Pistol/dagger project

Almost every post you make Bruce, defines the meaning of the letter - M - in the MS designation you have earned through your hard work. You are truly an inspiration to us all :thumbup: :thumbup:

I can't wait to see this piece finished :cool:
 
Can I come live under your bench and watch for a few weeks??:D:D

I think we need a subforum called "The Amazing Works of Bruce" to put these in-progress threads. Thanks for sharing w/ us less imaginative folks!!:cool::thumbup:
 
Deweyknives said:
Can I come live under your bench and watch for a few weeks??:D:D

I think we need a subforum called "The Amazing Works of Bruce" to put these in-progress threads. Thanks for sharing w/ us less imaginative folks!!:cool::thumbup:
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Sounds fine with me. Actually we have a studio apartment attached to my shop just in case Kaye boots me out of the house.:)
 
I would take that offer if I was a LOT closer.;)

Heck, IG was stuck w/ me for 4 days and he's only a couple hundred miles.[ok,430mi.] I'd have to stay for a month if I went that far!!:D:D
It sure would be a learning experience!!!:thumbup:
 
I got to spend most all day in the shop so I made some more progress.

I drill and reamed the hammer and trigger and cut and ground them to shape.
I also roughed out the liners and refined the barrel some more. Its all beginning to take some shape.
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I super glued the liner material to the frame and ground it very close to the finished size. I need to figure out where the hold down screws need to go. That small cover plate is titanium (because it happed to be the correct thickness) and helps support the pivots for the hammer and trigger.

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I clamped a piece of corian in the milling vice and used a fly cutter to surface it. Now the quill is perfectly perpendicular to the table and will give me a better chance of drilling and reaming the pivot holes.

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A slighly blurry shot of the nipple and the back of the barrel.
 
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Here Im cutting the hammer to match the nipple and back of the barrel. The lower portion had to be trimmed way back so it didnt contact the nipple as it cocks back.



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A paper pattern is glued on so I can bandsaw around it.

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The same pattern on the trigger.
 
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Here the hammer and trigger are superglued together and contoured at the same time so they will match at least on the ends. I have a 1" strip sander that works good for this. I have a oscillating spindle sander that will do most of the inside radious's. The Dremel will contour the tight ones.

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I popped a cap already to test my spring tension. It took 3 times but I think after the plates are in position and it has some lubrication on the pivots it should fire every time. If not I can shorten the main spring so it has more leverage on the hammer.

Next comes grinding the bevels on the blade. It will have no ricasso (mostly because I forged the taper so close to the front of the barrel). The bottom bevel will start about 1/2" in front of the trigger and the top bevel just in front of the barrel mounting bolt. I finally had to mill out that unsightly spot on each side of the barrel. If you know what Im talking about, you have been paying attention. What do you think so far?

Thanks for looking and Thanks for all the compliments.
 
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damn. That's gonna be quite the item. the barrel design is perfect for the bluing scheme
 
I think it's coming along beautifully and is fascinating to watch. This is going to be another great piece from you!
 
Wonderful project Bruce. You must spend a lot of time in the studio apt. thinking up these projects. Is that do not disturb sign used much??

Jim
 
Let's pause for a moment and think about this.

He has done all this work on this piece and hasn't even ground the bevels yet. He said it, so nonchalantly, like it wasn't a big deal or anything...

Could you imagine being so handy with a grinder that it was a forgone conclusion that you weren't gonna botch your grind and have to start over? That it isn't even a worry in his mind?

Neat

makes me sick...


I think it is pretty impressive when your skill level reaches a point you can post a WIP thread of such a complicated project and be pretty sure going into it that it is going to work out well.

You once mentioned you have a can of screwups? You need to drag that out for us to see, before you get burned as a witch
 
FWIW - regarding bluing by the caplock period (early 1800's) cold/rust bluing was the norm rather than charcoal bluing which did have a resurgence in the late 1800's.

Looking forward to seeing this one finished.......
 
Nathan the Machinist said:
Let's pause for a moment and think about this.

He has done all this work on this piece and hasn't even ground the bevels yet. He said it, so nonchalantly, like it wasn't a big deal or anything...

Could you imagine being so handy with a grinder that it was a forgone conclusion that you weren't gonna botch your grind and have to start over? That it isn't even a worry in his mind?

Neat

makes me sick...


I think it is pretty impressive when your skill level reaches a point you can post a WIP thread of such a complicated project and be pretty sure going into it that it is going to work out well.

You once mentioned you have a can of screwups? You need to drag that out for us to see, before you get burned as a witch
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:D Iam really hangin my butt out on this one. If I screw it up the whole world will see.

I actually am more worried about the heat treating than anything else. It is 52100 steel and according to some it should have a triple quench. Its not going to happen on this one. I will be lucky to quench it once and keep it from warping. It is normalized and anealed right now so I'm going to grind the initial bevels as evenly as possible and heat and quench just the blade. There will be some nice engraving on most of the frame so I need it as soft as butter. After the tempering cycles I can grind the blade true and finish the bevels.
 
Wild Rose said:
FWIW - regarding bluing by the caplock period (early 1800's) cold/rust bluing was the norm rather than charcoal bluing which did have a resurgence in the late 1800's.

Looking forward to seeing this one finished.......
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Chuck, you are probally right about the bluing but the more I think about it the more I think the gold expense could be traded for additional engraving and leave it French Grey. Bluing is a pain to keep up and this thing is itching to get fired. The blade is going to be hand rubbed satin and its a part of the frame so the only thing left to blue is the barrel.

Do I still have that time slot for a scabbord (sheath)? What can you do for this thing? Share will ya? Remember its French. I can send a wooden replica to speed up things and save shipping/insurance costs.
 
Bruce Bump said:
:D Iam really hangin my butt out on this one. If I screw it up the whole world will see.

I actually am more worried about the heat treating than anything else. It is 52100 steel and according to some it should have a triple quench. Its not going to happen on this one. I will be lucky to quench it once and keep it from warping. It is normalized and anealed right now so I'm going to grind the initial bevels as evenly as possible and heat and quench just the blade. There will be some nice engraving on most of the frame so I need it as soft as butter. After the tempering cycles I can grind the blade true and finish the bevels.
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If I'm not mistaken Bruce, the reason that folks say you need to triple quench 52100 is because they're not soaking it long enough to get all of the carbides in solution. If you quench three times without any real soak time you stand a better chance of getting the most out of the steel. If you can, put it in the kiln and soak at temp (I forget how long, ask Kevin or Mete) you can quench just once. Of course, you mentioned only heating the blade, so You may not be able to get your proper soak at temp.

You sure pick easy projects don't you? :)

-d
 
bruce....stupid question for you.....i have absolutely no knowledge of guns at all.....how do these knife/gun combo's you make work in comparison to mdern guns......would they be comparable to early models of guns made........thanks....ryan
 
I'd bet my whole bippie that will be right sweet when done :thumbup: :)
can't wait to see the finished piece Bruce.
 
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