The Strauss Pirate 36 caliber

[ddavelarsen]

Bruce, thanks so much for taking the time to do these WIPs. I know it must really interrupt your work to stop to take pics, and your evenings to make these posts. They're wonderful though, and one of the greatest things knifemakers get to see.

 

[jmforge]

VERY cool project, Bruce. Now for the old Jedi Mind Trick. Bruuuuuuce.........you want to build a replica of an 1840-50's Purdey percussion express double rifle and all of the accessories from scratch!!!!!! Oh, and these are not the droids that you are looking for.:biggrin:

 

[Bruce Bump]

Only if I can put matching double folding blades under the barrels. hehe

VERY cool project, Bruce. Now for the old Jedi Mind Trick. Bruuuuuuce.........you want to build a replica of an 1840-50's Purdey percussion express double rifle and all of the accessories from scratch!!!!!! Oh, and these are not the droids that you are looking for.:biggrin:

 

[Bruce Bump]

Its not that much work really, just snap a picture once in a while and I'm at the computer every night anyway. This one will have over 300 photos no doubt.

Bruce, thanks so much for taking the time to do these WIPs. I know it must really interrupt your work to stop to take pics, and your evenings to make these posts. They're wonderful though, and one of the greatest things knifemakers get to see.

 

[Bruce Bump]

Been thinking allot about how to attach the front of the barrel so today I started on a steel strap that will saddle the barrel and straddle the frame. I have it superglued in place right now and can locate and drill a single hole for a pin to go all the through. The liners will need to be relieved for the strap but the right side bolster will cover that and the blade and lock bar will hide the left side. The pin will need to be tapered ever so slightly and removed from the right side because the end of the pin will interfere with the blade lock if its allowed to slide back and forth.

I took about .020" off the sides of the frame to help narrow it so I had to also remove .010" off each side of the barrel. With a side by side gun of any kind its hard to keep it narrow. Hey maybe thats why they invented over and under guns.

Dont worry that the strap weighs about 2 pounds right now, it will go on a diet soon enough.

 

[Steven Janik]

Bruce,
Would you consider an ivory bead in the barrel strap to act as a front sight? I have a few older guns with ivory beads and they have a "classic" look. Being that it is a pirate piece, maybe even whale bone or walrus ivory.
Although a ruby or an emerald could represent "pirated" booty.

Just a thought. I know these are mainly point and shoot or "poke and hope" weapons.

Steve

 

[Bruce Bump]

Would you consider an ivory bead in the barrel strap to act as a front sight?

Steve I think if it gets a sight at all it should go on the muzzle closer to the tip. There are a few problems to overcome if it gets sights. The major one is trying to look over your right thumb nuckel to see the gun at all. Its possible the hammer can act as a rear sight with a "V" filed into it. We'll see when the time comes. Ivory or gold seems logical.

 

[Airhog]

I am fairly new to Knife Dogs but I am absolutely in Awe. This is amazing. Can't wait for more pics and posts. I am hooked. Andy

 

[Bruce Bump]

I am fairly new to Knife Dogs but I am absolutely in Awe. This is amazing. Can't wait for more pics and posts. I am hooked. Andy

Hi Andy, Thanks for the comment. Glad to have ya tune in. Stick around I,m going to see how it shoots soon.

 

[Bruce Bump]

Ok after a short holiday at Priest Lake I got the strap trimmed and mounted with a single 3/32" pin. I think it adds some character to the barrel as well as holding it down in front.

 

[Leadfoot]

Wow

Hope to see this in Boise


Doug

 

[HHH Knives]

Bruce, WOW is right! Its great seeing this come together.. The fit up looks good so far! Thanks for sharing and doing this WIP. Im really enjoying it.

 

[Bruce Bump]

The lock back bar got some "shell" filework. It was to hard so I softened it with the propane torch so the files would bite. Its just roughed in at this stage. This bar is made of damascus blade steel. Besides the blade and the lock bar there is no other damascus anywhere else.

I also countersunk some of the screw heads that will interfere with the bolsters and grips.

This is a shot of the mainspring. I did snap a cap to make sure it is strong enough but the sear doesnt engage the trigger well enough yet so there is some adjustments to make still.

 

[Bruce Bump]

Time for another update.
Weekends sure take allot time away from the shop but I do have the ivory grips roughed out and spent some quality time on the blade and lock bar. I dont even want to tell you about the left side bolster I had to replace due to drilling a counter bored hole too deep. One second too long on the drill press equals 4 hours on a new bolster.

In order to prevent the blades tang from getting scratched from the liners its neccesary to relieve the liners in that area about .006" but not around the blades pivot so I use a small rotary chuck in my milling machine. Its the same one I use for slip joints.

This is a shot of the left side getting sanded flat so the blade will lay straight and centered.

Final hollow grinding on the 4 1/2" wheel.

In this shot I'm polishing the brass bezel for the red mahogany display/storage box. My friend Lon is going to nickel plate it and the hinge, screws and push button latch. Roger T has been laying on extra coats of finish to the box. Cant wait to see it.

 

[Bruce Bump]

On to the ram rod. My buddy Ben talked me into making it from some of the same blade steel so I had to forge it thicker for the knob on one end and turned it to size on my metal lathe. It came out nice I'd say. Cant wait to see the twist pattern it has.

 

[ddavelarsen]

Bruce do you have some kind of detent to hold the ramrod in place? How does that work? Just curious.

 

[Bruce Bump]

Bruce do you have some kind of detent to hold the ramrod in place? How does that work? Just curious.

Yep there's a detent ball and spring on the back side of the tip cover. Maybe I can get a shot of that today for ya.

 

[ddavelarsen]

I'll look forward to that Bruce! Thanks for the info.

 

[Bruce Bump]

I'll look forward to that Bruce! Thanks for the info.

Here ya go Dave. The steel ball is staked around the edges to hold it and the coil spring in place.

 

[Bruce Bump]

Been making more progress with small things like making new screws, floor plate for the right side front bolster and fitting up the ivory grips. I like to glue a thin fiber spacer on the back of ivory to help seal it and keep it stable. It also adds a bit of color although these are black I still like the look. Also stoned the sear down on the hammer for a smooth trigger feel.

In order to match the contour of the rear bolsters I use pencil lead to find high spots on the ivory. The lead will ever so lightly mark the white ivory, simply sand off the high spots and test again and again until the contact spot is all the way across. Make sense?

The bolsters are tempararily super glued onto the stainless liners and the ivory scales are lightly super glued to the liners too. This way I can profile and shape the ivory on the grinder. The mounting screws will be determined after that.