Assembling a Rifle Shoppe lock

[Roger B]

How hard is it to put a TRS lock parts set together?  I have a drill press and all manner of taps, so if the holes are marked, that shouldn't be a problem.  One thing that bothers me is hardening the frizzen, springs, and tumbler.  Are there any instructions with the parts?  I remember having to do this with the old Siler kits and the instructions had you tempering the springs in the kitchen oven.
Roger B.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

Here's a series of pictures I took when I put together a lock for our own Tom Elgan.  He sent me a bag of parts with extra springs, and an assembled lock which needed a little tweeking.  So first I got the finished lock, also from TRS, working better, and then went at the parts set.  As you can see, there were no screws - I used Siler lock screws where I could and made the others.  Hardening and tempering instructions are on the back inside cover of TRS' catalogue.  Both locks turned out just fine, and will be quite serviceable.  Was it hard?  Not at all.  Was it time intensive and required strict attention and patience.  I'll say!! As an observation for you Roger or anyone wanting to make up a lock from a parts set...file away only enough to make the parts clean of casting lines and flaws.  You will likely have to re-cut some of the cast in engraving, when you dress off the plate to make it flat and smooth.  Putting together one of these will teach you a lot about many aspects of lock making including fit and finish, function, patience and perseverance.  A drill press is mandatory if only to get that hole through the pan bridle and frizzen, straight and true.  Making a lock from forged parts or solid stock is a lot more difficult.  So, by all means, give it a go.  

[P.W.Berkuta]

Very nice job Taylor - you have a knack for detail  .

[Bob Roller]

Taylor, That is a good looking job on that lock.I have made two sets of left an right hand flintlocks from the Rifle Shoppe parts and they took me to both the limits of ability and patience. One of them had a roller in the frizzen spring and I made the 1x72 headless pinion screws for those two. The links in all my locks are secured by a 1x72 stub thead screw but the also have a head diameter of 108-110 and are easy to make.
Anyhow,congratulations on a good job.

BobRoller

[smart dog]

Hi Roger,
Taylor's post was excellent (as always) and mirrors my experiences very closely.  Let me just add that the level of difficulty varies with different cast parts sets.  The larger locks are the easiest (I am restricting my comments to flintlocks or flintlock-like locks) because you usually have enough extra metal on parts to work with.  However, smaller locks like pistol locks are much more difficult.  Remember, the castings are made from original finished locks on which the maker had removed most or all of the excess metal.  Additionally, there is a tiny amount of shrinkage during the casting process, and you will also, by default, make the part even smaller when finishing.  Therefore, the smaller locks have very little metal with which to work and I often need my gas welder to add metal or make some parts from scratch.  That is usually not an issue on the larger locks.  Finally, even on large locks you can have parts that are not perfectly cast.  For example, I built a TRS type 1 English lock, which is a very big lock with a lot of extra metal.  However, the slot in the plate for the separate pan was not cleanly cast (or perhaps the original was poorly made) such that there were small gaps between the plate and pan.  I carefully filled those gaps with welded metal to produce a proper fit.  Roger, I added a photo of that lock that shows the pan area.  Even after adding metal and finishing, the lockplate has some casting pits that show.

dave

[Roger B]

Thanks guys.  I may just take a shot at it!  It saves about $100.00 over a finished lock. 
Roger B.

[FlintFan]

Thanks guys.  I may just take a shot at it!  It saves about $100.00 over a finished lock. 
Roger B.

And most likely over a year or two of your time waiting for a finished lock to arrive. 

[boman]

    Roger, go for it if you've got the time but it isn't quite as easy as a Siler lock kit for all the reasons above.  I've built 3 locks from their kits and a Tow brown bess lock and they all took considerable time and work arounds(such as holding fixtures) to aline parts for drilling.  Also be prepared to wait on your parts longer than the stated time as this seems to be the rule rather than the exception.  You will also prepay(a pet peve with me).

Steve

[Roger B]

They say they have all parts in stock except for the barrel which comes from Colerain.  I'm going to make them let me come down there, see the parts, and give them Cash.  Otherwise no frog plews in trade.  Its about a 100 miles so that shouldn't be too much trouble.
Roger B.

[kutter]

There's also some hardening/tempering instructions and info on their WebSite:

http://www.therifleshoppe.com/

..click on the "General Information" link on the home page and scroll down to 'Hardening & Tempering Notes'.

They state they use 6150 steel for the springs & frizzen (4140 for the other parts) and they use water hardening dispite the fact these are 'oil hardening steel'.

I guess I'll find out how well it works out when I get around to my Queen Anne lock.

[cheyenne]

This would be a GREAT tutorial!!!