Two ??: Lock inlet prep.

[Eric Smith]

I am getting ready to inlet the lock into my blank. I have 1/2 " of wood from the lock inlet surface to the barrel. Is that too much, or should I lay it out and just inlet down til the bolster is flat against the barrel?

I do not plan on installing a touchhole liner. Since this is my first build, I don't think I will shoot it that much. Mostly it will just be a wallhanger, a monument to what not to do next time!

 Without a touchhole liner, where, in relation to the breech should I mark the touchhole. I figure 3/32 in front of the breech mark and dead center of the barrel flat, but I'm not sure.
  Laying out for this lock inlet is tricky for the first timer. Any tips would be welcome.    Eric

[Long Ears]

Eric, if I was building it I would still set the vent hole forward enough for a liner. You need to cone the inside of the flash hole anyway so a liner is not too much larger than a liner. I see no reason why you wouldn't shoot the heck out of it first gun or not. You may or someone else may need to line it one day. Bob

[Acer Saccharum]

Measure how thick your lockplate is, and then plane the panel down to just 1/32 thicker than the bolster of the plate. Once you are all done with your inlet, you can plane off that last 1/32 which is all scarred up from inletting, edges rounded, etc, to leave a nice clean flat crisp pane face.

Eric, wait a minute before you get the plane out. Make sure your panel is parallel with the barrel flat. As you plane, be sure to keep the panel SQUARE with the top flat of the barrel.

Both you and I know how easy it is to get out of square and then you don't have enuff wood. Keep an eye always on your progress. Measure a lot.

[chuck-ia]

I think it would be easier to take the extra wood off before inletting the lock. I allways leave way too much wood, I just measured mine with a large siler lock and the wood thickness is under 1/4" from top of wood surface to barrel. I am trying to train myself to cut to the line, seems to take me forever to inlet a lock, leaving maybe 1/16" extra wood. I would get it to close the finish dimension before inletting (especially the lock). Just my oppinion. (I am by no means an expert) chuck

[Jim Kibler]

I prefer to have basically no extra material when inletting a lock.  With  good inletting techniques, no substantial amount of clean-up should be required.

[rich pierce]

Lock placement depends on where you want the touchhole, where you want the front lock bolt to pass, and where you want the tail of the lock to lie.

In some cases you will have to move the lock downward so the touchhole is below the center of the side flat, in order to get the nose and tail of the lock in the right location.  Think about all 3 requirements.  

Make sure you file some draft on the lockplate. Especially pay attention to where the pan bolts to the lockplate if it has a detached pan and try to make that nice.

Two beginner tricks as you begin to inlet the lockplate:
1) Take a paint stirrer or some piece of pine or poplar of similar thickness and use it to help support the plate closer to level as you first begin to inlet the bolster which is thicker.  Slide this under the lockplate at first when you use inletting black to make an impression of where the bolster is pressing on the wood.

2) Find some finishing nails that fit reasonably tightly in the lockplate holes.  Maybe use the mainspring "peg" hole and the sear screw hole.  They may need different sizes of nails to be snug.  Once you have surely layed out where the lockplate will lie on the planed stock, nail it down so to speak.  NOT DEEP of course.  Now cut the heads off the nails.  The lockplate will slide right off.  Now when you inlet the lockplate you can re-locate it exactly time after time and it won't move around on ya.

[Long John]

I agree with the others - take the wood down to a level that is a scoche higher than the final height of the wood.  I usuall use the total distance from lock plate face to bolster.  If I were as good a gun maker as Jim Kibler I would do as he does.  I am NOT!  I always have a few dings in the lock panel surface and a bit of rounded over edge and am grateful to have a little more wood to take down.  It also gives me a little "adjustment room" if I get out of sqaure.  I use a rasp - too many chip-outs with a plane.  I am sure that I'm screwing up the adjustment of the plane but until I learn how do do it without chip-outs I'll make some rasp dust.  I have a 12" Nicholson rasp that will take that lock flat down in a couple of minutes.

Best Regards,

John Cholin

[Eric Smith]

When you measure the bolster, you mean like above, 1/8 or




Measure like this! 1/4 How proud of the wood does the lock stand. Most of the old and contempory pics, looks to me like the actual lock plate is only inlet about .05 or .06 "
 

[rich pierce]

Measure the entire thickness of the lock behind the pan including the bolster.  From inside to outside full thickness.  Lockplate thickness plus bolster thickness.  That is how much wood you want to start with.  More can and will come off later.

[Eric Smith]

Thanks. It measures a 1/4 " I'll start taking it down to that from the 1/2" I have now, and I'll make sure to keep ckecking the square with the barrel.

[T*O*F]

Geez.....fergit all this measuring hoopla.  Just turn your lock upside down like it is in the first picture, set the bolster against the side flat and draw a line along the outside of the lock plate.  Cut to the outside of the line to give a pencil's width of waste.  Repeat on the other side.

Too many machinists involved in this gunmaking deal.  The only thing I ever measure is LOP.

[Tim Crosby]

 Have you bought a book yet?

   Tim C.

[Acer Saccharum]

Eric, for reference, the second picture that shows the lock 1/4 thick is the one to go by. For the finished inlet, however, you will take the surrounding wood down to the beveled ledge of the lock.

[rich pierce]

Geez.....fergit all this measuring hoopla.  Just turn your lock upside down like it is in the first picture, set the bolster against the side flat and draw a line along the outside of the lock plate.  Cut to the outside of the line to give a pencil's width of waste.  Repeat on the other side.

Good stuff; will do this next time.  That's one that makes me slap my forehead; why did I not think of this myself?

[Acer Saccharum]

DUH.