Leonard Day synthetic pyrite

[Teleoceras]

volatpluvia:

When I first made the redhairedgal I had an extra wheel made up that was smooth on the circumference. I filed forward slanting cuts across the outer rim to use with the torch flints.
This did not work at all. I am thinking that if one took a standard grooved wheel and filed forward leaning cuts across the grooves at really close intervals, as close as one could make them, and then hardened the wheel it might work. I hate sacrificing my last wheel to try it. Maybe go back to the smooth wheel with the cuts and turn grooves into the rim, hmnnn! Just for curiosity of,course, Har!

I had talked with Leonard Day over the weekend and he told me that there was a similar problem with ignition with one of his Wheellocks which was shot frequently. He told me that he had to cut additional cross grooves and reharden the wheel. Then the ignition rate when up significantly.

I mentioned that he had worked on my lock before that time. "Yep, I remember."

So I said "Want me to send you the wheel?"

He said yes, but to also mark the area where the wheel would scrape along the pyrite. When I did that, I had noticed that only two crossgrooves were in the area in question.

So now the wheel is on it's way. Once I get it back, I'll take Sparky out and see if the upgraded wheel works out.

Slowmatch Forever!
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[Leonredbeard]

Teleoceras,
I will be really interested in the outcome of this. It is very possible that it will help. Having studied the 5000 frames per second video of my wheellock lighting, became convinced that crosscuts might help get hotter, bigger sparks. So I spanned my lock and noted the amount of sparks without crosscuts. Then I ruined the edge of two needle files putting very shallow crosscuts in the working area of the wheel. Then I spanned again and noted that the volumn of sparks had doubled or tripled. I have not attempted to light a pan, but I do expect an upgrade in ignition.
Now I know this is not the same as your using the man made flints. However, too many cuts may make use of the man made flints mandatory.
volatpluvia

 

[mckutzy]

wich would emulate the srtiker rasp. cool :thumbsup:

 

[Teleoceras]

Volatpluvia:

I will be really interested in the outcome of this. It is very possible that it will help. Having studied the 5000 frames per second video of my wheellock lighting, became convinced that crosscuts might help get hotter, bigger sparks. So I spanned my lock and noted the amount of sparks without crosscuts. Then I ruined the edge of two needle files putting very shallow crosscuts in the working area of the wheel. Then I spanned again and noted that the volumn of sparks had doubled or tripled. I have not attempted to light a pan, but I do expect an upgrade in ignition.
Now I know this is not the same as your using the man made flints. However, too many cuts may make use of the man made flints mandatory.

I have plenty of natural pyrite that I still intend to use. If I can just get a chunk that won't fracture so easily. :cursing:

But the synthetic stuff will be so that I can still shoot if the natural pyrite I have for the day gets blasted to bits.

Slowmatch Forever!
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[Teleoceras]

Volatpluvia:

I will be really interested in the outcome of this. It is very possible that it will help. Having studied the 5000 frames per second video of my wheellock lighting, became convinced that crosscuts might help get hotter, bigger sparks. So I spanned my lock and noted the amount of sparks without crosscuts. Then I ruined the edge of two needle files putting very shallow crosscuts in the working area of the wheel. Then I spanned again and noted that the volumn of sparks had doubled or tripled. I have not attempted to light a pan, but I do expect an upgrade in ignition.
Now I know this is not the same as your using the man made flints. However, too many cuts may make use of the man made flints mandatory.

I got the wheel back yesterday and noticed quite a good number of new crosscuts. Leonard Day told me to put the synthetic pyrite on the wheel before I span several times to get grooves cut into the material.

I have noticed that the number of sparks have increased. Looks Like I'm going to take Sparky out this Saturday if the weather holds to try this out.

Slowmatch Forever!
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[Leonredbeard]

Teleoceras!
Bravo! :applause: :bow: :grin:
There is just nothing like sticking to the research. I await the results! :hatsoff: :thumbsup:
volatpluvia

 

[Leonredbeard]

Mckutzy,
It was my impression that the rasp lock was completely manually operated. As in: you give the ring fastened to the rasp a good yank and it rips sparks off the pyrite. What do you think of a spring loaded rasp? It might not be PC but then, if we are having fun...
volatpluvia

 

[mckutzy]

u know i ha thought about that. i just not sure on how to execute it, im thinking it might be a bit heavy on the one side tho. there is a lot going on there.
just joking around i thought why not mount one of thoes strikers on the side of one of the bess i have right now. :youcrazy: i though of possibly a long lever like off a serpentine gonne, so i could get enough leverage to strike a spark.

realilisticaly i thoughtof a file mounted like a rasp lock and some sort of spring and trigger mech, i ran into a mental block when i thought about the position of the pan in relation
to the file with the cock. sorta like the inline flintlock but onside the touchhole.

:hmm: :hmm:

 

[mckutzy]

i just did some serching, the segmented lock, i beleve now i should go for somethin like that instead.

