Nose cap

[M. De Land]

Thanks all. I will do just that. I love this place.

One thing is the expoxy will water proof under the cap which gets wet every time one swabs or cleans. On my TOTW kit build SMR I spent the most time of the whole build getting the muzzle cap right .

 

[trackpin]

You cannot use modern anything to build a traditional muzzle loader. You must be an apprentice for a very long time and learn how to do everything the old ways. Once you have helped build several hundred arms your master gunsmith teacher will help you set up a shop of your own. That isn't happening. I will use everything and anything, be it a wire welder, milling machine, superglue, epoxy compounds, and the like to build my guns and cannons. They will look, shoot and last just as long as any built without the use modern equipage. Sometimes better and longer.

 

[briantllb]

I don't believe epoxy existed back in those days. I've built a couple hundred muzzleloaders, never glued a nose cap on any of them.

Epoxy resin didn't exist back then, but shellac did and could have thickeners added if needed to do the same job. Still it would

I don't believe epoxy existed back in those days. I've built a couple hundred muzzleloaders, never glued a nose cap on any of them.

Epoxy resin didn't exist then, but Shellac did and could be thickened if needed with wood dust etc., for use as a bedding material or used in solution with alcohol as an adhesive if the parts were closely fitted. Of course Shellac would have been expensive being sourced as it was and is mainly from India. Wood Pitch would be an easier to obtain material and sets just as hard.

 

[reddogge]

They didn't have epoxy tubes back then, they had epoxy HORNS. One for resin and one for the hardener.

 

[longcruise]

Not sure I agree with your research there. I have it on good authority, based on lots of primary documentation, that the original builders considered epoxy essential, and many refused to build without it.

I don't believe epoxy existed back in those days. I've built a couple hundred muzzleloaders, never glued a nose cap on any of them.

Indeed! It's well known among re enactors that every community of any size had at least one skilled practitioner who provided epoxy to their neighbors.

On.a more serious side, how would hide glue work in this situation?

 

[briantllb]

Hide Glue is not an epoxy adhesive it is a heat activated collagen adhesive. I.e. you heat it in a double boiler until it is a semifluid liquid apply it and let it cool to harden. Epoxy adhesives work by a chemical reaction between the resin and the hardener.

Hide Glue should however work in this application, but personally I prefer Shellac either alone, filled or in an alcohol solution. The original hard sealing wax works too since it is essentially color filled Shellac. Assuming it can be still found that is. Old 78 rpm records is one source of black shellac most were made from the stuff.

 

[IanH]

Some people on this thread need more coffee. A LOT more coffee!

 

[briantllb]

Some people on this thread need more coffee. A LOT more coffee!

You could be right, I certainly do

 

[Mike in FL]

You cannot use modern anything to build a traditional muzzle loader. You must be an apprentice for a very long time and learn how to do everything the old ways. Once you have helped build several hundred arms your master gunsmith teacher will help you set up a shop of your own. That isn't happening. I will use everything and anything, be it a wire welder, milling machine, superglue, epoxy compounds, and the like to build my guns and cannons. They will look, shoot and last just as long as any built without the use modern equipage. Sometimes better and longer.

 

[Mike in FL]

You cannot use modern anything to build a traditional muzzle loader. You must be an apprentice for a very long time and learn how to do everything the old ways. Once you have helped build several hundred arms your master gunsmith teacher will help you set up a shop of your own. That isn't happening. I will use everything and anything, be it a wire welder, milling machine, superglue, epoxy compounds, and the like to build my guns and cannons. They will look, shoot and last just as long as any built without the use modern equipage. Sometimes better and longer.

Yes. If you can't see it, there's no reason to build the original way. Modern materials and methods makes for a better gun. The metal used then was not as refined as much as now. It is easy for me to be hunting in the 1750s if my rifle looks exactly like a new original, if my clothes are wool, linen, and leather, if my lunch jerky was prepared in an electric dehydrator, etc.
BTW, did Phillips head screws exist in the 1700s? Killer supplies them with his kits..