My first Project

[oldarmy]

My first project is going to be one of those Pedersoli Flintlock Pistols. I was reading the last post about them and decided this is just the kind of kit for me to start with. It's simple and hard to foul up.
I have a question. Is a brass butt cap correct for this style of pistol? I would like to put one on it to dress it up and also get in some inletting practice.

 

I had considered putting one on mine, but most photos I found of Kentucky pistols did not have one, so I decided not to, however, this is your first project... if you want a butt cap on it, go for it! I'll bet it'll look great, whether it's PC or not.

I'm still working on mine, and just haven't updated the thread lately. Most of my recent work has been inletting a few inlays into the stock, which we've been discussing in the inletting tools thread I started. Once I have the inlays in, I will post more pics and update the original thread again. I still need to file and finish the barrel, and wet-sand and oil-finish the stock (after the last inlay is done).

You'll enjoy the kit... it's definitely not difficult for a first-time build. The pre-inletted stock is good to go, it took very little work to get the lock and sideplate inletted. The barrel and tang were already inletted and attached to the stock, as were the trigger and trigger guard. Literally, most of the work has been sanding the stock, and filing and polishing the brass. Had I not chose to add some inlays to the stock, it would probably be a finished pistol by now.

When you get it, let the forum know. Everyone here has been great and a fantastic resource for help with me.

 

[oldarmy]

I was hoping you would reply. I liked your thread.
On the last page of Creating the American longrifle there is a diagram of a flintlock pistol and it shows a brass butt cap. I was hoping to make this one look something like it. Minus the wire inlay, however I mught do a little carving on it.
I ordered a butt cap from TOTW and a few small brass inlays for the sides of the pistol.
Does it have pins instead of keys? I couldn't realy tell from the pictures?
I was talking to my machinest friend at work and he gave me pointers about what kind of metal file to buy and the proper technigue to use to draw file the barrel. I am thinking about leaving it white and letting it age.
I do have another question. I noticed that lots of kits will sell you a barrel that has the barrel plug and tang installed, but don't you have to take them off to inlet for the barrel?
I don't mean this perticuler kit, but the other kits that the TOTW sell.both pistol and rifle
How difficult is it to remove the plug and tang from these once the plug and tang have been installed and is it worth the money?
I remember trying to get a plug off an Italian muzzel loader I have a few years ago and they swore it was welded on.
thanks

 

The barrel itself is not pinned or keyed to the stock. There is a tang bolt that goes through and screws into the trigger plate. The muzzle end of the barrel is held by a small screw coming up through the bottom of the muzzle cap. The pin holes you see in the stock are the pins for the two ramrod thimbles.

I have never dealt with removal or fitting of a breechplug, so I cannot answer that question. Everything I have read said that if you aren't familiar with it, don't mess with it, and I've heeded that advice. I think most folks will probably tell you that you do not need to remove the breechplug to inlet the barrel; you mark with some type of inletting compound and keep removing wood until the barrel and tang settle down into the stock as a single unit.

 

[oldarmy]

thanks,
that's the same way pedersoli attaches their barrels on their long gun also. A screw that goes through the ramrod pipe and threads into a dovetail in the barrel.
I guess I will not worry about the breech plug and tang unitl I have to intlet for one.

 

[oldarmy]

I have the pistol just about finished.
I bought a fine mill file and filed and then polished the barrel then used 150/220/400/600. I am thinking about leaving it in the white and letting it age natualy.
i inletted a small brass oval on each side of the stock, then did the sanding.
The inletting is hard. I have a lot of respect for people that do it so neatly.
I shaped the grip to my liking and rather then stain the wood, just put on some linseed to bring out the wood grain. It has decent wood, althought it does have the sap wood on the end of the grip.
I was wondering about wet sanding. What do you use and why?
I would like the finish to be a little smoother and there are still open wood pores. I used 220 grit Norton paper.
Any advise would be appricated.
The over all quality of the weapon is very good. Althought I have concerns about the small finely threaded screw that holds the endcap and the barrel to the stock. I striped it by trying to tighted it too much. Luckaly my local hardwear store has a great assortment of small screws.
Shouldn't this pistol have either a dovetailed key and/or a pined barrel?
How hard is it to put in a staple in the barrel and then pin it myself?

