Ramrod making from the tree

[mallard]

I'm about completely finished with my Edward marshall kit from Jim Chambers. I started the ramrod and it just doesn't seem right somehow, ( diameter too small. I want a fatter end at the muzzle to load with and for cleaning.
Sooooo, I found a hickory tree and got a 4 ft. section and started to work splitting it down to size. The tree was about 8" at the base and I got the butt section....I now have a lot more respect for Abraham Lincoln. This is not an easy job. Reminds me of the old indian saying "Any bow good bow...Arrow heap much trouble". I can't seem to end with anything larger than a toothpick. Gotta be a trick any suggestions? All help appreciated.

 

[C_Laubach]

Mallard,
I use a froe to split hickory blanks out. If the hickory is green I usually don

 

[mallard]

I have a froe, but the handle is shorter. The tree was cut Thursday. I think it was hit by another tree as that tree was falling. It had some cracks in it already. Maybe that is my problem. I seem to be having trouble getting it down to a small enough size. I think that I might have done better with a section a bit farther up than the base or butt, as there was a bit of curve where the base expands as it gets to the ground. I know why no one sells ramrods that are split instead of turned. Labor intensive! Thanks Mallard

 

Haveing been in the logging / lumber business for 30 plus years I can tell you that the butt cut ( the section from the stump up ) is the cut you want, due to the factor that it has the least knots. Limbs grow higher up the tree and knots are limbs that didn't grow.
If the very bottom of the butt is curved then you will need to buck (cut) a section off till it is straight.Use the cut off piece for smokeing meat, or firewood.
Hickory is a trickey species to cut as you are doing. It may have cracks from stress relieving in it. The hit against another tree probably didn't cause a crack in it. If it would have it would have split the tree in two like firewood.
Look at the bark on the log. If it shows a swirl in the bark this is a defect called a cat face. Cat face = knot.
Choose a face on the log that has no defects and use this as your starting point.
I myself would just go to a home improvem,ent center and buy a dowel the correct dia. you need , Alot easier and would be more true in straightness being they are already kiln-dry. Look down a few and pick the straightest one you can find. Hickory dowels I have seen at Lowes before.

Woody

 

[djnye]

actually, straightness is imaterial on ramrod blanks, but straight-grain is everything. the effort involved in gettting a ramrod split from a log is well worth it.

if i might offer a few suggestions i might be able to help you be more successful. woodhick was right, you should remove the swelled section near the rootball and use the more cylindrical section above. it is good that your log is green. if it is fairly straight it should work.

each split should attempt to divide the piece in half. first place the axe at the end of the log and line up through the central pith and drive the axe in. this will cause the log to begin splitting down the middle. follow this split down the length of the log ith additional axes or wedges. this will halve the log. do this same thing with each half and end up with 4 quarters. now, get that froe and on the pie-shaped end of the quarter try to split along the growth rings to divide the triangle in half--area-wise. that means the froe will be slightly closer to the sapwood, but at the center of the mass. this should produce a split that will follow the same growth ring and work that split with the froe the length of the piece. continue splitting both with and perpendicular to the grwth rings and dividing the rough blanks in half until you get down to blanks that are roughly square in crossection and under 1" wide. you now have not only one, but if you keep splitting, but dozens of blanks--many of which will make lovely ramrods.

hope this helps.

take care, daniel

 

[mallard]

Thanks everyone for your generous help. I made a Ramrod from scratch! Had to go with what I had for wood. Wish I had looked at the rest of the tree. I might have gotten a better piece of trunk to start. I made a plate as Peter Alexander suggests in his book Gunsmiths of Grenville County. I left the height longer at the top of the first and largest hole. This helped to get me started. Worked well. Hope to post a picture of my rifle sometime. I'm proudof it. Thanks to all again. mallard

 

[djnye]

congradulations on making the ramrod. fifty years from now your grandson will marvel at how strong pliant and old it is.

one thing. if you haven't finished it yet, before you finish it you might consider soaking it in kerosene. three monthes in a plastic waterpipe capped will impregnate it. some say that it strengthens it though i myself doubt that, and i also don't think the hickory needs any more strength in this application. but, what it does do is stabilize it so it won't swell and stick in the thimbles in very wet weather. after the bath impregnates and darkens the shaft the hickory will readily take a nice polish with rubbing alone.

take care and enjoy the ramrod, daniel