Current gun build

[sbwhart]

I remember one trick the gunsmith chap showed me.

It was measuring your selfe up to get your vice at the correct height for filing, what you did was stand side on to your bench, and you got a buddy to measure the height from the top of the bench to your elbow, you then blocked the vice up so its top was at elbow height, this way you file flat. 

Cheers
 

Stew

[Alphawolf45]

Stew
 I have a couple cnc mills, a pair of manual mills, 3 lathes , surface grinder etc. etc.all rather serious stuff..I got my share of expeditiously helpful motorized machinery but will swear that I believe that the measure of a mans completed work is predicated upon the quality of his abrasives and his file work.... I regret that my eyesight is going bad , I have to get my nose right down nearly touching the workpiece to use a file with some degree of precision. I marvel at pictures showing persons using a file as you describe..Also I got a picture of a lady checkering a gunstock at comfortable arms length,she not hunkered down over it. I wish I could operate that way. I pull a stool up to the vice , sit down to use a file........I set one my manual kneemills up onto a 10 inch high block so I wouldnt have to bend over so far to see the work..see the picture.

[Bernd]

Hey Alphawolf45,

Some nice work and equipment you have there. 

That six shooter sure has a nice finish on it. 

When you build your own, do you also make the barrel and rifling or do you purchase them and just build the frame.

I'm also with you 100% on the gumint with gun control. I dispise it and those would force that on us. But lets not turn this thread into a politcal bashing. Much more fun talking about making them. 

Bernd

[Alphawolf45]

Hey Alphawolf45,



When you build your own, do you also make the barrel and rifling or do you purchase them and just build the frame.


Bernd

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I dont do any rifling .I buy rifled barrel blanks  from a number of sources.Then cut it to length , contour it and thread it and chamber it and cut extractor slots and crown it and mount sights on it and mill dovetail slot to affix stock or whatever hangs off the underside..Then polish and blue it..By time I am finished I definately feel like I made the barrel........
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[sbwhart]

Hi

Can you expand on the blueing process, its something that may be of use to me.

Cheers

Stew

[Alphawolf45]

Stew
 I appreciate your interest and I will gladly tell you what I do..You keep in mind I am an amateur and not even top of that heap...I only need to blue two or three projects a year so I cant setup a professional blueing shop..So I use Pilkingtons Classic American Rust Blueing and approximately follow the directions..Not even that......
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http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/store/ProductDetail.aspx?p=9815&title=PILKINGTON%20CLASSIC%20AMERICAN%20RUST%20BLUE
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 I polish the part to 320 grit .Degrease completely. Slather on the rust blue and set it aside to rust overnight..Next day boil it for 10 minutes.Take it out and rub down with fine steel wool..Recoat with rust blue and set it aside to rust overnight...Repeat until the color suits you......Thats how I do it ...See picture of my barrel boiling tank on top my propane fueled metals melting furnace that I use when casting aluminum and bronze...The tank is length of square steel tube I welded covers on each end and torched out opening in the 'top'.....Crude setup but works for me and Safer than spilling stuff in wifes kitchen..Hehhehhehhe

[sbwhart]

Hi Thanks for the information it all seams straight forward. 

Cheers

Stew

[Alphawolf45]

Heres the revolver project I started last week..It will be .38 special ..I like these early pictures that look rough and ugly and probably has the average viewer thinking it cant possibly turn out to look good and function correctly..So far she is going good and nothing done so poorly to give me reason to think it wont please me when I am all finished...Note the barrel is just laying there in the picture..Also note I sandcast the brass grip frame...Give me a couple more weeks and I may be looking for a holster
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 I dont have a real Colt single action army to copy and dont have schematics to work from..What I have is pictures off the internet of some real purty guns..and I have a percussion cap revolver that is lending some dimensions..From there I am winging it.......Really I am having way too much fun..Hehhehhheh
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[Bernd]

Very nice there Alpha.

This will be interesting to see how a gun evolves. Looks like there's going to be a lot of hand work ahead of you.

Bernd

[Alphawolf45]

Very nice there Alpha.

This will be interesting to see how a gun evolves. Looks like there's going to be a lot of hand work ahead of you.

Bernd

You like this sort of thing Bernd? Good that I got something to contribute.
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 Yes plenty of hand work but also lot of use of manual lathes , mills , grinders ,and  heat treating furnace...Maybe I will set it back on the cnc mill for finish contouring the recoil shield...But.........explaining why this is a good project is because I get to play with most all my toys , even the Rockwell Hardness tester and my metalscasting setup got some use......and I seeing I could really be using a sinker EDM about now so this gives me excuse to hunt ebay for another machine... .
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 What you may not realize casually looking at that picture that I put up.. I am machining the reciever in block form leaving final contours till last for very practical reasons..This way I keep my square reference surfaces and flat sides to make precision setups easier..Getting things lined up properly is higher priority than purty contours at this stage.
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 Few hobby gunsmiths ever finish a revolver built from barstock.. It is tricky work .. I am cheating by using storebought mainspring, trigger return spring, hand and cylinder bolt....I might still boogeritup 'fore its all over.. Risk and uncertainty is part of the fun.......Aint like this is serious work, this is just for grins and giggles...... ....

[sbwhart]

Hi

Thanks for posting this thread will watch it with interest keep it up.

