Burnished metal authentic?

[chopperusa]

I have been wondering if anyone has ever came across a list of colonial gunsmith tools and if so was burnishing tools included? My thinking is that they didn't have power to pollish the barrels or the brass ussualy. But the jewelers and silversmiths of the time did use metal burnishing tools to smooth and give the metal a nice finnish.
So my thinking is why wouldn't a gunsmith do the same? After looking at some closeup pictures of original guns i did notice that some of the areas had a slight wavy appearance to them. And not surprizingly when i filed and then burnished my trigger guard and butplate i was rewarded with the same nice finish. This dose require more time but if you do a good job of fine file work it comes out very nice and actually goes quick after you get the hang of it. And the more interesting feature and what i was also interested in is that it ages to become a nice slightly golden patina like the old originals. My thinking is this would work on the barrel as well but with a steel barrel this takes some time to do. But the steel does finish with a smooth look that i believe will also age very well and develope a patina in time. Anyone else try this?

 

[jerrywh]

They had polishing wheels and polishing sticks covered with leather. Most has power wheels run by treadle ,steam, spring pole, water wheel or slave. They had better tools than you think and they knew how to use them.

 

[hoochiepapa]

Didn't they also have steel wool? I finish my brass and barrel with 0000 steel wool and get the same kind of finish. It has that polished look.

 

[jerrywh]

The majority of muzzle loading gun makers today think the 18th century gun makers were almost in the stone age. They do not know much about true history. In England, Manton had a brick building two stories high and a big block square. He had about 250 men working for him. Around 1800 Boutet was the director of the gun works at Versailles France and had about 2000 men working for him. They made millions of guns of all type. He also directed the gun works in Liege Belgium where another few thousand men worked under him. These gun works were massive and had machines capable of making any sporting gun we can make today. Chiselers could do anything a modern milling machine can do perhaps a little less accurately.
John Twigg had 12 lathes in his shop when his will was settled.
Yes this was in Europe but the gunsmiths in the colonies came from over there and brought this knowledge with them. Jacob Dickert made hundreds of guns and he never did it with a hand file, a hammer and a hacksaw. You can bet your bippy on that. The colonial gunsmiths were not the Flintstones. It would have been impossible to supply the colonial army if the colonial gunsmiths were as crudely tooled as most people think.
Now days there seems to be a contest to see who can make a masterpiece with stone tools. I don't compete in that contest. Neither did the colonial gunsmiths. If they could have purchased a modern Milling machine they would have done it in a flash and a microscope also.