 

[vradin]

I was wondering about wet sanding. What do you use and why?
I would like the finish to be a little smoother and there are still open wood pores. I used 220 grit Norton paper.

When I'm going to sand, and on most flat work I prefer scrapers- I use 320 or higher for wet/dry sanding, I get the automotive paper as it has a thicker backing that seems to last longer. If I need to go more than 400 I use a variety of the 3M scrubber type pads with some mineral spirits as a wetting agent instead of water.

On the stock I finished, after I put on the wax/oil finish I went over it with a dishwashing scrubber pad- equivelent to about 4- or 5-0 steel wool, took down any fibers and left a baby-butt-smooth finish.

good luck,
vic

 

Dang! I guess I've been slackin'! ::

I'm just finishing the third inlay. I'm down to the final sanding to get it flush with the stock.

I am going to seal the stock with a mixture of 1 part Tung oil to 4 parts Mineral Spirits. I will probably do this at least twice, with a 48 hour drying time between coats.

Then, at that point, I will begin wet sanding with a 50-50 mixture of Tung oil and Mineral Spirits. I will sand sawdust into the oil until I have a nice sludge, then wipe diagonally across the grain to fill in the grain pores. I will do this multiple times until the pores are completely filled after 24-48 hours of drying.

At this point I will switch over and begin hand-rubbing coats of BC Tru-Oil onto the stock. Not sure how many coats of this I will do, but I'd imagine it'll be at least 5, probably close to 10. I may or may not then lightly buff with a scouring pad or some mild abrasive to reduce sheen. I'll have to wait until I get there and see what it looks like.

Then, after letting it dry for a few days, I'll probably wax it with some gunstock wax for weatherproofing. At that point, I'll re-assemble and it'll be a done gun. :RO:

If you'd like a good tutorial on how to finish a gun stock, check out this link: Gunstock Finishing This is the method I will be using. He gives a really good blow-by-blow on how to do it.

Since you're almost finished, show us some pics! :redthumb:

 

[Zonie]

Oldarmy: See my comments on the other Pedersoli post by StaticX.
If you want a smooth finish, you will need to fill the open grained Walnut wood. I describe the process there.
Pedersoli Pistol Kit Post


As for pinning, the gun as it is designed will work OK. It really doesn't need a pin.
If you just want the experiance of pinning the barrel, there are two popular methods. The dovetailed underlug and the staple underlug. It is my understanding that both of them are PC.

Before you start off on this trek, be sure you want to invest the time to install the underlug, and take the risk of drilling the pin hole.
Risk? Yup. The crosspin hole must be done "blind" with the barrel installed. Because the barrel is installed, you can't see the underlug and if you mis-measure and drill the pin hole in the wrong place, or at the wrong angle, the pin will either miss the underlug, or hit the bottom of the barrel. :curse:

At least for me, drilling these pin holes on a gun is one of those semi-white knuckle experiances I never look forward to.
In fact, when it is successfully done, I've been known to take the rest of the day off.

Wet sanding is used when sanding metal or soft waterproof surfaces like paint, lacqure, dry True-Oil, Varnish etc.
The purpose of the water is to wash away the tiny bits of material which is removed. This keeps the material from plugging up the abrasive surface on the paper (I call it "fill").
Don't wet sand bare wood.
Most of the wet/dry papers are too fine of a grit to use on wood anyway. They "fill" rapidly and the cutting edges of the abrasive aren't really made (IMO) for working on wood.

The wet/dry paper works great on metal because it is made from silicone carbide (one of the harder materials man has made). ::

 

We're thinking of two different kinds of wet-sanding. The wet-sanding I'm talking about is wet-sanding with Tung oil. The sanding fills the oil with sawdust, which is in turn wiped into the grain to fill it.

Definitely not talking about wet-sanding the stock with water!

No, I'm not going to use Bondo to fill the grain of the stock, either! :crackup:

 

[oldarmy]

Thanks for the help.
I guess I will not pin the barrel right now. I am going to buy an amercian made kit as soon as I can and then I will take the plung.
Also thanks for the wet sanding instruction. I have plenty of tung oil and just need some finer sanddpaper.
If I had a digital camera I would post a picture, but I am not very computer savey.