Last shot I went to I had a lock malfunction. I have a light simple trigger and every time I fired it stuck in half cock instead of firing. Sure enough I had lost my fly. Smart fella would have ordered a replacement. I forgot. I have a shoot tomorrow and then I remembered, no fly. It’s an L&R Durs Egg from 1978. Been a great lock.
I took some spring stock and decided to wing it. First problem is the smallest drill I have is 1/16 and the post in the tumbler and corresponding hole in the L&R fly is smaller. I thought, “ what would Jim Everett Wilson do?” So I took a piece of 3/16” drill rod, got to filing, and made a drill. It actually worked! Hard as the dickens to see well enough to sharpen it.
Took me 4 flies before one worked. Part of the problem for me is the fly on an L&R is on the inside of the tumbler. For some reason it felt like working in a mirror. Things I think I learned, which probably everybody else knows already:
The width of the wedge shape of the upper part that is near the pivot is critical because it controls how far the fly can move. Too narrow and the fly pivots too far rearward when cocking and then jams under the sear nose, preventing seating in full cock notch. Too wide and insufficient pivoting to cover the half cock notch when firing.
Forming the angles of the tip of the fly by guess and by golly (I had no pattern) is near hopeless. On a lock with a fly on the outside of the tumbler (just under the bridle) a person could see what’s going on. Harder on an L&R.
Trick or method I used: make a fly blank with a good wedge shape and pin or hole for the pivot (depending on the lock maker’s design). Then put the fly blank (too long, and with no angles filed) in the slot on the tumbler. Rotate the fly rearward to the stop as if it would be at half cock. Clamp tumbler and fly in vise with the fly sticking up. Now file the front angle of the fly in such a way that the half cock notch is going to be accessible to the sear nose. Next, flip the fly forward to the stop and clamp tumbler with fly in vise with fly and tumbler notches sticking up. File the rear angle of the fly tip so that the sear will seat in the full cock notch.
Now very minor adjustments in width and length will get you there. I ruined one fly by confusion ( mirror effect) and filing by guess and by golly and 2 by over-filing before checking function. #4 works, snick, snick.
Please share any fly-making tips.
I will say the L&R flies and most Siler style flies are flies. A Bob Roller fly is more of a horse fly. Robust.
