old patch box designs

[jluke]

good evening all for a while ive been trying to figure how some designs in patch boxes were done in the old days,was a chisel used ,some sort of saw .almost looks like some designs were punched out course I know that's not how it was done so  ive come to the world of knowledge for some enlightment ,thanks guys

[bama]

I think the ones that were made from sheet brass were saw cut and filed. I have seen boxes that were cast. I think the old builders were not so different from us today, we all have our ways of skinning a cat.

[Pete G.]

A type of jeweler's saw dates back to the Renaissance period and was used by clockmakers, but I'm not sure where the blades came from. Probably made by the craftsman, which makes the breaking of a blade a real aggravation.

[T*O*F]

I'm not sure where the blades came from. Probably made by the craftsman, which makes the breaking of a blade a real aggravation.

Kinda makes one wonder what they made those blades from considering all they had to work with was iron.

[blackdave]

Saw blades were made of steel pretty early (1650 or earlier).  Steel was very expensive and difficult to make.  Each batch was cooked in a crucible to get to the (estimated) proper ratio of carbon.  As such, steel was widely variable in quality.  Check this link to read more about early tools:
http://www3.hants.gov.uk/community-history/social-history-collections/hand-tools-history.htm

I remain your humble servant,

Just Dave

[Jerry V Lape]

I think a patch box could be made with chisels and files.  And I would bet that hacksaws made by the user could also bring the form close enough to file it the rest of the way to the outline. I think their toughest challenge might have been to obtain or make sheet brass of the appropriate thickness. 

[Mad Monk]

When you look at sheet brass patchboxes look at brass musical instruments.  The Moravian Museum in Bethlehem, PA had a large display of brass wind instruments that had been made in Bethlehem from the earliest days of that settlement.  When you look at the work and skill that went into those instruments you can see how it migrated over to the gunsmiths.

In 1996 I worked in a small town in Upper Bavaria, Germany.  A town known as Waldkraiburg.  There was a school there that taught handicapped people how to earn a living producing brass wind instruments. Most of the students were confined to wheelchairs.  Producing brass and German Silver instruments almost identical to those seen in the Moravian Museum.

When you look at the level of skill that went into the musical instruments the things seen in the longrifles look more like child play.

Mad Monk

[Mad Monk]

Forgot to mention.

When you look at some of George Shumway's books on the gunsmiths of the various Pennsylvania counties you where a number of noted old gunsmiths also produced musical instruments.  Especially stringed instruments such as violins.  This multi-trade, as we would now call it, stems from the fact that some of the methods, materials and skills used in each craft were basically the same.  You sometimes see mention of violin finishes on rifles.

Mad Monk

[Acer Saccharum]

Jeweler's saw is a great tool for patch box cutting.


Howindeed were the saw blades made. Even now, with all our technology, the jeweler's blade seems a miracle. Who, then, made all the different files, mill, bastard and needle?

Skill workers behind the skilled tradesman, layer upon layer of trades