Wheellock Project

[Henry Elwood]

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

Greetings Larry,
The Vulcan Anvils were made from 1875 to 1969 the Face was added to the Anvils and this one was worn out. The Fellow the welded the Face did it like you were frosting a cake. I don't know how long it took him to do it and then to surface it???? Finding Blacksmithing equipment especially in California isn't easy. I tell Folks it's like looking for chicken lips. So if you find something you need to get it. It's all part of the fun of our art form. You never know when something you find will help you build. Thanks,Hank

 

[XVIIc Wheelock]

Henry many moons ago growing up in south texas I worked summers as a young teenage apprentice at the king ranch vet clinic outside Kingsville....which was located a good three rock throws from one of the ranch farriers. After hours I enjoyed watching the farriers work their blacksmithing. I learned as simple fact....a farrier works with horses but needs training in blacksmithing, in order to make a custom shoe. A blacksmith is a smith who works with iron and may never have any contact with horses; however, many do work special shoe orders for traveling farriers who don't do their own blacksmithing. If looking for a good blacksmith that may have or know where there is an unused old anvil, go to the local stables...they typically have a traveling farrier on call who will give you a blacksmith contact, as many are unlisted..that's why they are hard to find. Larger stables will have their own or part time smith employee who may have a surplus old anvil they keep tripping over. A good farrier should know the location of reputable blacksmiths with all the right equipment. Again, that was way back in day!

Greetings Larry,
"Finding Blacksmithing equipment especially in California isn't easy. I tell Folks it's like looking for chicken lips."

 

[TobJohn]

Henry many moons ago growing up in south texas I worked summers as a young teenage apprentice at the king ranch vet clinic outside Kingsville....which was located a good three rock throws from one of the ranch farriers. After hours I enjoyed watching the farriers work their blacksmithing. I learned as simple fact....a farrier works with horses but needs training in blacksmithing, in order to make a custom shoe. A blacksmith is a smith who works with iron and may never have any contact with horses; however, many do work special shoe orders for traveling farriers who don't do their own blacksmithing. If looking for a good blacksmith that may have or know where there is an unused old anvil, go to the local stables...they typically have a traveling farrier on call who will give you a blacksmith contact, as many are unlisted. Larger stables will have their own or part time employee who may have a surplus old anvil they keep tripping over. A good farrier should know the location of reputable blacksmiths with all the right equipment. Again, that was way back in day!

That is a very interesting idea. California has a surprising amount of equestrian folk. A 30 minute drive south of Silicon valley, you have high schools whose main sport is rodeo!

The real key would be if the hipster blacksmiths have not thought about this first...

 

[Henry Elwood]

Henry many moons ago growing up in south texas I worked summers as a young teenage apprentice at the king ranch vet clinic outside Kingsville....which was located a good three rock throws from one of the ranch farriers. After hours I enjoyed watching the farriers work their blacksmithing. I learned as simple fact....a farrier works with horses but needs training in blacksmithing, in order to make a custom shoe. A blacksmith is a smith who works with iron and may never have any contact with horses; however, many do work special shoe orders for traveling farriers who don't do their own blacksmithing. If looking for a good blacksmith that may have or know where there is an unused old anvil, go to the local stables...they typically have a traveling farrier on call who will give you a blacksmith contact, as many are unlisted..that's why they are hard to find. Larger stables will have their own or part time employee who may have a surplus old anvil they keep tripping over. A good farrier should know the location of reputable blacksmiths with all the right equipment. Again, that was way back in day!

Greetings,
Thanks for the thoughts. Absolutely correct. Thanks,Hank

 

[Henry Elwood]

Greetings,
This is my Pack Hardening. I used Misquite charcoal. This is charcoal I made in the BarBQ cooking burgers and steaks over time. I put Misquite into a smoker box and at the end of say an hour or hour and fifteen it's Charcoal and I kept it. Then I ground it smaller with a Mortar and Pestle. Note, you want to put slave screws in all the Lockplate Holes, you don't want to harden your Threads. I used Stainless Steel Foil Mauldin Products. The Kiln will be set for 1550°F for x3 Hrs. I rapped it up tight. In my research it was said to allow the plate to cool slowly Because of the control of the Quinch. By allowing it to cool over night then the next day you can reHeat in the Forge then Quinching in Brine (Stabbing it straight in like a knife) then you can remove your slave screws and clean. Sorry about x2 similar photos, but my point was to check the plates to make sure it hadn't warped. The last pic is of the locks after being cleaned.
Thanks,Hank

 

[XVIIc Wheelock]

Henry with your over-the-top detail and incredible craftsmanship....your wheelocks should bring $1600-1800 and should have a 4000-5000 lifecycle before a light tuneup requirement.

 

[Henry Elwood]

Henry with your over-the-top detail and incredible craftsmanship....your wheelocks should bring $1600-1800 and should have a 4000-5000 lifecycle before a light tuneup requirement.

