Ramrods over 48" ?

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Anybody have a source for ramrods over 48" long? I need some ramrods about 56" long by about 7/16th" in diameter so I can taper them down as needed.
Thanks,
Don
 
you didn't specify wether wood or composite. If you want a good deal on a composite rod contact[url] www.cainsoutdoor.com[/url] they will cut any length and install the ends for you at a very reasonable price. I had a 46" rod made with nothing on one end and a steel 8-32 threaded end on the other and they only charged me around $12.00
 
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Hickory, as I am a traditionlist.
Anybody making real long guns have a source?
Thanks,
Don
 
I make my own out of splits, don't think I have anything split out right now though. I guess I need to check the rafters. Did you want to end up basically with a 3/8 dowel flared a bit at the end and tapered at the other?
 
Yes sir, I need a rod tapered from 7/16th" to 3/8th" with the rod tip on the small end. It needs to be 52 1/2" long when finished. Think you can help me out? PM me and we can talk.
Thanks for your interest,
Don
 
Roy said:
I make my own out of splits, don't think I have anything split out right now though. I guess I need to check the rafters. Did you want to end up basically with a 3/8 dowel flared a bit at the end and tapered at the other?


This may be a silly question .. but I have split firewood on many an ocassion ... and so I am wonderin ... what is the process to split these ramrod wannabes? It would be interestin to see the process! :grin:

Davy
 
i am not sure if this is a general question or one directed at roy, but i can offer some guidance on working green wood for ramrod blanks.

i start with a straight and clear 8-10" log from the trunk that is a little longer than the finished length i want. place an ax on the endgrain running through the center and drive it home. i always use a wooden maul for this because i love my tools. it may take a few taps, but be patient and keep positioning the ax edge and tapping and eventually you will start a controled split. then on the side of the log take a wedge and drive it into the split in the bark that you have caused. the orange felling wedges used in logging work well as do similar shaped wedges made out of wood. continue walking wedges down the split until the log divides in half.

follow the same process with the half sections so that you end up with four quarter-sections of the log.

take a quarter and stand it on end and drive a froe in, this time parallel to the growth rings on the end-grain and split off the heartwood(try to place the split at about the midpoint of the mass of the end--a little closer to the bark-side than the pith. it will take some"feel", but then you have lots to play with so don't worry if they don't all come out perfect. in working green wood there is lots of scrap). if the split runs out on the pith side don't worry for you can score it with your ax and simply chop away the waste. your goal is to get a roughly rectangular piece with the outer bark side still intact. at this point you have a bolt of straight-grained wood that can either be split further, or if desired used as rough stock that can easily be sawn rip-fashion either on a band saw or table saw as long as you keep the barkside intact on the resulting stock. but let's continue splitting and reducing the stock by hand for the best splits. don't forget when you get out the machines you leave the realm of true straightgrain.

now the fun starts. take the rectangular bolt and split it lengthwise with the froe centered perpendicular to the growth rings. when you have this completed (following the addage of placing pressure on the thick side if the split starts to wander) you end up with two pieces that are kind of a trunkated rectangle in cross-section. again place the froe at about half the mass running with the growth rings and paralell with the bark of course and split in half lengthwise as before.

this will give you a roughly rectangular blank that should be near square in cross-section. what you are looking for is blanks that are about twice what the finished size will be. for ramrods that would be about 1" square.

from this point on you would use any method you would like to end up with the final configuration of a ramrod.

the method i use is to use the barkside(with the bark removed) as the reference side and first true up the two radial sides square with the barkside. i use a crook'd knife for this. i then shave one of these sides straight and use a compass set at about 1/2" to mark the proper depth in from the bark on both sides. i then shave away the pithside surface to those lines so that the blank is an even 1/2" thick. then on the barkside face i mark the same 1/2" width using the straightened edge as the reference and shave the blank to an even 1/2" square cross-section.

from there i use the knife to shave each corner the length of the bolt so that i have a blank that is eight-sided(like an octagonal barrel). i then take this to a dowel plate that i had made by a friend and begin sizing it down with the plate until i get close to the final dimension. i then allow the 7/16" rod dry for a week or so before taking it down to the final size.

