Wheellock Project

[Henry Elwood]

One recent article I posted on wheellocks said it took no less than 6 Guilds, or different Craftspersons/trades, to make a stocked wheellock.

Greetings,
I believe it 100%. I didn't see it and want to. Could you tell me the Title so I can find it. You know back in the late 80s I was also doing some Fusion Glass. Something interesting my instructor said about Colonial Glass making was, that none of the Glass Ware given to Washington at his inauguration existstoday. The pieces given by Foreign Countries are still in tact. He said that the reason for this was that the Annealing Process was only held by the "Master" of the Shop and because by the time they had achieved this status, they would never move to the "New World " and start all over. The highest level traveling would have been the Journeyman. They could make nice looking Glass but without the Annealing, the longest glass would last would be 90 years. Even just sitting in a cabinet unused. The stresses in the glass will cause it to shatter. Made me wonder about who came to the Collonies in the Gun Trade. Hank

One recent article I posted on wheellocks said it took no less than 6 Guilds, or different Craftspersons/trades, to make a stocked wheellock.

 

[Henry Elwood]

One recent article I posted on wheellocks said it took no less than 6 Guilds, or different Craftspersons/trades, to make a stocked wheellock.

Greetings,
I believe it 100%. I didn't see it and want to. Could you tell me the Title so I can find it. You know back in the late 80s I was also doing some Fusion Glass. Something interesting my instructor said about Colonial Glass making was, that none of the Glass Ware given to Washington at his inauguration existstoday. The pieces given by Foreign Countries are still in tact. He said that the reason for this was that the Annealing Process was only held by the "Master" of the Shop and because by the time they had achieved this status, they would never move to the "New World " and start all over. The highest level traveling would have been the Journeyman. They could make nice looking Glass but without the Annealing, the longest glass would last would be 90 years. Even just sitting in a cabinet unused. The stresses in the glass will cause it to shatter. Made me wonder about who came to the Collonies in the Gun Trade. Hank

One recent article I posted on wheellocks said it took no less than 6 Guilds, or different Craftspersons/trades, to make a stocked wheellock.

Greetings,
Oops, as you can see computers are not my strong suit. This is the Safty Dog. I wasn't sure how this might have been made but since I've been using the Rivet Technique. So made the "Button" then riveted it to the Dog. You can see how the Barb captures the Barb on the bottom of the Primary Sear. In the Primary Sear and Post there is a Tapered Pin that holds it in place.
Thanks,Hank

 

[Flint62Smoothie]

We can’t wait for you to go into commercial production!

 

[XVIIc Wheelock]

One recent article I posted on wheellocks said it took no less than 6 Guilds, or different Craftspersons/trades, to make a stocked wheellock.

Flint you are absolutely correct! The art of building the best of the best top quality handmade wheelocks (or other fine locks) back in the day or today (as Henry Elwood is doing).. It is a very common practice... and SOP (for example the highest reputation wheelock providers in Poland)....to purchase a few time consuming critical specialty parts to a specified ultra high quality level only from the best reputation professional craftsmen. It is a question of being able to build the best finished product in the world in a timely and financially responsible manner.

 

[Henry Elwood]

Greetings,
This is a bit of a difficult step. The Mainspring. I use Copper sheet to make a pattern with. Then I wanted to make sure that I had a righteous 3/4 Rotation of the Wheel. Slowly I Rotated the wheel through the Rotation of the Tumbler and the observation of the Recess in the back of the Wheel. After I checked it against my clear Protractor, looked good. I also wanted to check how the Mainspring movement looked. After having a good feel for it I made the Springs. I started with some 1"x3/16"x1' - 1095 Spring Steel. To the Forge to make the bend. And double checking on the Locks. Most folks think the "Hook-Fingers" are formed with Smithing but I've found Filing to shape is good. The Bottom Arm needs to be Tapered so from the Bend almost to the Fingers I tapered it down to 3/32"-.094", then leaving a segment back to 3/16" to form the Hook. The other thing you have to work out is the length of the "T"Link. It had to be short enough to not have it hitting the Back Leg of the Internal Bridle and watch it as it was Wound to a Full cocked Position. It's alot to keep track of but doable. The major thing while working the Spring is to Normalize after everytime you have been in the Forge. I forgot also this Soring is held in place by a Screw in the Top Post of the Secondary Sear Post so that needs to be Drilled.
Thanks,Hank

 

[Henry Elwood]

Greetings,
This is the Dog Spring. To get a feel for it I carved it out of Clay first. The material I used was 1/2" W1 Round Drill Stock mainly because of it's dimensions. I needed to be able to have enough metal to get the Bolster and transition to the Finial and the other direction to the Spring. To do this I used a "Half Strike". George Suiter explained how to do this in his Tool Making Class at WKU/NMLRA. After Normalizing to the Files. Then the Bend. At this point it is still soft just getting a feel for how it looks and what might still need to be done.
Thanks,Hank

 

[Flint62Smoothie]

Another WOW! Also LOVE that furnace, what can you tell us about it? Is that homemade or a commercial item?

