Looking for advice from you seasoned builders - Dinged breech plug FIXED! : )

[jerrywh]

   You can fix that by punching it up from the breech plug side. After you punch it up you will have to put in a iron inlay where you punched it on the back. I have fixed places like this a few times before.  No Bull. Don't just leave it. The other work is so great.
  Looking at your first photo, See the arrow you used to point it out?  take a pointed punch and punch just below the flaw and make the part where the flaw is raise up enough to be able to file it down to where the flaw is gone. Then you will have to install a iron inlay where you punched it. Don't punch too close to the edge or it will be hard to put in the iron inlay.  Don't file down the flaw until the inlay is in.
   Then if you mess up it can be tig welded.
  Just bragging some but I can tid weld 2 needles together. I have built up the edge of the flash guard on a very small french flint lock. I can tig weld the end on a sear or the notch on a tumbler. Done it lots. Mig or acetylene is not the way to go here. The best way is bump up and iron inlay.

[Curtis]

Jerry, I wish I would have seen your post earlier today, it would have saved me a lot of experimentation!!  Turns out I came upon the very solution you described.  So once again it is proven, old guys know their stuff and they deserve respect!     I wish I could weld as good as you describe, I really need to practice, practice practice!

I started out with a barrel cutoff I had in the shop by putting a ding on two corners.  The first ding I was able to lift an repair by lots of hammering with rounded punches, I had to move a lot of metal and it took a great deal of time and care to keep from damaging the edge.

While I was doing all of that hammering, I got well acquainted with the shape of the dent I was attempting to raise, basically just a triangle.  So I thought, what is a triangle but a flat profile of a cone?  So I used a couple different sizes of center punches and one that I ground with a more tapered cone and within a few minutes (and with MUCH less labor) I had enough metal raised to start peening into shape.  Here are some photos of the second phase of my experiment:










I used a black sharpie followed by a couple of strokes of 600 grit paper backed by a file to identify high and low spots:



When finished the ding was ready for final sanding.  In the lower left corner on the end view photo you can see black markings left from my first experiment:





I then felt ready to start working on the breech ding on my Alexander Henry barrel.







Once I was happy with that phase I went over to the nipple side, did a little more peening, some filing and polishing.  I was happy with the results considering the original damage!  All I have left to do is inlay an iron plug as Jerry described in his post.  Here are some photos:









I want to thank everyone who offered opinions and advice in this thread, and those who gave names of persons capable of quality welding.  Also thanks for the words of encouragement concerning my engraving and craftsmanship!  It has been a positive learning experience for certain.  Oh, and the best solution award goes out to Jerry!!! 

Now back to engraving, I will post that on the Alexander Henry thread as it comes along....

Curtis

[Rolf]

That repair looks perfect!!!! Thanks for showing the process. A lot to learn.

Best regards
Rolf

[horologist]

Great save and thanks for documenting the repair so carefully. If you get time please post the process of the iron inlay. That will make this thread a useful reference for the future.

Troy

[J. Talbert]

Great job Curtis.
But where is the iron inlay to be placed?  I presume it is to fill the area of the original preening was done.

Thanks
Jeff

[Curtis]

Thanks guys!  In this case the "iron inlay"  will simply be peening a wire or tiny sliver of metal into the tiny hole left on the breech face, where the punch mark remains.  It is a rather small mark on the breech of the rifle, but a larger hole can be seen on the test barrel.

Curtis

[Daryl]

GJ (good job) Curtis.  "Punch it up" when I read that I thought, now why didn't I think of that. 
Well done Jerry.

[jerrywh]

Good job Curtis. That is a beautiful gun. Now all you need to do is fill the punch mark.
  Knowledge is passed on down from one generation to another. Almost everything I know was learned from other more experienced guys I have met. Very little is thought up by myself. That is the way the world of knowledge is. I learned a tremendous amount about moving metal from 2 or 3 old end very experienced engravers.  Sam Welch, Robert Evans and Ron Smith. All Engravers make mistakes just like any other craftsmen. But fixing them is the real art.  I have only heard of one mistake that couldn't be fixed but I can't remember what it was.

[Curtis]

Good job Curtis. That is a beautiful gun. Now all you need to do is fill the punch mark.

Thanks Jerry!  The punch mark is pretty small and it shouldn't take much to fill.

  Knowledge is passed on down from one generation to another. Almost everything I know was learned from other more experienced guys I have met. Very little is thought up by myself. That is the way the world of knowledge is. I learned a tremendous amount about moving metal from 2 or 3 old end very experienced engravers.  Sam Welch, Robert Evans and Ron Smith. All Engravers make mistakes just like any other craftsmen. But fixing them is the real art.  I have only heard of one mistake that couldn't be fixed but I can't remember what it was.

Very well said.  I believe I speak for many here, but I am glad that guys like you are willing to share the knowledge they have been taught or learned on their own.  Things such as that are what make this sight so awesome!

Curtis

[Tim Crosby]

 Really well done, you've got to be happy with that. Back at the beginning of the thread there were some folks listed that might have been able to help, now you can add your name to that with with the addition of "Can do it".

   Tim

[577SXS]

That turned out great.