Beck Patchbox Lid Stops? NEW Photos added

[keweenaw]

The reason I didn't use the 1/16" brass was that in my trial hinge it just looked a bit thin where I filed the barrel of the hinge to contour.  I'm sure it would have been strong enough as the folded under tabs are soldered down  which should provide lots of support to the lid and it's lots easier to roll that hinge with 1/16" than 0.080" but then .....

[B Shipman]

Unlike Eister and others, the tabs or stops on Beck rifles are generally filed in. The real tab is under the lid or under the head.

[Jim Kibler]

The Eister hinges I've seen have been filed in as well.  They look very much like the Beck hinges.  They are lapped on the inside of the box lid and finial.

[B Shipman]

I'll take your word for it and stand corrected. I know you've built a beautifull Eister and researched it.  Eisters tabs are so prominent, I assumed a reverse hinge.

[keweenaw]

Since Eister was mentioned, here's a photo of an Eister hinge and finial. 


What a great patch box.  Eister used those oval headed screws while Beck used nearly flat headed ones.  I didn't open the box the day I took this photo but I could call the owner and ask him if the tabs are on the inside.  One of the big differences between this and a Beck is that the barrel of the hinge and the pin are above the plane of the finial and lid, while with Beck they are below.  Eister also has a lot of arch across the hinge while Beck hinges are relatively flat.  It's hard to imagine that he could have built this with tabs on top and achieved such a perfect fit of the tabs to the lid and finial.  This hinge required a lot more filing than a Beck.

Tom

[louieparker]

I have studied an Eister box rather closely ..I would agree with Jimmy , its tapered ,bent and filed . That's not to say he always did it this way ,but the one I inspected was ..Another thing I thought interesting , the end of the lid fold was not a straight cut ,it was filed in a saw tooth pattern ..These were something under an 1/8 inch  tall . Don't recall exactly ...I can think of no other reason for these but decoration .....Louie

[keweenaw]

I thought that picture might flush you out Louie!  That's really interesting about decorating the end of the underfolded tab.   How thick would you estimate the brass was in the main part of the lid?

Tom

[louieparker]

I would say about 45 thousands and definitely under 50 ......Louie

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

I only have two thicknesses of sheet brass for furniture..065" and .035".  I prefer to use the stuff a little over 1/16" thick, and had good success with a Beck box for Leatherbelly's rifle using this stock.  I didn't taper the tabs, so I had 1/8" of brass to work with, and the "stops" filed in nicely.