Another rookie takes the plunge....

[Elkeater]

Your a brave man Jamie. :bow:

 

[jamieorr]

Your a brave man Jamie. :bow:

Or stupid?

This is just an itch I want to scratch, no one gets hurt if I mess it up.

Jamie
Supplier of raw material for "I-told-you-so!" since 1949

 

[Micah Clark]

Hey, you're gonna learn more than I would with a pre-carve, so I'm not knocking you at all. . . you lose nothing but time, wood and money, but you gain, even if it doesn't work out, priceless skill and knowledge.

 

[Micah Clark]

Jamieorr . . . BTW -- Why didn't Jim Chambers send you a rear entry thimble something like this for the PA Fowler ? That's what I am expecting to receive. . .maybe I am wrong, though.

 

[jamieorr]

Jamieorr . . . BTW -- Why didn't Jim Chambers send you a rear entry thimble something like this for the PA Fowler ? That's what I am expecting to receive. . .maybe I am wrong, though.

He did, more or less. Here's a close up of the rear entry thimble, you can see the lines scribed on it. Once cut, it should look very like your example.

I don't know if that's the usual way it arrives, but it's in line with my preference to do more myself so I can't complain!

Cheers

 

[Micah Clark]

That makes sense . . . That Jim Chamber's guy sure knows his stuff, doesn't he?

 

[frogwalking]

That was a really good move. Despite the long barrel, the gun is light and handles very well. It patterns nicely even with no choke. Here is the one I made from their kit with the precarve in straight grain walnut. I had a difficult time making the forend thin enough. It may still not be as thin as Jim would like.

It is going to one of my grand sons later this month.


Inletting the flaming urn on the triggerguard was time consuming, but soldering the tennons on the barrel straight and aligning the front sight may have been the biggest challenge. Here is my solder rig. An old welding clamp I found while bicycling.

 

[Keb]

I copied someone's soldering jig off the internet. Wish I could remember who. I'd gladly give them credit. It's a simple tool. I cut a little notch in an old hacksaw blade and bend it into an "S" kinda - sorta as the picture shows. I use a hose clamp to put a little pressure on the part I'm about to solder on. The notch on the blade holds the part where it belongs. I hammer the solder flat, cut the solder off, smear some flux on both the barrel and tenon/sight, put the sliver of flat solder between both surfaces, put the part under the notch on the blade and hit the barrel with heat. The part will kinda snap down on the barrel when it is hot enough to solder letting me know it's stuck on. I've had great success using this method to solder on sights & tenons. I can't say I've had 100% success but a very high success rate. I suspect my failures were probably due to improper cleaning.

Here's a mocked up image of the device holding a tenon on a piece of conduit.

 

[Micah Clark]

I copied that picture and put it in a folder for future reference . . . looks simple enough, I've got hack saw blades and hose clamps.

 

[Bo T]

What type of solder and flux are you using?

 

[Pete G]

That soldering fixture came from "Hoot Al". The advantage is that it keeps the same pressure on the lug even when the solder melts. This helps keep the lug from shifting and becoming mi-aligned.

 

[Vaino]

Found that hacksaw blades lost their springiness when heated so made the clamp bar shown below.

Swif 95 solder paste is all I use for soldering all components that require it....also eliminates "tinning" of both parts. Have never had the joint fail.....Fred

 

[jamieorr]

Found that hacksaw blades lost their springiness when heated so made the clamp bar shown below.

Swif 95 solder paste is all I use for soldering all components that require it....also eliminates "tinning" of both parts. Have never had the joint fail.....Fred

Not arguing here, but looking for clarification (I haven't done any soldering since high school, except for some home plumbing).

Reading various building threads, I got the impression that the higher temperatures in silver soldering could cause some distortion of a thinner barrel. The same threads indicated that the lower temp. solder was adequate for the job.

The fowler barrel is quite thin at the business end and would be good candidate for any possible distortion. Is this a real danger?

On a side note, you say you don't need to tin with the Swif 95 - I take it the solder just flows in, same as my home plumbing?

Thanks,
Jamie

 

[jamieorr]

That was a really good move. Despite the long barrel, the gun is light and handles very well. It patterns nicely even with no choke. Here is the one I made from their kit with the precarve in straight grain walnut. I had a difficult time making the forend thin enough. It may still not be as thin as Jim would like.

