Finishing Trigger Guard

[Finnwolf]

Hello All,
I'm currently working the brass furniture on my first build and I'm having some trouble keeping the definition on the bevels on the front and rear tangs and the trigger guard itself. Any advice from the experienced hands in how to keep from losing the flats?
Finnwolf

 

[TANSTAAFL]

Hello All,
I'm currently working the brass furniture on my first build and I'm having some trouble keeping the definition on the bevels on the front and rear tangs and the trigger guard itself. Any advice from the experienced hands in how to keep from losing the flats?
Finnwolf

If you don't have one, build yourself a trigger guard fixture for holding it steady. Very hard to do accurate work when things are wobbly or you can't get at all the angles.

I first draw file the guard sand casting, then use swiss needle files to make ready to finish using sand paper backed by small flat files to keep the flats defined.

 

[MSW]

The Gunsmith of Grenville County has a nice section on how to make such a gadget. If you don't have that book, you should get a copy.

 

[rich pierce]

Stay away from any power tools and always back any abrasives with a file or piece of wood. It's just like sharpening a knife- you need to set your angles, get in the zone, and keep it there, sweeping from one end of the facet to the other. If you have trouble doing this, blacken the guard with "magic marker" before filing and you'll get a better sense of where the tool is actually working as the black comes off. Do this a few times and you'll develop an instinct for it, and will only take off metal where you intend to.

 

[Finnwolf]

Hi Guys,
Thanks for the response. I do have GoGC but I hadn't planned on making one but now that I know you guys actually use it, I guess I will. I've been using needle files and 220 grit paper wrapped around them with the guard in a vise but I'm just not getting the crisp lines I thought I would.
The magic marker sounds like a good idea - maybe I'm not filing where I think I'm filing. I'll give it a try.
Thanks,
Finn

 

[crockett]

The magic marker is a REALLY good idea. I'll have to write that down. I buy mild steel or aluminum barstock at the hardware store and make various file shaped blanks to use with sand paper. I think the metal backing gives just a little sharper or crisp line on the flats but I could be fooling myself. It has been my experience that a long blank makes you more aware of the angle of your work. All that said, trigger guards are a pain and a certain flare of artistry is really needed.

 

[TANSTAAFL]

I have one I made up from some scrap flat stock years ago, looks like Wreck of the Hesperus, but works like a champ.

 

[Zonie]

Something to think about:

Most of the pictures you see in books, and plans you might find in magazines of little special clamping tools and drill fixtures and depth marking tools etc have the bodies made of aluminum or mild steel. This puts a lot of people off because they don't want to go out and buy a hunk of steel or aluminum for something they will only use once in a while.

I've found that for someone who builds one gun or so a year you don't need to make the tools out of aluminum.

If you have some hard, dense wood like maple you can drill and tap it just like aluminum. (Yes, I'm talking about working threads for metal screws to screw into, and no, you can't tighten up the screws as tightly as you could if they were in metal. For many applications though, you don't have to tighten things that tightly.)

For occasional use, you can use a maple block or board to make a drill jig, the body for a depth scribe, a block to screw your lock plate or trigger guard to ...

Things like clamps work best if they are made from metal, but I have used little 3/8 x 3/4 x 2 1/2 maple blocks as clamps by drilling a clearance hole thru them for the bolt.

Screws and standard things like washers of course need to be metal but they are easily purchased.

Just a thought.