Pewter Nosecap Airhole

[VP]

I just finished pouring my pewter nosecap on a half stock Hawken after studying the tutorial. Everything went according to the plan except somehow I ended up with an airhole on the surface of the pour on the bottom of the barrel. Can anyone help me with the best way to patch this unsightly demon? How do you blend in some more pewter without a cold joint showing. The hole is the size of a pencil lead.

Thanks in advance.
Van

[Acer Saccharum]

You may very well be able to puddle it with a soldering gun. A little rosin soldering flux will help tremendously. make sure the nosecap and the metal you add are clean.

This may be  Ken Guy trick, or a Randy Hedden, but anyway, I stole it, now it's yours. 

Acer

[C Wallingford]

I have found the best way to patch an air hole is to build a dam around th hole with modeling clay. Heat the pewter really hot (it will turn purple on the surface). Pour it in the hole. If it is hot enough you can actually see it sink into the hole. Clean off the clay and file down to the finished surface.

[Ken G]

I've done both.  I normally try the soldering iron first if it is a real small void.  Fill the void with pewter beads or pewter filings.  More that it needs.  Don't let the soldering iron touch the nose cap but rather heat the fill material untill it melts into the pewter around the void. 
If the void is large then I do exactly as Charles does. 
Cheers,
Ken

[Dphariss]

I just finished pouring my pewter nosecap on a half stock Hawken after studying the tutorial. Everything went according to the plan except somehow I ended up with an airhole on the surface of the pour on the bottom of the barrel. Can anyone help me with the best way to patch this unsightly demon? How do you blend in some more pewter without a cold joint showing. The hole is the size of a pencil lead.

Thanks in advance.
Van

A small brass or copper punch heated with a propane torch will work. Heat the punch really hot and hold on the offending spot using an old pair of needlenosed pliers, the whole tip gets pretty hot, puddle some metal around it and make sure its high enough to work down. It will not show in the slightest.
BURNISH the thing  after shaping and initial sanding to find hidden air pockets that may cause problems during final shaping.

Dan

[rsells]

I use printers type material to pour nose caps on my Suthern rifles, and use a process similiar to what Ken does to repair cavities in the casting.  I use tape to build a dam around the void tall enough that I can put a piece of type material there and use a soldering iron to melt it and form a puddle large enough to fill the area that I have made with the dam. I never let the soldering iron come in contact with the nose cap, but continue to apply heat to the liquid material in the dam.  The heat will eventually cause the nose cap material that  comes in contact with the melted repair material to melt and flow together.  I let it cool, remove the maskin tape and file the material down to match the original contour of the casting and polish it to the desired finish.  The process is a bummer, but has helped me to do repairs and not clean the old material out and recast.
                                                                             Roger Sells

[Dphariss]

To expand on my last post.
Burnish the tip to find any other bubbles. Just as well fix them all at one time.
I heat the offending area of the nose cap with the brass punch (I didn't own a soldering iron and I used to do pewter tips in batches) before even adding metal. When it melts at the void I add metal to make it high enough to shape. I often go all the way to wood to get a good patch 3/8" to 1/2" in diameter. I have been known to preheat the cap with a micro torch. A cold tip sucks heat from the punch or iron. Punch/soldering iron should be pretty clean too. Some people use a micro torch to solder the tip.
If its near the wood keep the punch off the wood it will be hot enough to scorch it.
When near such an edge make it high enough to (gently) pean/punch or burnish down the rounded edge  caused by surface tension and fill the inlet.
Heating the barrel well and the wood pretty hot will reduce the bubbles somewhat. If its really bad use the punch or soldering iron to melt it all off. When you pour again the tip will be  perfect/near perfect if done within an hour of the original pour.
In my experience making dams  is not worth the trouble. It is possible to build up unsupported edges and such by careful use of heat and then reshape.  But doing it at the lower temp often requires later touch up with a fine tip/punch.
Too much heat may cause the whole thing to slump. So get it done before the whole tip melts.
I recommend Silva-Brite 100 solder for pewter tips it seems to pour the best.  Harder to pour than lead alloys though, more heat and generally more bubbles. Bubble free tips with the higher temp alloys are hard to come by on the first pour. First pout the wood has enough moisture to make little (I assume) steam bubbles.

Dan

[VP]

I once read on this site that building a gun is just a series of managing disasters. I thought of that yesterday but I quickly realized that there is always answers on the ALR. Thanks a lot, I knew I could depend on you. We will get back to work.

Van

[Tim Crosby]

 To help minimize air holes get a helper and have them LIGHTLY tap the form as you pour. Keep LIGHTLY taping until the surface hardens.
 Also using a soft lead pencil to blacken any area where the metal will touch helps it flow but DO NOT use it if the metal will not encircle the piece or come back to touch itself at some point. The pencil lead (Whatever it is) can also be used as a release agent.

 Tim C.

[LRB]

  Not to diminish what others have suggested, but Dan Phariss is a master at pouring nose caps. He did a Shiloh Sharps cap for me a few years back, and then two more for friends of mine. He knows what he is doing. Sharps caps are not easy, or I'd have done it myself.