Pan Grinder

[James Wilson Everett]

Guys,

Here is a flintlock flashpan grinder tool.  This is used to hollow out the flashpan concave bowl when making a lock.  This job can be frustrating if you do not have the right tool.  The grinder is clamped in a post vise and the grinder is turned with a simple hand crank.  The lock is held under the grinder cutter positioned by blocks of wood to suit.  Really a simple, but necessary, tool for those who really "hand make" a gun.  The third photo shows an in-process lock before the pan hollow is ground or cut.







Here is an old posting using an old original pan grinder that did not work so well.

http://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=18893.msg178043#msg178043

[rich pierce]

Great work.

[EC121]

Even if it don't work, it sure is pretty.

[David R. Pennington]

Very nice indeed. Have you been able to see original pan grinders to base yours on? I would really like to see how you set up to use it!

[James Wilson Everett]

Guys,

One pan grinder illustrated in the Diderot Encyclopedia shows the grinder with replaceable cutters.  Apparently this grinder would be held in a vise, similar to the one I use.  However, the Diderot grinder would be powered by either a belt or a bow drill arrangement as seen by the wide cylindrical sheave on the shaft.  I have found that the grinder is easy to control using a simple hand crank to power the cutter.

Jim

[David R. Pennington]

How do you hold the pan steady against the grinder?

[James Wilson Everett]

David & Guys,

Holding the pan against the grinder is unsophisticated, here is the setup.  The grinder is clamped in a post vise and a small wood block is clamped to the bench beside the vise.  The wood block has a small wood stop block nailed to the top surface.  Clamp the wood block in a position that brings the uncut pan under the cutter.



With the front end of the gunlock bearing against the wood block, just pull up by hand pressure (a third class lever here) while rotating the cutter.  Notice that fine positioning is by some very precision wood shims (popsicle sticks!)  You do not need to use a lot of force.



This photo shows the partially cut pan.  I don't finish cut the pan until after the lock is installed on the gun.  This allows for any small adjustment to align the pan with the existing flash hole.



This photo shows all the parts needed for the pan cutting job.



Here is the pan grinder in its storage box. 



Thanks for the interest.

Jim

[David R. Pennington]

Thank you sir for sharing. I have the parts ready to assemble my gun boring bench and more period correct fasteners arrived today from blacksmith bolt. Next on my list is a tumbler mill., and now a pan grinder!

[James Wilson Everett]

Guys,

Just an update on the origin of this tool, I neglected to include this earlier, but here it is.  The general design came from the Journal of Historical Armsmaking Technology June 1988 Volume III.  I Used a bronze body for my tool rather than the iron body described in JHAT.  I think that you can see the basis for my tool, although I use my hand/arm to force the lockplate against the cutter rather than the knee/leg as described in JHAT.  I like my way, quite a bit more simple.



Jim

[Robert Wolfe]

Lovely tool. Thanks for sharing.

[Bob Roller]

Rotary files.Long gone from Hardware stores and so are the stores. I have a few with a concave radius I used on the inside curves of Hawken triggers years ago.Maybe 50 years ago.I still have them but haven't used them for years..
Bob Roller

[heinz]

JWE, very nice! Thanks for posting.   

[ipman]

Very nice tool, thanks for sharing