Tools

[Eric Smith]

I have a new question. It's about tools. I'm working on a first build. I'm reading the books, Im watching the tapes, and I'm  really just getting set up. I built a little work bench, mounted a vice, etc. What I want to know is this: when building a rifle from a blank, what tools do you consider essential to 1. inlet a barrel 2. inlet a lock, shape a stock, and other tools that are nessesary along the way. Please do be specific. The books and tapes don't seem to be specific. I welcome your input. What tools do you use? Thanks.

[Vomitus]

Eric,
  Click the window with the longrifle and the ALR.com logo. It's at the top left of this page.Click gunbuilding,on the left it says tool list.Go there. Lotsa stuff for you there.

[James Wilson Everett]

Almost all of my work is metal work, but when I do the wood work one tool is a real standout.  It is a fine cut wood rasp that I bought from Brownells.  When I received the tool in the mail, I was disappointed because it seemed to be so very expensive for such a thin rasp.  I repented of this when I started to use it.  I really do not know how I have existed for more than 60 years without a fine cut wood rasp.  Surely it is my favorite for stock shaping chores.

Jim Everett

[Jim Kibler]

Almost all of my work is metal work, but when I do the wood work one tool is a real standout.  It is a fine cut wood rasp that I bought from Brownells.  When I received the tool in the mail, I was disappointed because it seemed to be so very expensive for such a thin rasp.  I repented of this when I started to use it.  I really do not know how I have existed for more than 60 years without a fine cut wood rasp.  Surely it is my favorite for stock shaping chores.

Jim Everett

If a Nicholson pattern makers rasp was such a life changing event, you should get an Auriou.  You might feel like you've reached the pearly gates.

[David Rase]

Thanks , James. I have already bought a #50 pattermmakers rasp from Brownells. I tested it on a piece of pine board and it will do a nice job. I wish they made one in a half round.

Your rasp from Brownell's must not be a Nicholson.  The Nicholson #49 and #50 patternmakers rasps are half round.  

[Dr. Tim-Boone]

Almost all of my work is metal work, but when I do the wood work one tool is a real standout.  It is a fine cut wood rasp that I bought from Brownells.  When I received the tool in the mail, I was disappointed because it seemed to be so very expensive for such a thin rasp.  I repented of this when I started to use it.  I really do not know how I have existed for more than 60 years without a fine cut wood rasp.  Surely it is my favorite for stock shaping chores.

Jim Everett

If a Nicholson pattern makers rasp was such a life changing event, you should get an Auriou.  You might feel like you've reached the pearly gates.

Jim, what is the difference in actual performance that makes Auriou rssps and file worth the significant increase in price over a Nicholson?  I know  they are hand made etc., but what is the performance difference like??  I have read about them but never seen one in real life.

[Jim Kibler]

The Auriou rasps are pricey Tim.  Well, the shape is quite nice.  The curve is a very gentle radius which I find nicer than the tighter half round Nichlolson .  The Auriou also comes to a point which is convient for getting into tight areas.  As far as cutting I have found that the finer grained Auriou rasps cut effeciently yet leave a relatively smooth surface.  Smoother than a Nicholson. I have several, but a 10" #9 grain is my favorite.  In fact, it is likely one of my favorite tools.  That and a skew chisel.

[David Rase]

Jim, Now we know why you had to buy all these Chinese chisles, too many Auriou rasps claeaned out your wallet.   

I picked up a 10" #5 Auriou last summer.  It is a great rasp to use for final shaping just before scraping and sanding.  I want to get a slightly coarser one soon.
David

[Jim Kibler]

Ha!  That's about the truth Dave!

[David R. Pennington]

When I inlet a barrel in a blank I usually use my table saw to begin the cuts and leave the blank the full height till I have made cuts at the proper depth for bottom flat and side flats. If it is a straight barrel it is easier. With swamped you can only cut to smallest dimension and then hand work. A shallow radius gouge is indispensible. You want a full size tool of good quality and keep it razor sharp. Stay away from those little palm handle carving tools. Full size tools are easier to control. You will be suprised how quickly you can shape wood with a gouge. Most of the time hand pressure is all you need with a sharp tool. I made some scrapers shaped like the bottom 3 flats of a barrell. Different sizes for different size barrells. You can grind these out of old files and heat and bend them to the right shape.
Another one of my favorite tools is an old wood body spoke shave. I also use a drawknife for some rough shaping. These also must be kept razor sharp. Inleting locks I use a little knife, several different sizes of small chisels. I made a couple dog leg chisels to help get down into small recesses. One is flat on the end like a regular chisel and one is pointed. These are very small for lock inlets. I also use my hand drills. I mean the kind with the hand crank, the old eggbeater type. I find It easier to control than an electric in delicate places like lock mortice. Most of my favorite "go to tools" are ones I salvaged from flea markets, junk sales and antique stores. Some had to be reground or have new handles etc..., but often become my favorites after a little TLC. Finding and restoring the tools has become a hobby in itself and is almost as much fun as building longrifles!

