Author Topic: Fancy'in up my trigger guard and side plate.  (Read 3995 times)

LehighBrad

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Fancy'in up my trigger guard and side plate.
« on: July 23, 2011, 04:53:42 AM »
Hello fellas....Anyone out there have advice or techniques on how to go about filing some nice decorative "wedding band" rings on the front and rear areas of my brass trigger guard?? I want to dress up the plain look that it has now to something more appealing to the eye.  :) Also, how does one go about filing a nice even bevel on their brass side plate?...especially when it comes to those complex inside curved areas?? I made a Lehigh style shaped side plate with the arrowhead finial out of about .070 thick sheet brass, but I'm having a tough time filing the bevel inside those pesky curves. ???

Offline D. Taylor Sapergia

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Re: Fancy'in up my trigger guard and side plate.
« Reply #1 on: July 23, 2011, 05:17:14 AM »
Brad, you won't get much of a bevel on a plate that thin.  But here's a way to do it.

I assume it is not inlet into the wood.  Black the edge with felt pen.  Now scribe a line around the outside using either a Vernier's calipers or a pair of dividers.  Now scribe a line parallel to the edge however wide you want the bevel to be.  Mount the plate on a piece of wood that you can set in your vise.  Use Bondo, hot glue, or what-have-you.  Cut away the wood to allow you access to the edge without having to deal with it when you're filing the brass.  Now file away the brass between the two lines with flat, triangular, and round files.  Use the same files to back your abrasives for polishing, and there's no fussy complex curves that can elude you.  It's easier with brass that is 1/8" thick to start.
D. Taylor Sapergia
www.sapergia.blogspot.com

Art is not an object.  It is the excitement inspired by the object.

LehighBrad

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Re: Fancy'in up my trigger guard and side plate.
« Reply #2 on: July 23, 2011, 02:17:39 PM »
Thanks Taylor!! I already do have it mounted on a small piece of scrap wood so I can hold it in a vise. Never thought of the felt pen and calipers trick! I'm limited on the small fine round metal files which is what's keeping me from getting into those curved areas very well, but I'll fix that today. Time to buy a few! Any advice on the "wedding bands" as far as how to get started...ie beginning cuts, rounding the middle between the two outer cuts, etc.?

Offline James

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Re: Fancy'in up my trigger guard and side plate.
« Reply #3 on: July 23, 2011, 02:44:59 PM »
I use a triangle file to delineate or make the groove between the bands, then carefully shape the sides of the bands with the tri file, being careful not to cut into adjacent areas that you want to stay as they are.
"Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect everyone who approaches that jewel. Unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but downright force. Whenever you give up that force, you are ruined... The great object is that every man be armed. Everyone who is able might have a gun." P.Henry

Offline Rolf

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Re: Fancy'in up my trigger guard and side plate.
« Reply #4 on: July 23, 2011, 03:59:01 PM »
To get the weddingband at both ends the same width, I scratch a line paraell with the front of the triggergard and use a jewelers saw to cut a track to guide the file. When filing I use a safe sided triangular file and keep the safe side towards the wedding band.





Best regards
Rolf
« Last Edit: July 23, 2011, 03:59:57 PM by Rolf »

Offline alyce-james

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Re: Fancy'in up my trigger guard and side plate.
« Reply #5 on: July 23, 2011, 05:19:05 PM »
Nice trigger guard Rolf. Thanks for sharing the information and picture. Jim
"Candy is Dandy but Liquor is Quicker". by Poet Ogden Nash 1931.

Rasch Chronicles

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Re: Fancy'in up my trigger guard and side plate.
« Reply #6 on: July 24, 2011, 08:21:38 AM »
Rolf,

That trigger guard deserves a post all  its own! Nice work!

Best regards,
Albert “Yes, I am still in Afghanistan!” Rasch
The Rasch Outdoor Chronicles
The Range Reviews: Recreating the 18th Century Powder Horn

Offline Rolf

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Re: Fancy'in up my trigger guard and side plate.
« Reply #7 on: July 24, 2011, 12:14:56 PM »
Thanks Albert. It's already got one http://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=704.0
It's one of the triggergards I made for the silver kentucky pistols. http://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=14643.0

Best regards
Rolf