- Joined
- Jul 26, 2011
- Messages
- 4,142
I made the walnut stock from a piece of walnut firewood that a friend saw and gave me. The grain of the wood curved down at one end,at the perfect angle to make an earlier 18th. C. style pistol. It has some nice figure in it too,where it curves down. This would also help keep the handle of the pistol from cracking off by accident. My friend is artistic,and realized that this piece of wood was perfect. I put it near my furnace and dried it for some years. Can't recall how many.
Before starting this pistol,I spent months studying all of the details they used at different times in the 18th. C. Things did not change as fast then, About every 15 years new details would come into fashion. I like the angle of the handle that was prevalent in about 1760,or a bit earlier. The handles became more and more bent down until,about 1800,they bent straight down,which I find ugly,and not as good to shoot straight. I like to bend my wrist to lock it. You can with this gun.
The fancy ramrod "pipes" are a bit early,but I did find pistols that still featured them. So much prettier than straight filed octagonal pipes. More trouble to make,yes.
I'm sorry that I cannot find a picture of the other side of this gun,where the polished steel lock is. However,I made the barrel,and all the p;arts on the gun. All the brass parts were chiseled out,and filed where possible.
The butt of the pistol has the skinned face of the lion that Hercules slew,and took as a trophy. This was inspired by an original pistol by Barber in a book I have on early guns.
The lion mask took many hours to chisel out. Possibly a month. I can't recall. But,I sold the pistol to the last Dow to run Dow Chemicals. Where it is now,I don't know. Probably in the family. Mr. Dow was in his 80's or older when he bought it. I have lost so many things from being offered money that I could not refuse!!
The trigger guard is completely hand made,terminating in the acorn.
I made the "pipes" that hold the ramrod in by turning a hollow cylinder of brass in the lathe. Then,I used small special turning tools I made,usually from W1,as I can file any shape I want while it is annealed.
After the brass cylinder was finished and polished,I cut enough length of metal from it to bend it around to the diameter of each place on the tapered rosewood ramrod. Then,I squeezed a bit of it into a vertical,straight shape,and filed the moldings off. This is where the pipe was fitted into little slots in the stock,and cross pinned snugly.
This is really how they made the ramrod pipes in the 18th. C.,and earlier. Except that they would have pulled the brass or silver through a forming die. I did not have a drawing bench,so I just made mine in the lathe as described.
The sideplate was sawn to shape with a jeweler's saw,and filed and chiseled to its final form.
The barrel was turned into shape,and the octagonal rear part filed into an octagon and all was highly polished. There are little decorative lambs tongues where the octagon terminates into the swamped(somewhat concave) round part of the barrel. Some decorative moldings were also turned in the lathe. Again,I made the special shaped W1 cutters. W1 works perfectly well for SLOW SPEED turning,and one-off pieces. As a nice favor,I got Mr. Dow's permission to have the valuable lion's face butt removed,and a rubber mold made of it. I made his wife a silver brooch from it. We decided to add the face to our offerings of jewelry that my wife makes and sells. I posted a picture of a silver,blackened necklace as the shiny gun does not photograph so you can tell what is going on!
It is hard to see,but I fire blued the barrel in the kitchen oven,though I was afraid I might blow it out! Now I have an accurate electric knife furnace that heats very evenly,and does 2200º or so.
The finish is Tru Oil,which makes a very deep,beautiful finish indeed.
The gun must have taken me 6 months of evenings and weekends to make. I wish I still had the energy!!
Sorry,some of the pictures posted twice,and I can't figure out how to delete them. I already deleted this whole thread once!!!!!
Before starting this pistol,I spent months studying all of the details they used at different times in the 18th. C. Things did not change as fast then, About every 15 years new details would come into fashion. I like the angle of the handle that was prevalent in about 1760,or a bit earlier. The handles became more and more bent down until,about 1800,they bent straight down,which I find ugly,and not as good to shoot straight. I like to bend my wrist to lock it. You can with this gun.
The fancy ramrod "pipes" are a bit early,but I did find pistols that still featured them. So much prettier than straight filed octagonal pipes. More trouble to make,yes.
I'm sorry that I cannot find a picture of the other side of this gun,where the polished steel lock is. However,I made the barrel,and all the p;arts on the gun. All the brass parts were chiseled out,and filed where possible.
The butt of the pistol has the skinned face of the lion that Hercules slew,and took as a trophy. This was inspired by an original pistol by Barber in a book I have on early guns.
The lion mask took many hours to chisel out. Possibly a month. I can't recall. But,I sold the pistol to the last Dow to run Dow Chemicals. Where it is now,I don't know. Probably in the family. Mr. Dow was in his 80's or older when he bought it. I have lost so many things from being offered money that I could not refuse!!
The trigger guard is completely hand made,terminating in the acorn.
I made the "pipes" that hold the ramrod in by turning a hollow cylinder of brass in the lathe. Then,I used small special turning tools I made,usually from W1,as I can file any shape I want while it is annealed.
After the brass cylinder was finished and polished,I cut enough length of metal from it to bend it around to the diameter of each place on the tapered rosewood ramrod. Then,I squeezed a bit of it into a vertical,straight shape,and filed the moldings off. This is where the pipe was fitted into little slots in the stock,and cross pinned snugly.
This is really how they made the ramrod pipes in the 18th. C.,and earlier. Except that they would have pulled the brass or silver through a forming die. I did not have a drawing bench,so I just made mine in the lathe as described.
The sideplate was sawn to shape with a jeweler's saw,and filed and chiseled to its final form.
The barrel was turned into shape,and the octagonal rear part filed into an octagon and all was highly polished. There are little decorative lambs tongues where the octagon terminates into the swamped(somewhat concave) round part of the barrel. Some decorative moldings were also turned in the lathe. Again,I made the special shaped W1 cutters. W1 works perfectly well for SLOW SPEED turning,and one-off pieces. As a nice favor,I got Mr. Dow's permission to have the valuable lion's face butt removed,and a rubber mold made of it. I made his wife a silver brooch from it. We decided to add the face to our offerings of jewelry that my wife makes and sells. I posted a picture of a silver,blackened necklace as the shiny gun does not photograph so you can tell what is going on!
It is hard to see,but I fire blued the barrel in the kitchen oven,though I was afraid I might blow it out! Now I have an accurate electric knife furnace that heats very evenly,and does 2200º or so.
The finish is Tru Oil,which makes a very deep,beautiful finish indeed.
The gun must have taken me 6 months of evenings and weekends to make. I wish I still had the energy!!
Sorry,some of the pictures posted twice,and I can't figure out how to delete them. I already deleted this whole thread once!!!!!
