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Post by acorn20 on Mar 9, 2024 13:34:44 GMT -5
A couple years ago I designed and built the shed you can see in the background of the pictures. It's my little piece of Williamsburg on Highland Avenue. I wanted a workbench and vise so that I could work on my flintlocks but really didn't want to take up valuable floor space in the shed. Someone on one of the forums I frequent suggested a portable bench...so I designed a bench w/ vise that could be wheeled outside in nice weather.
The vise you liked in Dave's post is called a patternmakers vise or gun builders vise. The jaws are quite variable and holds everything with parallel sides to skewed sides quite nicely. It's ideal for woodworking. Here are a few pictures of the portable workbench with vise I came up with.
  
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Post by davet on Mar 9, 2024 14:07:03 GMT -5
Yep....Those vices are great!! Hold everything from small firearm parts to the entire long rifle!! Those rubber jaws are great for leaving zero marks behind.
Very nice setup you have!!
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Post by rusty on Mar 9, 2024 15:08:19 GMT -5
That's a nice set up in a compact work bench, Acorn. Lots of adjustments and a bench hold-down too. I like it. Thanks for the pic.
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Post by CoureurDeBois on Mar 9, 2024 16:47:53 GMT -5
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Post by rusty on Mar 10, 2024 11:29:16 GMT -5
A couple years ago I designed and built the shed you can see in the background of the pictures. It's my little piece of Williamsburg on Highland Avenue. I wanted a workbench and vise so that I could work on my flintlocks but really didn't want to take up valuable floor space in the shed. Someone on one of the forums I frequent suggested a portable bench...so I designed a bench w/ vise that could be wheeled outside in nice weather.
The vise you liked in Dave's post is called a patternmakers vise or gun builders vise. The jaws are quite variable and holds everything with parallel sides to skewed sides quite nicely. It's ideal for woodworking. Here are a few pictures of the portable workbench with vise I came up with.
My younger brother loves it, but I tried flintlock season a few years and it had no appeal for me. The craftsmanship it would take to shape a stock and inlet the barrel is impressive. I have worked with wood since I was a little kid and gun stocks look like a real challenge without a duplicating router. Have those of you who have made these stocks ever used a shaving horse to get things down to a little closer to finished? I know they are usually only used for working green wood but the need for clamping oddly shaped pieces makes me wonder. |
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Post by acorn20 on Mar 10, 2024 12:06:12 GMT -5
Traditionally, you would cut the stock from a blank of wood after tracing the pattern/profile of the rifle from the particular "school" that you desired. School meaning Lancaster, Lebanon, Lehigh, Bedford, Bucks, etc. You would then establish a centerline top and bottom with the desired "cast off" on the butt. Inletting the barrel is next with shaping the ramrod channel and drilling the ramrod hole. Next comes inletting the lock, trigger, buttplate, trigger guard and sideplate with lock bolts. Then the shaping of the wood takes place. Most of the wood shaping takes place with course rasps, shurforms and different files. And of course, you'll need a variety of sharp chisels.
That's how you would do it traditionally. Now me, I send my blank with traced pattern, barrel with breech plug to Ed Keck. He'll cut the blank to pattern, inlet the barrel with breech plug, cut the barrel channel and drill the ramrod hole. I think he'll also inlet the lock. That leaves a lot of wood work still to be done but he's done a lot of the work in a short amount of time because he's set up to do it. I've never used a drawknife to shape a stock but, there's probably a few people that do. I know a fellow that uses a hatchet to semi-shape the buttstock.
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Post by rusty on Mar 10, 2024 13:02:54 GMT -5
Some guys do amazing things with a draw knife, spokeshave, and a hewing hatchet. I like using all those tools but I suppose they'd still leave about 80% of the work undone.
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Post by davet on Mar 10, 2024 13:09:40 GMT -5
If you follow the recommended patterns of "how to build" a flintlock (or percussion) it's actually fundamentally simple. As Acorn stated it starts with the barrel channel.
The steps (sort of) go like this:
--Get a stock blank to fit your wants. (Full stock or Half stock) (Frankly, building a full stock is no harder than a half stock)
--Inlet the barrel. Essentially "everything" is measured off of or in relationship to the barrel.
--Draw your gun on the wood. Know what you want for #1-length of Pull, #2-Drop in Heel, #3-Drop in comb.
--Once your barrel is inletted (and tang) and you have your LOP, DIH and DIC drawn out, inlet the buttplate.
--Now measure and place the bottom of the stock (under the barrel\lock) via just a tad under the RR hole.
--Now you can get a close rough cut of the rifle outline. Band saw, hack saw, and hand saw for this
--Inlet the lock-late
--Inlet the trigger plate
--Now begin to shape the stock to where it will end up. I start with the buttplate and move forward as the forend is a bit more fragile and you can break it if you're not careful.
Sort of the steps. I know it's not all of 'em, but do the measurements right and the profile sort of falls together.
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