Starting my winter pistol build early

[ChuckJonesWagon]

So, I'm using the broken cast piece to form "dies" out of maple scraps. I've cut the brass sheet (.80) and began to peen it. I will say, this is the first buttcap I've ever done. And I want it a bit deeper or "cup like" so that takes more pounding.

I have discovered that it's not a "fold up the metal" process.....but more of a "push out the shape" process. I'm using a thick brass punch as well as a ball peen hammer and that broken cast piece.

The most use is coming from the brass punch. It seems to push the metal where I'm asking it to go vs a ball peen hammer.

When I laid out the brass sheet for cutting I took the broken piece and "rolled it" from left to right, and front to back to obtain (what I thought) would be the right amount of sheet brass. Well, as the process goes on Im finding out that I'm pushing the brass to form the piece. As such, I'm cutting off more of the metal at the top. In other words, I started out with to much or to big of a brass piece. Right now I've cut off a good 1/4" from each side....yes....a bit more than a half-inch. But....better to have more and not need it, than not enough to finish it.

I'm not done....but closer than when I began this piece.

 

[ChuckJonesWagon]

Moving forward. Not done but getting closer!!

 

[PathfinderNC]

It’s looking really good!!

 

[ChuckJonesWagon]

Well, sometimes things just don't go the way you think. Now, this was the first time I've ever peened a buttcap from sheet brass. So, there was a learning curve.

What I learned was I kept peening the bottom of the cup thinking I would draw in the circumference, or outer lip of the cup. That does some....but not as much as I needed. After far too many whacks I stopped to discover I had too much material to get the outside lip "smaller". So, I cut of the excess. (And my "rough" finish was as you see above.

So, once I had it as above I began to cut the butt to inlet the buttcap. After some time I gave a heavy push on the buttcap and CRUNCH.....the cap buckled. The base was just too thin from over peening.

Now, before I even began the inlet I saw the bottom was thin, so I soldered a reinforcement piece inside. But after the CRUNCH I tried to solder another piece and I had to use a brass color silver solder. Well, the heat was just too much and I began compounding the problem as the pic below shows.

So....after too many hours spent trying to fix what is unfixable, I scrapped this one and cut a piece of sheet brass for a new one. Lesson learned from screwup #1 so this second one should go much smoother!!

Since it's hunting season I'm spending little time on this pistol build....but that will change after November.....until flintlock season is over in January.

 

[ChuckJonesWagon]

Buttcap #2----the sequel.

 

[ChuckJonesWagon]

Moving along with Buttcap #2. This buttcap is rather deep...at least I think so. From the lip (not the tang) to the bottom of the bell it's .900. That's pushing a lot of metal around.

I've learned from the first. I now have bigger diameter Dapping punches and once the bottom reached .030 in thickness, I'm not touching it anymore. The original sheet brass started at .080. Right now the edges are at .090....as the lower metal gets pushed up.

I measure the depth and when I get it "taller" than I want by .100, I take a file to it and knock it down.

 

[PathfinderNC]

Moving along with Buttcap #2. This buttcap is rather deep...at least I think so. From the lip (not the tang) to the bottom of the bell it's .900. That's pushing a lot of metal around.

I've learned from the first. I now have bigger diameter Dapping punches and once the bottom reached .030 in thickness, I'm not touching it anymore. The original sheet brass started at .080. Right now the edges are at .090....as the lower metal gets pushed up.

I measure the depth and when I get it "taller" than I want by .100, I take a file to it and knock it down.

Your perseverance will surely pay off

 

[billraby]

You might do better rounding out that buttcap with a large rounded wood punch than trying to peen it with a hammer.

 

[ChuckJonesWagon]

Things I've learned about forming a buttcap from sheet brass:

---Don't drill the bottom center hole too soon. I drilled the hole with a 3/32 bit (.09375) and after peening and stretching the hole "grew" to just over .400. Hence the necessity to brass solder in a piece. Fortunately, it worked great!

---Use decent tools. My map torch head was probably 15 years old and was giving me fits as it had a low flame. I bought a new one and it's night and day difference. I brass silver soldered that piece in, in record time!!

---Don't add extra metal when you do your initial layout. When you use a flexible ruler and "roll" it from left to right....don't add more metal. In fact, subtract some. The metal stretches as you work it. Adding a "little bit more" results in filing it, and more off.