[James Wilson Everett]

Guys,

On the other end of the scale, I think of all of the cheap tools I have acquired over the years.  Please, somebody out there smack me in the head if I ever buy a "bargain basement"" tool again.  Good tools are expensive to purchase, but are well worth the cost.  Come to think of it, I have never repented of buying a really high quality tool.  Does anybody out there want a box of slightly used made in China tools?  (You pay the shipping) Ha!

Jim Everett

[Bob Roller]

Jim,
I use cheap hardware store files to rough in a contour such as the fancy bridles on locks but the fine details,breaks around the screw heads,half cock notch etc are done with the good German,Swiss and English files which are now as rare as a football bat in normal commerce. I have some files that are #8 cut which is 233 teeth per inch. Use a bit of tapping fluid and a polished finish can be had.
End mills as well as other cutting tools are usually "On Sale"items from industrial supply catalogs,usually KBC or Fastenal. Fastenal has a store here and I get a bit of a break sometimes on end mills and other small items.
Flat ground stock is one that I get from them.
Bob Roller
 

[Gaeckle]

#@!! $#@*! I'm on the cheap side of life at the moment and I consider a 50 dollar cabinet maker's rasp very expensive......But I do have one.

Most of the tools I use come from flea markets, garage sales or an occosional antique store. When I earned a decent paycheck before children came into the picture I would purchase one new chisel from a closed but popular woodworker supply store in Cleveland, with every paycheck. I managed to get a full set.

Recently, the Log Cabin Shop got ahold of some very good chisels from an estate...there were probably a couple hundred (still some left) and I managed to purchase 5 of those.

While watching Dennis Priddy at Frienship (as well as Dick Miller) I was surprised to see their tool selection: both men had a cigar box full of needle files turned into scrapers, small chisels and a hole host of tools that they were using very effectively. At that point I realized that both men were making a signiture via thier handiwork with the individual tools that they crafted from everyday items.......

.........so I have taken to making little scrapers, chisels, punches and all sorts of things from cast off items like saw blades, allen wrenches, broken screwdrivers, broken needle files.....It has gotten to the point where when I see something in the trash can in the shop I wonder "What can I make outta that?"

I remember working with a fantasic watercolor artist named Fred Leech (now dead) who with a handfull of other artist created the Ohio Watercolor Society....Fred was great when it came to manipulating his medium. I saw him make a painting using a feather, q-tips, a razor blade and one very large Haki brush. It was a fantastic painting that won him a felowship award, yet he did it with very common items.

So as far as tools are concerned  I think it's our imagination and our ability to control our medium with watever tools we have at the moment.....and it never hurts to experiment. That is just my opinion.

[Long John]

Eric,

To answer your question there is a set of tools that one uses for each of the steps in building a gun.  Not a different set but a set.  For example, for inletting a barrel I have my measuring tools, my mallet, 3 or 4 chizels, a shop-made saw and a set of scrapers.  For letting in a lock I use the same mallet but a different set of about 4 or 5 chizels and a different set of 3 or 4 scrapers.  I also use a little egg-beater drill for locating some of the holes.  For general stock shaping I use the same trusty mallet, and array of larger chisels, my rasps, a draw knife, a sureform tool with rasp handle and an array of larger cabinet scrapers.

Each major step in the building process will require some of the same tools as well as some unique ones.  I have one chizel that I use for just one job - cutting in the mortice for the sliding wood patch-box.  I have a scraper that is custom-designed for making the sliding dovetail.

Good work requires good tools!  Buy the very best you can justify.  Most of us do 90% of the work with 10% of the tools we have.  I have some tools that I have never used!  Remember that a tool is an extension of the person using it - often different craftsmen will use a different tool for the same job.

I hope this helps a little.

Best Regards,

JMC

[Pete G.]

Quick answer as to what tools are needed ? All of 'em.  But buy what you are going to end up with in the first place.
I second the answer about cheap tools. If you buy a cheap set of chisels for let's say $50, you will end up going back and spending $100 to get a better set. If you take that $150 and buy something worth keeping to start with you will be money ahead.
Unlike David R. I find the palm chisel very useful, but if I had to do it over I would not buy the set. 95% of the time I use the skew with a bevel on each side, that way it is reversible and has a very shallow bevel that slices rather than cuts. Scrapers are the other tools that gets constant use. I used to think the old timers used scrapers because the didn't have anything better; now I believe that the IS nothing better.