Patchbox/Inlay screw heads

[Randall Steffy]

I am hoping to hear from the knowledgable among us an answer to a "how was it done back then" question. Given an original flintlock longrifle, late 1700's, early 1800's, what would have been the typical screwhead treatment of a patchbox woodscrew? Slightly domed or filed flush with the brass? Would that vary by builder or school? What about Reading area specifically? I show both styles in the picture. Thanks

[JTR]

Randall,
I believe it's slightly domed style for Reading. Although I think you could go with either, depending on how close you want to emulate a specific maker. But then you'd need to consider how many knuckles on the Patchbox hinge as well! 

John

[James Wilson Everett]

Randall,

I am not sure how far you wish to go with "how was it done back then", but if you look under the tutorial section topic "making 18th c wood screws" you can see how it really was done.  One way to make a modern made gun look closer to the real thing is to cut the turnscrew slots slightly off center.  A close look at originals show this on many, perhaps most of the screw heads.  Actually, I try to get mine exactly on center, but rarely do I get it perfect.  Not very many gunmakers make their own wood screws, but try it and I am sure that you will have a lot of fun.  Most of the original wood screws I have seen have a very slight dome.

Jim Everett

http://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=18831.0

[The other DWS]

I found the tutorial very interesting and informative, but a bit daunting at y point on the learning curve.

Modern small brass flatheads are just too regular looking and the slots are too wide and clean to my taste, but I don't know what to do about it
Has anyone figured out a way to reshape and rework modern common screw heads to give a reasonably historical external appearance?

[bgf]

I found the tutorial very interesting and informative, but a bit daunting at y point on the learning curve.

Modern small brass flatheads are just too regular looking and the slots are too wide and clean to my taste, but I don't know what to do about it
Has anyone figured out a way to reshape and rework modern common screw heads to give a reasonably historical external appearance?

I'm not sure brass screws are right for most longrifles, but otherwise, you can peen down the head of any modern screw then file it to shape and recut the slot with a file, which will make them look a little more "natural" or even crude if that is the look you want.  The unplated oval-headed screws you can buy are good stock to start with, so you can make either flat heads (which appear to have a very slight dome on most originals) or domed heads (the originals are less domed than new ones).  Just cutting the slots results in the organic variety that Mr. Everett alludes to, which will take away the machine made look.  I did this on my tang bolt head to fix a problem with the countersink, but not on other screws on my flintlock.  At first it looked crude in comparison, but now the other screws look out of place and I may go "primitivize" them some day .

[JDK]

I take the modern flat head wood screws and chuck them in my drill press and file the head slightly domed while turning.  You loose a little bit of diameter but not found it significant.  Works for me.  JDK

[The other DWS]

I'll have to make up a little counter sunk die I can pound them into to reshape the heads.  I don't really want "crude" looking; after all they could/would have been filed and dressed down. Its more the uniformity, and the wide flat bottomed parallel sides slots on the modern screws that glare back at me.

 Frontier gunsmiths may have forged small iron nails and the HBC trade guns supposedly used nailed on buttplates.  but I suspect that most would have tried to make things look as good as they were capable of.

[bgf]

Sorry, I didn't mean it had to look crude, just that crude is an option.  Here is a document that someone here (maybe TOF?) linked to a while back (sorry, kept the link but lost the post):
http://www.wag-aic.org/Am_Wood_Screws.pdf

I found it pretty interesting.  The screws are taken from furniture, but I'm pretty sure the technology was very similar elsewhere.  It would be neat to do the same kind of study on the screws from guns of different periods. 

[The other DWS]

thanks for the link,  FASCINATING!!!!!!   a whole 'nother area for us obsessive/compulsives to get wrapped up in.

It appears that the era of our concern bridges yet another technological transition.

Has anyone looking at gunmaker inventories ever noted stocks of screws or screw making equipment.