---As for the dapping punches, something to keep in mind is the big one's are not always the best when moving metal. My wife is a retired art teacher and in college she did a lot of work with metal. She told me in order to get the sides to "shrink" use a smaller dapping punch. I stated that didn't make sense. She said, when you use a smaller diameter punch, the radius is smaller and bumps the metal to a sharper angle. I switched to a smaller dapping punch when I couldn't move the diameter closer. She was right.

---I found that placing the dapping punch in a vice and working the piece was easier than working the piece in a carved out piece of maple. The maple "die" is still a great idea as you have a gauge of where you're at and where you need to move the metal.

 

[ChuckJonesWagon]

Did some rough cleanup just to see it better. Still rough but coming along. Tang is to long and needs shaped yet.

 

[Xenophon]

Thank you for this thread. Learning so much.

 

[ChuckJonesWagon]

Thank you for this thread. Learning so much.

You and me both!! My elbow hurts!!

 

[ChuckJonesWagon]

You might do better rounding out that buttcap with a large rounded wood punch than trying to peen it with a hammer.

The first time I used almost exclusively a ball peen hammer.

This one I'm using Dapping punches and the largest one is 1.5" in diameter. I have Dapping punches down to the very small.

The problem with just hammering sheet brass into a wooden form (and I made two maple forms) is the base continues to stretch and thin to the point where my first attempt ended up.

The key (trick) is to form the cup to the correct North\South, East\West diameters while keeping the depth the correct measurement, and keeping the tang formed properly.

 

[ChuckJonesWagon]

Moving along I now have the buttcap in the shape I want it, maybe a few small things.....I'll look at it later with a fresh set of eyes to see if I still am happy with the shape.

Here's a few pics of my scrap maple "molds" I carved out before I started. I don't know if you really need two, but I made the top one so I could square up front\back and side\side. I also used this a lot for filing out excess material.

When filing the circumference I took the mold and using a spacer, and a cross piece on the bottom, I clamped the piece into the mold. Makes for straight filings much easier.

you

Right now I have the piece filed and sanded with 180 grit. That's all I'll do until I get it inletted as bumps and little dings just seem to appear.

The round piece I soldered in can be seen if you look for it. That may be slightly noticeable when it's all said and done, but there will also be a screw mounted in the middle of it.....so frankly, I don't think it will be a big thing.

 

[ChuckJonesWagon]

Getting near the end of the inlet. On the third pic you can see how much "deeper" I need to go.

On the first and second pic's you need to ignore the candle black soot on the edges as that gives the visual a bit more of an "ugly" inlet that what is actually true.

The edges of the tang have all been beveled to make the wood\metal fit easier and when it's all said and done I should (should?) have no gaps.....at least, that's the plan. I've left myself a lot of wood to work with and shape once this buttcap is installed.

 

[ChuckJonesWagon]

And here's something that my wife.....a retired art teacher who did metal jewelry making of various types (Peening, casting, soldering etc) taught me (after I sort of butchered the first one). From my crude drawing below (Ignore that double circle on the left....don't ask...) the size of the circle represents the size of the dapping punch, and the "line" represents what happens to the metal as you peen a flat piece of metal on a different size Dapping punch.

So, when you strike (peen) the smaller punch on the left, it gives the metal a sharper radius\angle that if you peen the metal using a larger one on the right. Now, that matters when you are trying to "shrink" the diameter of the metal to the size you want. On my first attempt, I kept peening using just a ball-peen hammer and it made the metal to thin as I kept hammering in the middle. On my second attempt I ask for advice from her and she stated to use the smaller diameter when I wanted the metal to bend "at a sharper radius". Using the smaller on to get the radius results in less hammer blows to the metal, and less thinning of the metal.

Also, start "near" the middle and work around it in a consistent fashion.

 

[ChuckJonesWagon]

Filed, sanded, and polished up the cap. It's just about done, but now I need to drill the center screw hole, then tighten it up and do the final finish work.

 

[ChuckJonesWagon]

I know I'm posting a ton of pics on this, but maybe it will be helpful to someone else.

Got the cap mounted and now starting to shape the stock around it. I decided to just screw on the lock-late and the side plate, toss the barrel on to look at the work in progress. Before I get to far along with the grip shape I need to inlet the side plate.

Anyway, here's a few more:

 

[ChuckJonesWagon]

Moving along.....