 

[XVIIc Wheelock]

Henry Elwood: Obviously you have an excellent anvil in photo #3 above....full photo?

 

[Henry Elwood]

Another WOW! Also LOVE that furnace, what can you tell us about it? Is that homemade or a commercial item?

Greetings Flint,
This is a Commercial Forge. I got it from Centaur Forge they are a good company to do buisness with. I have a Whisper Daddy and Baby. And they are relatively quiet. The Daddy has x3 Burners and I got that to Work an Anchor Link from scratch and they are Big, to me. I used this when I started the Miquellets. BUT, to tell you the truth I use my Baby more frequently because it has the same Temp but I'm only using x1 Burner and less Propane. If I need to do something I just fire it up let it heat up for about 10 minutes and I'm good. Working a regular Forge requires a bunch more. I hope you can see the information from their catalog. The last pic are what I use most of the time to shape parts.
Thanks,Hank

 

[Henry Elwood]

Henry Elwood: Obviously you have an excellent anvil in photo #3 above....full photo?

Greetings XVIIc,
This is a Vulcan Anvil. I picked it up in an Iron Antique Yard in Barstow California. The owner was a Commercial Welder he rewelded the whole surface and then ground it absolutely flat. He said it was hard enough to Smith on but when I started using it I could see some dings so I stopped. I then found a Heat Treating Shop in Burbank that did a Heat Treat on it and it's just fine now. Thanks,Hank

 

[Henry Elwood]

Greetings,
Continuing with the Dog Spring. The Finial on the Dog Spring will be similar to the Safty Cover. Trimming the Dog Spring. After Filing out the Finial on the Dog Spring and making the bend it was Quinched and Drawn. The last x2 pics are of the External Bridle. The important dimension are the x2 Holes for the Dog Spring and the Dog. Get those then the rest is carving. Thanks,Hank

 

[TobJohn]

Greetings,
Continuing with the Dog Spring. The Finial on the Dog Spring will be similar to the Safty Cover. Trimming the Dog Spring. After Filing out the Finial on the Dog Spring and making the bend it was Quinched and Drawn. The last x2 pics are of the External Bridle. The important dimension are the x2 Holes for the Dog Spring and the Dog. Get those then the rest is carving. Thanks,Hank

Nice work on those springs! It’s interesting how many springs have to go into a wheellock. No surprise it never replaced the matchlock!

 

[Flint62Smoothie]

Speechless … such excellent work - and tutorial - that I’m left speechless …

Thanks for the forge info!

 

[XVIIc Wheelock]

Greetings XVIIc,
This is a Vulcan Anvil. I picked it up in an Iron Antique Yard in Barstow California. The owner was a Commercial Welder he rewelded the whole surface and then ground it absolutely flat. He said it was hard enough to Smith on but when I started using it I could see some dings so I stopped. I then found a Heat Treating Shop in Burbank that did a Heat Treat on it and it's just fine now. Thanks,Hank

Thank you Henry....perhaps? the welder had an effect on the tempering of your original condition anvil...hard to believe a factory Vulcan anvil was not tempered properly. Your quick observation of the dings saved the smooth surface...I would have not been so observant! Thank you for the photo and info. Larry

 

[Sam squanch]

Used anvils here are VERY expensive, even in rough condition. The old people want one in the yard to crack walnuts on.

 

[Commodore Swab]

Used anvils here are VERY expensive, even in rough condition. The old people want one in the yard to crack walnuts on.

And this is why I hate the show forged in fire

 

[PathfinderNC]

I am in awe of your amazing skill. Thanks for showing us how you go about conceptualizing, designing and creating this amazing piece

 

[XVIIc Wheelock]

Used anvils here are VERY expensive, even in rough condition. The old people want one in the yard to crack walnuts on.

Sam I take a personal affront to your comment! At my age, I have cracked my nuts with an old fashioned hand nut cracker....MUCH CHEAPER THAN AN ANVIL!

Whoops, I mean cracking my pecans!!!!

 

[Sam squanch]

Pecan pie…..

 

[Henry Elwood]

Greetings,
This was an interesting part. I thought it worked one way and then realized it was much simpler. The thing that was driving me crazy was, the original Augsburg Lockplates were Blued with the edges brought back to the white. And, the other parts on the Plate were in the White. In my past experiences this Spring would have been Peened on the inside of the Plate. So how could the Spring be White and the Plate Blued and still take it apart and put it back together without screwing everything up. As it turns out. The Spring is held not only by the Lug but it Slides in Behind the Safty Dog Cover and also the compression of the Cam on the Safty Dog, and No Need for Peeing. These little problem solving things are the fun part. These things we all can figure out to what I make the little joke, "Reinventing the Wheel" those 'ol Boys really had insight. It's just fun finding them and passing them along. Thanks,Hank