Alternative to inlet black, and drum placement question

[flintbuilder]

So I am tired of the mess with inletting black. Does anyone have any EASY to use options that are cleaner and easier to use?

Also, I am getting ready to instal my first drum on my purcussion rifle and I am wondering what the ideal location for it is.
So, from breech to muzzle, should the threads of the drum be right in front of the plug or partialy in the plug, or further forward?
Also from the top of the barrel to the bottom, should the drum be installed exactlt in the center or closer to the top flat?
Any advice you have is valued, thanks. :hatsoff:

 

[radioread]

Ordinary female type lipstick. Cheap at the dollar store. Hole should be at end of thread on breech plug and dead center of the side flat.

Frank, Jr. :hmm:

 

[necchi]

Soot from an oil lamp, just turn the wick high till it starts smoking and hold the item over the flame in the soot.
Wipes off with a damp cloth.

 

[Va.Manuf.06]

All of the above will work, but no matter what you use (that actually works) will leave a mess. Use what works best for you and avoid grabbing the "blacked" (or "pinked" in the case of lipstick) area. Easiest for me is Jerrow's inletting black, others hate it and say it is too messy. I have also used a smokey candle and it works almost as well but it is still messy and when you touch the blacked area it will get on your hands and transfer to anything you touch.

 

[Stophel]

Jerrow's Inlet Black is the nastiest substance known to man.

I've been using pigment (sienna, burnt umber, whatever jar is handiest at the moment) with paint thinner. Works great, the color doesn't soak into the wood, and the paint thinner evaporates, leaving dry powder just like it was before. :wink: Wipes off of hands and metal easily, and can be scraped off the wood if desired.

 

[hoochiepapa]

Jarrow's is the best, I have a jar I've had since 1978, and it is still doin' good. Get some rubber gloves to wear, they are cheap at Lowe's, or the heavier ones at the grocery store.

 

[Va.Manuf.06]

Jerrow's Inlet Black is the nastiest substance known to man.

I've been using pigment (sienna, burnt umber, whatever jar is handiest at the moment) with paint thinner. Works great, the color doesn't soak into the wood, and the paint thinner evaporates, leaving dry powder just like it was before. :wink: Wipes off of hands and metal easily, and can be scraped off the wood if desired.

Chris's idea will probably work very well since all of his ideas do. It is probably "cleaner" than most other things, I will go along with him on it until I try it.... someday. :wink:

Until then, I'll keep using the nasty black stuff and only dream of reasonably clean hands. :hatsoff:

 

[flintbuilder]

Thanks for the info. I am unsure what you mean by pigment. :idunno: Can you explain for me?

And placement is just in front of the threads and dead center, correct?

 

[longcruise]

Also, I am getting ready to instal my first drum on my purcussion rifle and I am wondering what the ideal location for it is

Also, if you have already inlet your lock, you are sorta *locked in* on the position if you intend for the drum to be supported by the lock bolster cut out.

 

[flintbuilder]

Luckely it isn't precarved or inlet in yet so I have the ability to get it just right with all yalls input.

 

[Bill Hall]

As far as the inletting medium, I keep going back to lamp soot. Like Necchi said, it cleans off easily with a damp rag, or for barrel channels, I just buff it away with some steel wool. Remove the chimney form the lamp, and turn the wick up and you'll get ALOT of smoke. You can just turn the wick back down to a small flame while waiting for the next use. One thing I found that helps make better smoke is citranella oil, for those backyard tiki torches. Works great in oil lamps, and the smoke seems to stick better to the metal parts. Bill

 

[Stophel]

Chris's idea will probably work very well since all of his ideas do.

HAH! I only tell you people about my good ideas...You have no idea how much manure I've screwed up....

"Pigment", meaning dry artists' paint pigment. It is in a fine powder. I have several different colors already, so I have it on hand. It doesn't cost very much, and I buy from Kremer Pigmente. One could simply use ground up charcoal, which would cost nothing. Burn a little stick of wood, grind up the black charcoal with a rock or a piece of wood and voila! Lamp black pigment.

I take a hunk of paper towel, dip it in a little paint thinner, and sprinkle out some pigment on an old piece of wood, and smoosh it around with the paint thinner to make a smooth paste, then smear it on the metal part. The paint thinner eventually evaporates away, leaving dry powder, which is easily wiped off the metal part and relatively easily wiped off your hands. :wink:

I suppose you could use garden lime to make "inlet white", which would work well with walnut or cherry. If you're like me, you've probably got lots of rusty stuff laying around and you could use "rust dust", which works well too. :wink:

 

[Va.Manuf.06]

Chris's idea will probably work very well since all of his ideas do.

HAH! I only tell you people about my good ideas...You have no idea how much manure I've screwed up....

:shocked2:

Oh man! Another of life's great truisms shot down in flames.

Drat!

Say it ain't so....... :hatsoff:

 

[LaBonte]

Like Chris I use pigment, but mix it with a bit of linseed oil - also easily cleaned up with acetone or paint thinner. I like red since I like a red tone to my wood anyway. I use red ocher which I also use for face paint (I get it from Crazy Crow), but you can also use red chalk line dust....

 

[phoenix511]

Regarding the drum installation, if the lock recess is complete, you will need to install the drum to fit the lock so it is supported when the hammer falls. I've found some latitude in grinding out a "trough" in the breech plug if the drum hole goes into it.

Ideally, the drum's vent hole will just touch the plug's face, so if you have not inletted the lock, position it on the stock and trace where the cut-out for the drum is located (with the center being at the front of the plug), then inlet the lock.

I doubt if a few 0.001" either way make much difference, but make certain you don't drill into the plug without making a passage way to the bore.

Don't know what happens if the drum vents forward of the plug ... maybe nothing?