It is going to one of my grand sons later this month.

frogwalking, that is beautiful!

What steps did you take in working on or finishing the lock? I'm looking at mine, and the surface is not polished, but is pretty darn smooth for a casting. I had expected something rougher that would need filing and polishing but now I'm not sure just where to start.

And I should ask about the barrel too - same finish?

Jamie

 

[Vaino]

First off...when attaching a front sight or bbl lug on a round bbl, I take the sight or lug and rub either alternately w/ 220 grit paper w/ it wrapped around the bbl...first grit down and then up so both the bbl, lug or sight are sanded. The location of the bbl that's rubbed in the site of the installation.

The sight or bbl lug is held in position and the shape is penciled on the bbl.

Swif 95 or other brand of solder paste is applied to the bbl w/in the penciled outline and to the sight or bbl lug. Either item is then laid on the bbl and the pictured clamp bar has a clamped applied to the flat area w/ the hole.....the "V" notch is on top of the lug or sight. Doesn't take much force to hold down the sight or lug. Naturally the sight or lug has been centered on the bbl.

I use a Mapp Gas torch, but due to the low melt temp of the solder, a propane torch could be used...just takes longer.....especially w/ a thick walled bbl. The heat is mainly applied to the bbl w/ a pass or two over the sight or lug but the heat wiil mainly transfer to the sight or lug from the bbl. When the solder paste melts, stop heating.

Have soldered sights, bbl lugs on both octagon and round bbls, Bpox hinge plates to lids and finials and some other uses and have never had a failed join using the Swif 95....and it's so easy to use.

Because of the low temp req'd, the necessary heat won't damage a bbl....but I do give the bore a scrubbing w/ a wire brush after the soldering and a coat of lube.

 

[jamieorr]

Flehto,

Wow, solder and flux together - I'm pretty sure we didn't have that in my last shop class (1964). But it looks like a first-class product and it's on the list now.

Thanks for the detailed response,

Jamie

 

[frogwalking]

I don't like polishing locks. I bet your lock is not a smooth as it looks in its sand blasted original finish. These days I file the plate flat using a fine flat file. all the dips and depressions in the plate that looked so smooth soon become evident. It often takes me 4 hours to do this. I grind one edge off the file so it does not tear up the bottom of the pan, if it is an English lock. German ones you just take the pan of and file away. I then begin with 180 or 220 emery cloth wrapped around a block until smooth. Then 320 emery, then 400 if I am being anal about it. The slicker you polish, the shinier the finish can be. (I said can be because if you are going for a really slick finish, you will need to card frequently and many times to get it too.) Many leave it at 220 grit, and I sometimes do. The bluing solution has a chance to get a better bite, but the final finish is not so slick.

 

[Zonie]

I tried using emery cloth a few times and gave it up on it.

Emery is a rock and it's not really very hard so it seems to wear out pretty rapidly when its used for sanding on steel.

I switched to using Silicone Carbide, a man made abrasive that is nearly as hard as a diamond.

Silicone carbide is the abrasive used on the black "wet/dry" sandpaper sold at my local Ace Hardware store and it works very well on steel.

As it's made to be used "wet", for doing the roughing, I often use a little water with it if I'm sanding a soft metal like brass, bronze or aluminum.

The water washes a lot of the fine metal particles that have been removed out of the abrasive so it doesn't get "filled".

IMO, using it "wet" on steel doesn't seem to make much difference so on a steel part I just use it dry.

 

[jamieorr]

Found that hacksaw blades lost their springiness when heated so made the clamp bar shown below.

Swif 95 solder paste is all I use for soldering all components that require it....also eliminates "tinning" of both parts. Have never had the joint fail.....Fred

Flehto, Another follow-up, if I may. I have access to a forge through the Blacksmith Assoc., and would like to copy your clamp. Is that about 1/16 thick or a hair thicker?

Thanks,
Jamie

 

[Vaino]

I used hot rolled steel 1/8" thick X 1" wide. Bought it at the local hardware store and it was bent cold....could have been 3/4" wide or whatever works....Fred