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Documentation of the construction of my first dueling pistol box

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the first try, blue-eyed, after long research for the right glue ( it's hasenleim; made from rabbit skin and bones) the interior I had made before, of course not the guns and the powder bottle, the latter only got an original Tiffany-patina, but ramrod, the ebony boxes, hammer, handles for the screwdriver/piston-tool and the bronze parts are self-made on my small chinese lathe.
On the last picture the next project with my two pistols from gunsmith Bössel / Suhl germany.
Very interesting weapons by the way; there is a thorn in the powder magazine.
The spike rifle is a special rifle construction. It is a multiloading rifle with a pulled barrel.

The construction was proposed in 1844 by the French colonel Thouvenin, as an improvement of the system by Henri Gustave Delvigne. The long projectile is raised with the ramrod on a steel spike attached to the base of the tail bolt. This enlarges the calibre of the lead bullet, so that it takes the pulls during the shot and is thus set in rotation. The French army introduced this system in 1846, followed by Sardinia, Denmark and Norway.

Thouvenin's design was an improvement over Delvigne's, but it did not work satisfactorily either. Firstly, the bullet was unevenly deformed by the blows with the ramrod, which resulted in poor precision. It was also difficult to clean the chamber around the spike, which caused rust. The rust, together with the high temperatures during firing and the repeated blows of the ramrod caused frequent breakage of the spike.

In the town of Suhl/Thuringia/ Germany several hundred rifles and also pistols were manufactured for the Swedish cavalry.
Probably an officer had this, my pistol pair, manufactured.
 

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Very nice. Well made and contents are neat....the round cylinder upper right is for?
 
That is an absolutely beautiful presentation! I think it would be safe to say that you have done this type of work before.

Thank you for a pleasant shot of morning eye candy!

Regards,

Jim
 
Nice work!

The form looks bandsawn from solid wood. Could you show us how you achieve the turn on the edge of the fabric lining please?
 
The basic frame is made of balsa wood, sawed out with a scroll saw (see picture)
I think it is better to make this part out of several layers.
The accessories are usually of different heights.
I will also try this idea of sandwich construction.

I had been thinking for a long time about how to work the fabric lining.
At first I thought that there was a layer of cardboard in there.
By trial and error, observing various illustrations I found the solution.
Spread the backside of the fabric with rabbit glue, fold it and press it together.
Now you can glue the now double layer of cloth into the intended compartment.
Of course you should have determined the exact length before.
And you must not lose much time.
The strip of fabric will quickly harden, as you wish.
Glue the surface first, then the sides and finally the floor.
92271705_A.gif

Working cleanly saves laborious reworking.
But everything is not so bad, the rabbit glue is water soluble.
This means that such a box must not get too wet.
Otherwise everything dissolves again.
I think you can also work with fish glue, it should stay soft longer.
Maybe I'll try that for my next project.
 
Beautiful pistol case ! I recognize your saw too. It’s a Hegner. I had the pleasure of working with one many years ago. It belonged to a friend. It was extremely expensive here in the U.S. I bought the next best machine (in my opinion), the RBI scroll saw. I use that saw an awful lot. I never thought of using it to make cut outs for pistol cases. :cool:
 
Did you make your own glue too? That is really quite enterprising of you. Wonderful craftsmanship!

I would be honoured to serve as your second for your next challenge.
 
Did you make your own glue too? That is really quite enterprising of you. Wonderful craftsmanship!

I would be honoured to serve as your second for your next challenge.


The honor would be all mine, but what do you mean by second exactly?
My english is not as good as my craftsmanship.
I couldn't learn it in school and got it from my travelling companions during my trips to Afghanistan in the 70s. Also a reason to visit this forum, to brush it up a little bit.
Thanks to the creator there are now these translation programs.

And no, I buy the glue ready, you only have to heat it in a water bath; diluted with water.
Smells quite strong, my wife doesn't like the smell.
But that's just the way it is, there are also people who don't like the smell of burnt black powder, I'm afraid.
 
The basic frame is made of balsa wood, sawed out with a scroll saw (see picture)
I think it is better to make this part out of several layers.
The accessories are usually of different heights.
I will also try this idea of sandwich construction.

I had been thinking for a long time about how to work the fabric lining.
At first I thought that there was a layer of cardboard in there.
By trial and error, observing various illustrations I found the solution.
Spread the backside of the fabric with rabbit glue, fold it and press it together.
Now you can glue the now double layer of cloth into the intended compartment.
Of course you should have determined the exact length before.
And you must not lose much time.
The strip of fabric will quickly harden, as you wish.
Glue the surface first, then the sides and finally the floor.View attachment 25403
Working cleanly saves laborious reworking.
But everything is not so bad, the rabbit glue is water soluble.
This means that such a box must not get too wet.
Otherwise everything dissolves again.
I think you can also work with fish glue, it should stay soft longer.
Maybe I'll try that for my next project.

