Question for the lock builders

[flint62]

After a long period of dragging my feet, I have finished assembling a set of Brown Bess castings from TOW. The best part is.... it works! Sparks really nicely.
Ok. What do you all recommend for the final finish on the plate, cock, etc. ??
This is my first try with this, so I'm open to any and all suggestions.
Thank you, Kevin. :hatsoff:

(I still can't believe I made those springs!!!!lol)

 

[Roy]

Congrats! :thumbsup:
As far as finishing it out I usually do it the hard way and file away using various files untill I'm happy. Some people use just a wire wheel to polish up the castings.

 

[Stophel]

File, file, file. Most old locks seem to be simply filed and that's about it, with little or no further polishing done.

By the way, I have yet to see any old gun, European or American, that did not show plenty of file marks on the metal. They may be relatively fine file marks, but they're there and visible. No mirror polishing, generally speaking.

 

[flint62]

Thanks guys, I really don't want to make the lock plate shine like a Pedersoli. But I think there is a bit of cleanup left for me to do.

 

[WRussell]

Like you say, "generally speaking". There were those who polished out the file marks, but not with a buffer. Blocks of wood impregnated with grit, that sort of thing. A few approached optical quality.

So how much to polish? Up to you. Just don't round off the edges.

 

[Stophel]

I'm not familiar with English guns, but I have a feeling that they were a bit more fussy with such things than were gunsmiths on the Continent.