Cheers
 
Stew

[Bernd]

Now by single action you mean that you will need to pull the hammer back with thumb to be able to fire it, versus pulling the trigger that would then pull back the hammer and fire it?

Also will this have a barrel to hold 6 bullets?. I've alway been interested in how they make all those parts and how they function.

Perhaps one of these days when I don't have so many projects to do I may start on building one of the gatlin guns I have plans for.

Thanks for the pics and keep us in the loop as you make this fine firearm.

Bernd

[Alphawolf45]

Bernd
 Yes single action means hammer must be pulled back to cock the gun.This is near miss copy of the 1853 Colt single action army design..Later  revolvers developed that could be fired either single action or double action -simply pull the trigger through a long stroke will cock and fire the gun..........Also this gun can be called a 6 shooter..It will have a rotating cylinder having 6 chambers where 6 cartridges can be loaded....But it was only safe in everyday carry to load 5 rounds with hammer down on the empty 6th chamber.......
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I can tell you that a double action revolver is an order of difficulty well above this single action revolver..I have had monumental trouble repairing double action revolvers , to say nothing of building one..
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 Gatlin guns are very challenging builds from what I have read..I would like to read the full account of some fellow build his first one...

[Pelallito]

Bernd,
I don't know which plans you have, but I read not long ago, that the plans out there have problems. I will try to track down the information and post it. I too would love to read of someones account of a successful Gatlin build.
Alpha,
I have been following your revolver build on another forum. It looks great to me! I need to get a mill for my shop, and of course other machine tools. You never have enough!
Regards,
Fred

[Alphawolf45]

Bernd,
I don't know which plans you have, but I read not long ago, that the plans out there have problems. I will try to track down the information and post it. I too would love to read of someones account of a successful Gatlin build.
Alpha,
I have been following your revolver build on another forum. It looks great to me! I need to get a mill for my shop, and of course other machine tools. You never have enough!
Regards,
Fred

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 Yeah Hey Fred I knew your name from thuther group. Good to see you again...Yes indeed you never have enough machines..I have couple extra lathes and mills I seldom use but want to keep'em and would buy more if I stumble over something cheap and close to the house it can come home with me.....Give it a little while and you can fill up any size shop building......Hey but no kidding, this stuff is fun..Imagine this , I can build just anything without need to buy any tools and most projects I can build using junk I've accumulated..Being a packrat has its advantages ....Like the new heat treat furnace I will start building this week- I using firebrick salvaged from a couple junk pottery kilns I have had a while and the metal shell is 3/16ths plate steel salvaged from end of large 10 foot dia steel gas tank..rusty but will cleanup well enough to paint....add a digital temps controller, couple heater elements and solid state relays and almost got it built for 'bout a 150 dollars..And that for a unit comparable to a commercial unit costing 4 thousand dollars.....I got a lot of stuff, been at it a long time but I didnt pay a whole lot for any of it..The hobby adds to itself..Sweat equity, build your own or fix something as required..Fabulous hobby...

[Pelallito]

Alpha,
I plan on making a heat treat furnace and have been trying to track down soft firebrick in Miami, Fl without any luck so far. I will probably have to order it, the closest place I have found any is around Orlando.
I intend to make this one, but will stretch it out so it can handle 18" stuff. A little larger is always better, except around the waistline, that is.
http://www.britishblades.com/home/articles.php?action=show&showarticle=31
I am a pack rat, I have the, sometimes heated, discussions with my wife about what she calls, the junk in the shop!
Don't stop those builds, I intend to learn all that I can.
Regards,
Fred

[Alphawolf45]

 Fred
  I was going to cast refractory for heat treat furnace like I build my metals melting foundry furnace..But the lightweight firebrick is much better insulation...One thing I wonder is how hot will it get on backside of the firebrick..I wonder should an air gap be left between the brick and the metal case?..I note that exterior of my foundry gets extremely hot but my commercially produced heat treat furnace- uses the lightweight firebrick- exterior barely gets warm- but I dont know how it was built inside where I cant see it..
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One noteable advantage to using the firebrick salvaged from old pottery kilns--- I am able to use the bricks that have the heater element raceways cast in place.. I dont have to saw and chipaway or router the cutouts for a place to install the elements.........The furnace I will build is outside dimensions , 20 inch by 20 inch by 20 inch, plus a little box hanging on the side for control and relays.Inside will be 12 inch wide and 10 high and 16 inch depth..Probably will take substantially longer to come up to temp than my smaller furnace..Whatdyouthink?
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I have the good furnace but its too small for some work I want to do and its too nice to risk damaging it with some other types work like melting wax out of lost wax investment casting molds...........So the new furnace will get its share of work, but most of the time I will still use thuther furnace..Uhhhmmmmm....Yeah man, one furnace can heat metal to brittle quenching temps and second furnace can be sitting ready at correct temps to pop the fresh quenched part in it for tempering...This can work ...I cant think of any downside to having multiples of everything.
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[Pelallito]

Alpha,
I agree wholeheartedly with this-...I cant think of any downside to having multiples of everything.
First I will make one , then maybe another. I liked your idea of having the pair.
I think that it might take a little more time to get up to temperature from what I read. Everything depends on how good a seal you have on the door. That is probably the area of greatest loss.
Regards,
Fred