I was wondering what kind of fabric and or padding you're going to use? The reason is, I had a friend that bought the wood cased set of 3 Colt black-powder pistols that came available in I think the '70s and put them in his gun safe that was equipped with a golden rod. He bought it as an investment and never fired them, he took them out a few years later and there were rust spots everywhere the fabric touched. He assured me that he had put a light coat of gun oil on them. I wanted to make a similar case for my Pedersoli Continental Dueling pistols.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
the first try, blue-eyed, after long research for the right glue ( it's hasenleim; made from rabbit skin and bones) the interior I had made before, of course not the guns and the powder bottle, the latter only got an original Tiffany-patina, but ramrod, the ebony boxes, hammer, handles for the screwdriver/piston-tool and the bronze parts are self-made on my small chinese lathe.
On the last picture the next project with my two pistols from gunsmith Bössel / Suhl germany.
Very interesting weapons by the way; there is a thorn in the powder magazine.
The spike rifle is a special rifle construction. It is a multiloading rifle with a pulled barrel.

The construction was proposed in 1844 by the French colonel Thouvenin, as an improvement of the system by Henri Gustave Delvigne. The long projectile is raised with the ramrod on a steel spike attached to the base of the tail bolt. This enlarges the calibre of the lead bullet, so that it takes the pulls during the shot and is thus set in rotation. The French army introduced this system in 1846, followed by Sardinia, Denmark and Norway.

Thouvenin's design was an improvement over Delvigne's, but it did not work satisfactorily either. Firstly, the bullet was unevenly deformed by the blows with the ramrod, which resulted in poor precision. It was also difficult to clean the chamber around the spike, which caused rust. The rust, together with the high temperatures during firing and the repeated blows of the ramrod caused frequent breakage of the spike.

In the town of Suhl/Thuringia/ Germany several hundred rifles and also pistols were manufactured for the Swedish cavalry.
Probably an officer had this, my pistol pair, manufactured.
The honor would be all mine, but what do you mean by second exactly?
My english is not as good as my craftsmanship.
I couldn't learn it in school and got it from my travelling companions during my trips to Afghanistan in the 70s. Also a reason to visit this forum, to brush it up a little bit.
Thanks to the creator there are now these translation programs.

And no, I buy the glue ready, you only have to heat it in a water bath; diluted with water.
Smells quite strong, my wife doesn't like the smell.
But that's just the way it is, there are also people who don't like the smell of burnt black powder, I'm afraid.
Gratuliere!
Irish
 
The honor would be all mine, but what do you mean by second exactly?
My english is not as good as my craftsmanship.
I couldn't learn it in school and got it from my travelling companions during my trips to Afghanistan in the 70s. Also a reason to visit this forum, to brush it up a little bit.
Thanks to the creator there are now these translation programs.

The second in a duel was the companion of the duelist. The second's task was to witness the duel and assisted in the preparation of the weapons and review of the rules of conduct. For pistols, the seconds would verify the fitness of use of both pistols, verify the lead balls and would load one of the pistols. The other second would load the other pistol. Before the duel the seconds would try to see if the duel could be avoided by determining if satisfaction could be attained by other means such as an apology or withdrawal of the challenge. Then if the duel was carried out and if one or both of the participants were wounded or killed, the second would take the duelist to the surgeon for treatment.
 
The second in a duel was the companion of the duelist. The second's task was to witness the duel and assisted in the preparation of the weapons and review of the rules of conduct. For pistols, the seconds would verify the fitness of use of both pistols, verify the lead balls and would load one of the pistols. The other second would load the other pistol. Before the duel the seconds would try to see if the duel could be avoided by determining if satisfaction could be attained by other means such as an apology or withdrawal of the challenge. Then if the duel was carried out and if one or both of the participants were wounded or killed, the second would take the duelist to the surgeon for treatment.

Well, we have a deal.
especially the part with the second would bring the duelist to the surgeon for treatment I like.
I hurt myself once with my sharp tools...
 
I was wondering what kind of fabric and or padding you're going to use? The reason is, I had a friend that bought the wood cased set of 3 Colt black-powder pistols that came available in I think the '70s and put them in his gun safe that was equipped with a golden rod. He bought it as an investment and never fired them, he took them out a few years later and there were rust spots everywhere the fabric touched. He assured me that he had put a light coat of gun oil on them. I wanted to make a similar case for my Pedersoli Continental Dueling pistols.
12261-122613a1xO9c96uTFY_600x600.jpg
https://www.stoffkontor.eu/buehnen-...MIjKH7hKOL6AIVRlXTCh3IZgACEAkYAiABEgIOSfD_BwE
 
I was wondering what kind of fabric and or padding you're going to use? The reason is, I had a friend that bought the wood cased set of 3 Colt black-powder pistols that came available in I think the '70s and put them in his gun safe that was equipped with a golden rod. He bought it as an investment and never fired them, he took them out a few years later and there were rust spots everywhere the fabric touched. He assured me that he had put a light coat of gun oil on them. I wanted to make a similar case for my Pedersoli Continental Dueling pistols.

No explanation for this, perhaps the glue under the fabric had not yet completely dried?
The rabbit glue is diluted with water, for example.
 
That was a far better explanation of the duties of a second than I knew them to be. Thank you for that Grenadier 1758! I thought it was as I read as instructions on a package of firecrackers;
"......Light fuse and run".
 
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