 

[Leonredbeard]

Mckutzy,
That might really work well with a torch striker flint. Just raise up a bunch of burrs like a rasp and harden it. Might be a nice upgrade for my wheellock. Change centuries when I feel like it. HMMMNNN!
volatpluvia

 

[mckutzy]

now im hoping im not going off topic on this but im getting enthused about this stuff.

Im thinking about taking a nicholson file, grinding off all the teeth and leaving the edge untouched. it will be in a simular trough, and be triggered like snapping matchlock, thow it will be powered by a coil spring. i will definatly let u know when i get something off the ground, somtime time nextweek i hope.

 

[PitchyPine]

Sounds interesting, that`s the kind of inventive building i like. :bow: :thumbsup:

 

[Teleoceras]

Volatpluvia:

Bravo! :applause: :bow: :grin:
There is just nothing like sticking to the research. I await the results! :hatsoff: :thumbsup:

I'm sorry to say that it will now take a little over a month before I can do this test. I took Sparky out to shoot today, but I need to get the spring for the dog repaired since I wasn't able to get a single shot in except for using burning paper towel to ignite the first charge. :cursing:

I had talked to Leonard Day and the earlist time I can mail the lock back to him is September 18th due to his own backorders. Basically the spring lost it's tension and the pressure on the pyrite against the wheel became way too light. It worked fine when I had used slight thumb pressure, but the sparks became anemic once I removed my thumb. Obviously, I can't do that with a live charge.

Mind you that this is one of the original springs that was built from the TRS parts by Loyalist Arms.

Oh the frustration and I didn't take slowmatch with me today! :cursing: :cursing: :cursing: :cursing:

Slowmatch Forever!
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[Leonredbeard]

Teleoceras,
I am sorry to hear of your travails. I probably would have been dumb enough to try the thumb pressure on a live gonne and lived to regret it. :shocked2: I do hope you can get the lock in shape in the near future. I did not try my wheel since putting crosscuts in it. I will give it a try over labor day weekend.
volatpluvia

 

[Teleoceras]

Volatpluvia:

I got back the lock today from Leonard Day. I will say that the dog really snaps down hard on the wheel now.

Leonard wrote in a note that he has a 1640 French Flintlock Pistol and the spring on that gun was twice as hard as the dog spring was on Sparky. :shocked2: :shake:

I tested everything out and I can honestly say that I have never seen so many sparks with this Wheellock. So hopefully the weather will cooperate next Saturday and I can try her out once again.

Slowmatch Forever!
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[Leonredbeard]

Teleoceras,
I will be hoping with you. It will be a pleasure to hear a really good report from you.

I noticed I said I would try mine out over Labor Day weekend. I did. :barf: I would fire a few shots and then repeated failures. In the end I pulled the last load and put it away. Boy them flintlocks are clunky!
volatpluvia

 

[Teleoceras]

Volatpluvia:

I will be hoping with you. It will be a pleasure to hear a really good report from you.

I noticed I said I would try mine out over Labor Day weekend. I did. :barf: I would fire a few shots and then repeated failures. In the end I pulled the last load and put it away. Boy them flintlocks are clunky!
volatpluvia

You can do what I do and bring a backup piece of slowmatch with you. This way if the shot won't ignite, just light up the slowmatch, attach it to a linstock, and shoot'er Handgonne style! :grin:

Slowmatch Forever!
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[Leonredbeard]

Teleoceras,
Since I had the handgonne along and fired it on two occasions during the weekend, I had slow match along. :shocked2: :shake: While I thought briefly of bumming a cigarette, it never occured to me to go to my other shooting box not a hundred feet away and get the match. (whacking myself on the forehead here) I will remember your admonition in the future. :bow: :grin: I guess that is why some locks were a combination and some wheellocks were convered back to matchlock.
volatpluvia

 

[Teleoceras]

Volatpluvia:

Well good news and bad news today.

The good news was that the rehardened dog spring made ignition way better than before.

The bad news was that the synthetic pyrites were one shot wonders. They sparked great and ignited the first shot, but then the sparks were anemic.

After burning out two of the three synthetic pyrites, I switched back to natural pyrite. Even with the usual fracturing of the pyrite, I was still getting solid ignition. :applause:

I talked to Leonard Day afterwards. He told me that he had recalled the mould for the dog spring of his Wheellock Arquebus design to make a much stronger dog spring. After reporting my results today, he told me that he plans on having that spring about twice as strong as the dog spring on Sparky.

If this means Bertha will be a top notch Wheellock when she is completed, then these tests were definitely worth it.

Slowmatch Forever!
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[Leonredbeard]

Teleoceras,
Hey thanks for the report. If the torch strikers give great fire on the first shot, they might be useful for hunting. That surefire first shot is a must. But you're experience bears out mine. There is just too much heat there for ferocerum. It ignites and glows a while after the shot and then there is nothing left to it. I went to a artesan faire today and I got another gentlemen looking for the perfect pyrites for me. I hope he finds some.
volatpluvia