AmericanLongRifles Forums
General discussion => Gun Building => Topic started by: Jackp on January 20, 2020, 10:02:11 AM
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I ran across this and thought it might be useful.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPCrXDwUavM
Jack
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Thanks, Jack and welcome aboard. A YouTube search on Larry Potterfield or Midway USA is one of the most profitable things a body can do over a cup of coffee.
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Wow! That video is superlative!
I have made a number of tapered ramrods, but mine normally have a tapering swell at the head, a parallel or untapered body, and then a taper at the last five or six inches to facilitate clearing the forward lock bolt. Larry's ramrod appears to have a uniform or progressive taper over its entire length. However, the 2x2's with sandpaper glued to them, to use as a tapering tool, is brilliant, and I can envision how it could be adapted to make the type of rod I have made. I have a length of pine 1x6 tongue and groove lumber that I clamp in a vise with the groove up. I lay the rod blank in that and taper it down with a block plane. This technique has always worked for me, but if I were to make very many tapered rods, I would probably make a gadget like Mr. Potterfield used.
I don't have the equipment to make the brass end fittings. One thing I have learned to do when installing threaded ferrules is to put some grease on a 3/8" machine screw in 8/32 or 10/32 (as appropriate) and put that in the threaded end of the ferrule before epoxying it on. Otherwise, you can get epoxy in the female threads, which is kind of a pain to clean out. Just don't forget to put a dab of grease on the very end of the screw!
I drill the hole for the crosspin .002" - .003" undersized, then enlarge it to the same size as the pin in the metal ferrule only. I use a toothpick to put a little epoxy in the hole before driving in the pin. After the epoxy is cured, I cut the pin and file it flush, but I've never found it necessary to peen the ends. I've never had a pin come out.
There are a lot of ways to skin this cat. Mr. Potterfield's video was very informative.
Thanks!
Notchy Bob
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So smart. The next project on my bench is to taper a 1/2" ramrod to match an existing one. I've been chewing on a least destructive of my Carpal Tunnel way of doing it. You posted this just in time! Thanks!
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https://www.fine-tools.com/duebelherstellung.html
Kevin
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I see that link also has a "dowel sizing plate" which no doubt works well, though it looks very similar to a drill guage. I just this past weekend used an old drill guage to taper a couple of 1/2" hickory rods. Not being a builder, in the past when I've needed to make a replacement tapered rod, I could never justify buying a special took for the purpose, so I've always done it slow, by hand. I tried the drill guage with the rod chucked in my drill and holy canoli was it fast. I've seen a few folks jerry rig washers or something similar, but man the drill guage is handy seeing as how it has the diameters right there on the plate!
That said, if I were making a find ebony rod or a replacement for a fine Euro fowling piece or rifle gun, I would make a jig like in the video above.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5QVkyOTZZY
I've made a dowel before using a similar process to this. Cost effective ;D
Respect Always
Metalshaper/Jonathan
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that is a really slick and easy way to do dowels
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Acer's jig has worked for me for years! :D
Al J.