Here's some mischief

[BillinOregon]

Well it took the Rifle Shoppe six weeks to ship this thing, which was in stock when I ordered it in late April, but better late than never. It appears very soundly made. The tapered rear socket for the tiller is only .82 at the mouth, which makes me think the Southern pine 2X2 blank I had set aside for it might not be the best choice strength wise. We shall see I guess. No lathes at my address, so it will be a whittle job.

 

[The Miner '49er]

Now Bill, real men don't need no stinkin' tiller, they jam their thumb in that socket and then touch her off --- or so I'm told. Goodluck, buddy, I'm very glad you got it, finally, and hope you enjoy it as much as I do mine.

 

[Sam squanch]

Only six weeks?!?! You got lucky…

 

[Frontstuffer070]

HOT DIGGITY DANG YOU GOT IT!!! YAY!! Get you a piece of Purple heart. That stuff is crazy strong. Although I don't think its easy to whittle. Let the SHOOSHTING BEGIN!!!

 

[Hermit Tim]

HOT DIGGITY DANG YOU GOT IT!!! YAY!! Get you a piece of Purple heart. That stuff is crazy strong. Although I don't think its easy to whittle. Let the SHOOSHTING BEGIN!!!

Yep. A buddy brought a bunch of exotic wood over to the shop so he could use my table saw to cut the pieces. Part of it was purple heart. First time I'd ever worked with it. The saw had a hard time cutting it and, believe it or not, sparks were flying off the wood/blade junction while cutting. If ol Bill wants to whittle that he is a much more determined man than I am. It is a cool little toy. Might have to go to their site and do some pricing.

 

[Frontstuffer070]

You might get it sooner if you order one from Military Heritage or Veteran Arms

 

[Coinneach]

I didnt know that Seegars came in that colour....

 

[TobJohn]

Congrats on finally getting it! The shipping time seems inline with their “in stock” items. I had a similar wait.

 

[BillinOregon]

Purpleheart is beautiful stuff, but I would guess that tillers used on European gonnes were fashioned from the more familiar oak, ash, beech and possibly some conifer woods.
For those that have made their own tillers, are you using a friction fit to secure it to your gonne?

 

[The Miner '49er]

Purpleheart is beautiful stuff, but I would guess that tillers used on European gonnes were fashioned from the more familiar oak, ash, beech and possibly some conifer woods.
For those that have made their own tillers, are you using a friction fit to secure it to your gonne?

I decided to try the method that the master gonnesmiths used centuries ago. After much research I found the formula and tried it with great success. It's called JB Weld. Worked like a charm.

 

[Flint62Smoothie]

I took a small Dremel diamond wheel and scored a shallow spiral cut around the inside of the socket, kind of like a thread. Some epoxy on the wood and Pam cooking spray with olive oil as a release agent in the socket ... wound or spun it on as the epoxy was tacky and it is sound, yet can be removed carefuly for cleaning or other as may be needed.

But yeah ... it really needs to be secure, especially whilst hanging out there on an end of a stick - and lit - as you'd sure not want it to fall off while live firing ...

 

[rickystl]

Hi Bill

Congratulations are always in order for anyone who receives anything from TRS. LOL A question: Is the bore of the gonne drilled regular cylinder bore ? Or is there a smaller chamber at the breech end ?

Rick

 

[The Miner '49er]

I took a small Dremel diamond wheel and scored a shallow spiral cut around the inside of the socket, kind of like a thread. Some epoxy on the wood and Pam cooking spray with olive oil as a release agent in the socket ... wound or spun it on as the epoxy was tacky and it is sound, yet can be removed carefuly for cleaning or other as may be needed.

But yeah ... it really needs to be secure, especially whilst hanging out there on an end of a stick - and lit - as you'd sure not want it to fall off while live firing ...

Flint, you got that right about needing to be secure. I'm going to be checking my JB bond regularly, now. Jesse at TRS did say that many of his customers successfully used JB so that's why I opted for that versus drilling the ferrule and putting a screw in the reduced diameter tiller tip.

 

[BillinOregon]

Rick, as far as I can tell there is no smaller powder chamber down past the touchhole -- just the blunt taper of the drill bit.

 

[The Miner '49er]

Rick, as far as I can tell there is no smaller powder chamber down past the touchhole -- just the blunt taper of the drill bit.

Yes, that's all there is, again per Jesse at TRS, so you can go as light as you want with powder. Fifty grains of 3F behind that ball doesn't seem to be much, but you better hold onto the tiller with both hands. Don't have one too close to your face, either. Ask me how I know.

 

[Rudyard]

Of woods Ide say Ash or Hickory would be the most suitable wood for a Tiller I believe the ante chamber was considered essential to suit the ' Serpentine' powders loose element's & not the modern 'corned' powders . but since serpentine powder isn't now needed, your cylinder bore will answer just fine I expect .
Rudyard .
Allways been a supporter of' The new way backwards '

 

[BillinOregon]

Thank you Rudyard. Your opinion carries considerable weight in this section.

 

[BillinOregon]

In the initial tiller mounting attempt, I seem to have gotten the axis of the socket end off by a few degrees. I can correct this of course, but it got me to wondering if there might be some advantage in orienting the gonne to point either slightly up or slight down to bring either the aiming point or the point of impact closer to the visual aiming point. I am probably not making myself at all clear -- a talent I seem to be developing as I grow older ...
(Couldn't help myself and blued the gonne with Brownell's Oxpho.)

 

[2 shots]

you would be able to rotate the barrel to adjust p.o.i. but you may need to lessen the runout

 

[The Miner '49er]

Bill, from the picture I certainly can't see the difference you mention, but I believe that having a small bit of difference would be beneficial. The shooter could rotate the tiller to give rise or drop to the barrel. To get the hits in the black on the bullseye target I posted the other day I had to aim about 14" low and 3" to the right. Only thing better would be duct taping a red dot on that puppy, but there goes HC and PC! If you plan on using fuse you might want to factor in the touch hole orientation along with the barrel cant. Blued gonne looks great.