i gave my method for final shaping but many other ways work very well also. dowelplates, whittling, small block planes, spokeshaves,etc. all can be used to do a very nice job.

there are a million other things that could be said, but it is easier to show than tell and i am tired now. if you are at friendship next june stop by on sunday morning and we will whip some up.

take care, daniel
 
That about explains it. :grin: One thing I can say about all of the work of a split is that you do not need to soak them in anything. Shoot I even started using hickory arrows out of my longbow.
 
djnye said:
i am not sure if this is a general question or one directed at roy, but i can offer some guidance on working green wood for ramrod blanks.

i start with a straight and clear 8-10" log from the trunk that is a little longer than the finished length i want. place an ax on the endgrain running through the center and drive it home. i always use a wooden maul for this because i love my tools. it may take a few taps, but be patient and keep positioning the ax edge and tapping and eventually you will start a controled split. then on the side of the log take a wedge and drive it into the split in the bark that you have caused. the orange felling wedges used in logging work well as do similar shaped wedges made out of wood. continue walking wedges down the split until the log divides in half.

follow the same process with the half sections so that you end up with four quarter-sections of the log.

take a quarter and stand it on end and drive a froe in, this time parallel to the growth rings on the end-grain and split off the heartwood(try to place the split at about the midpoint of the mass of the end--a little closer to the bark-side than the pith. it will take some"feel", but then you have lots to play with so don't worry if they don't all come out perfect. in working green wood there is lots of scrap). if the split runs out on the pith side don't worry for you can score it with your ax and simply chop away the waste. your goal is to get a roughly rectangular piece with the outer bark side still intact. at this point you have a bolt of straight-grained wood that can either be split further, or if desired used as rough stock that can easily be sawn rip-fashion either on a band saw or table saw as long as you keep the barkside intact on the resulting stock. but let's continue splitting and reducing the stock by hand for the best splits. don't forget when you get out the machines you leave the realm of true straightgrain.

now the fun starts. take the rectangular bolt and split it lengthwise with the froe centered perpendicular to the growth rings. when you have this completed (following the addage of placing pressure on the thick side if the split starts to wander) you end up with two pieces that are kind of a trunkated rectangle in cross-section. again place the froe at about half the mass running with the growth rings and paralell with the bark of course and split in half lengthwise as before.

this will give you a roughly rectangular blank that should be near square in cross-section. what you are looking for is blanks that are about twice what the finished size will be. for ramrods that would be about 1" square.

from this point on you would use any method you would like to end up with the final configuration of a ramrod.

the method i use is to use the barkside(with the bark removed) as the reference side and first true up the two radial sides square with the barkside. i use a crook'd knife for this. i then shave one of these sides straight and use a compass set at about 1/2" to mark the proper depth in from the bark on both sides. i then shave away the pithside surface to those lines so that the blank is an even 1/2" thick. then on the barkside face i mark the same 1/2" width using the straightened edge as the reference and shave the blank to an even 1/2" square cross-section.

from there i use the knife to shave each corner the length of the bolt so that i have a blank that is eight-sided(like an octagonal barrel). i then take this to a dowel plate that i had made by a friend and begin sizing it down with the plate until i get close to the final dimension. i then allow the 7/16" rod dry for a week or so before taking it down to the final size.

i gave my method for final shaping but many other ways work very well also. dowelplates, whittling, small block planes, spokeshaves,etc. all can be used to do a very nice job.

there are a million other things that could be said, but it is easier to show than tell and i am tired now. if you are at friendship next june stop by on sunday morning and we will whip some up.

take care, daniel


Very nice explanation Dan ... thanx for taking the time and energy :applause: to explain it in such detail! Sounds like it could be alotta work! :grin:

Davy
 
you are welcome guys. you know it seems like a lot of work to describe, but disassembling a tree i find very rewarding and with a nice shagbark hickory and about two hours and one can have twenty to thirty 1" square blanks--enough for a lifetime and a lot of friends. and it is better than you can buy almost anywhere.

go figure?

take care, daniel
 
I searched high and low, nothing to be found that long. Look like I need to go find a tree...
 
Roy said:
I searched high and low, nothing to be found that long. Look like I need to go find a tree...

Thanks for looking Roy, I'll figure something out if I keep focused on it long enough.
:thumbsup:
 
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