the proper dunk tank and basket. From what I've seen of the process its very messy. Lots of amps going to an oven that can get that hot, so maybe re-wiring the electric panel too. The videos on You tube show a pretty big oven that's set up outside. I like the idea of...

How expensive would it be to get set up to do this sort of thing? Starting from square 1.

Many such as Coehorns were made with a smaller sub chamber for the powder charge. Do a search under buckstix and deer hunting with an 8" mountain howitzer to see how he built his. Yes, he shot a deer with it.

You should find the locations for the pipes first so you can work around them with your lug spacing. You don't have to cut them (the pipes) in yet, just know where they're going. . If you're just doing pins and no estrucheons it's something of a lesser concern (you're not taking wood out of...

Now THAT'S the sort of wedgie I like to get! :)

Great work Phil. Do you glue the nails in place? I've angled them upwards so they go through in to the barrel channel, and then bend them over in to a little channel I cut for them. Then epoxy the channel. Chamfering the inside of the estrucheon holes helps too.

I've used the boiling method for lots of stuck parts before, like stuck butterfly valves on a carburetor. Some times it has to go a few hours, but it works. No worries with the temper either. And then a dose of penetrating oil, followed by a big hammer.

Yeah. When I wa about 13 my body fat index was about 13%, and my left elbow rested solidly on my hip bone (in standing position). Now it's about 22%, (age 68) and the left elbow comes to rest somewhat "north" of there. That makes a difference in where your left elbow comes to rest (suspended...

That speaks to my point about a heavier gun holding steadier. There is more mass that needs to be set in motion, and smaller muscle twitches or inputs have a lesser effect in moving it. There is going to be a sweet spot range for your current musculature though. Too light and it will whip all...

I think that regarding ACCURACY we need to look at what modern day shooters use and interpret that back to our charcoal guns. Modern bench rest shooters use barrels in the 20"-22" range. Smallbore 3-P shooters in the 16" range with a "bloop tube" on the front (unrifled pipe where the bullet...

Blue rhodium plating can get you a deep blue color. Not exactly HC / PC though.

The shinier you make it, the slower it will tarnish. I took a butt plate on my Ohio Vincent up to 2000 grit one time and I could have used it as a signal mirror. Now I usually don't go much further than 800 grit if I want something of a mat finish.

Check out the older Rock Island and James D Julia (now Morphy's) auctions. GB is mostly a waste of time for that sort of stuff. Some museums have web sites that are another source of eye candy if you can't visit in person. The European ones such as the Musee' d'Armee in Paris is great. The...