Greetings,
Thanks for your thoughts. It's nice to think it will cycle that many times. I saw another post that was talking about Black Powder but after I closed down to look for this book I couldn't figure out where I was to get back. So, this is the book. It is excellent it was published back in 1996 from the University at Bath England. It seems like I bought my copy direct not sure where folks might find it currently.
Thanks, Hank

 

[Commodore Swab]

Ive wanted to get my hands on one of Boleks locks for a long time. Now i want to check out yours.

 

[Henry Elwood]

Greetings,
This is the Pack Hardening for the rest of the Parts. Something I had forgotten about when doing small parts is to Wire some of them together. Because when you drop them in the Brine with the Carbon it's a pain to retrieve them after they've cooled. Note, this is something Jess told me a long time ago. He said he'd seen this on some originals that were in the shop. IT WAS A LEATHER CUSHION. On the Rear Foot of the Internal Bridle. Let me say it helped on one of my locks and the other did better without it??? Just passing it along. The next pic is of a list of pieces made. There are a bunch more than a French Flintlock. The last is just done.
Thanks,Hank

 

[XVIIc Wheelock]

Absolutamente magnífico!!! Perfección máxima!!!
Henry: How many estimated hours of manufacture in each lock? If that is a trade secret...no problem!

 

[TobJohn]

Literal art!

You will need to restart the guilds!

 

[Flint62Smoothie]

... still wishing I was his neighbor ...

 

[Henry Elwood]

Absolutamente magnífico!!! Perfección máxima!!!
Henry: How many estimated hours of manufacture in each lock? If that is a trade secret...no problem!

Greetings,
I thank you for your kind thoughts. The only thing I kinda kept track of were the x2 Girardonis, 4 years. The x3 Lukens Air Rifles took x5 years. My Dad was always asking. I would tell him as I made the pieces. When you're trying just to figure out how it was done you just don't want to look at the clock. These took 10 months, 2months for the wooden mockup and 8 months for the real thing. I don't have secrets. It's all Fun.
Thanks,Hank

 

[Commodore Swab]

. . . It's all Fun.
Thanks,Hank

If that's the case want to make me a small diamond plate for a pistol?

 

[TobJohn]

Thank you for including a parts list! That’s something you don’t often see and is an excellent guide.

 

[Henry Elwood]

Literal art!

You will need to restart the guilds!

Greetings Tob,
Actually, it was kind of a thought. I by no means wanted to have folks think of what I presented was a "How to" and "the Way" to do this. I have looked at it as more of a dairy of what I did in Hope's that others might follow it and then say, oh that's nice but if you do it "this way or that way" would be great. Building on the project. I never had shop when I was in school, you guys with righteous training and skills have been kind for not calling me on some of my technique. Proper training would cut the time down and make a better lock. That is still my hope for someone wanting to make one.
Thanks,Hank

 

[Henry Elwood]

... still wishing I was

... still wishing I was his neighbor ...

Greetings Flint,
I think neighbors would be fun. Lots of good conversation and ideas. Probably won't have more photos for awhile. I've started the stocking and it's moving along nicely. The fun part is going to be figuring out how to work the Bone Plates. These are Camel bones. I found them in Florida but I had to check with California Fish and Wildlife to make sure it was ok to buy and use here. Took a little time but she got back to me that it's legal. Thanks,Hank

 

[Henry Elwood]

If that's the case want to make me a small diamond plate for a pistol?

Greetings Swab,
Not sure exactly you mean? The Plate is one thing but are you meaning everything that's also attached to the Plate. I'm a little concrete in my thinking. But I like working with folks that are serious about the Art. I'm not sure how to do a regular type email conversation.
Thanks,Hank

 

[Commodore Swab]

Greetings Swab,
Not sure exactly you mean? The Plate is one thing but are you meaning everything that's also attached to the Plate. I'm a little concrete in my thinking. But I like working with folks that are serious about the Art. I'm not sure how to do a regular type email conversation.
Thanks,Hank

Twas a bit of a joke as I am broke. Ive been thinking about building an early pistol that employs the earlier dimond lockplate. Something like landeszeughaus pages 290-314. Nobody has the earlier style available.

 

[Henry Elwood]

Twas a bit of a joke as I am broke. Ive been thinking about building an early pistol that employs the earlier dimond lockplate. Something like landeszeughaus pages 290-314. Nobody has the earlier style available.

Greetings Swab,
That does look interesting. My guess is that those locks look about as big as the ones I made. But looking at them, no external Safty Dog, External Bridle, no Pushbutton Pan Closure, no Wheel Cover just the Arm/"Paw" to the ~8 O'clock position, and the Dog Spring looks more like early Frizzen Springs. Makes me wonder how close/conceptually these would be to Jesse's /TRS -Dutch lock. I like thinking about this, thanks for drawing my attention to them.
Thanks,Hank