Author Topic: Pick and Whisks (Read 18904 times)

davec2 · « **on:** July 07, 2008, 02:30:41 AM »

The following is a continuation on a thread from the old site. This is my first post on the new site and I just wanted to see if I could get everything to work. Sorry for the repeat info.

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I have made a few rustic style pan whisks out of braided and or siezed horse hair, and they were fine. However, the bristles get beat up with not much use and the whisk needs to be replaced fairly often. I recently made this whisk up - it has a turned ebony grip, a horse hair brush, and a brass tail piece. But, to solve my problem with the brush going to pot on me, I made the whole thing come apart so that I could replce the brush. The second photo shows the whisk in pieces along with a spare brush.I have made a few of these out of ivory, bone, antler, and horn as well. I did make one out of solid brass, but it was too heavy to carry - might be OK for a cased gun set though. I am now in the middle of making an unusual vent pick that will match this whisk. I will post a picture when I get it done.

490roundball · « **Reply #1 on:** July 07, 2008, 03:19:12 AM »

Very nice Dave;

might be difficult to go afield with a brush that's better made than a riflegun, but on the other hand this would be just the ticket for a well done gentleman's fowler.

Look forward to seeing the pick and brush together

rick

Collector · « **Reply #2 on:** July 07, 2008, 03:45:27 AM »

An original 'Continental' Army musket pick and whisk set I have, uses feral hog or boar hair for the whisk. Very coarse and stiff bristles in stark contrast to horse hair. A nice piece of workmanship and practical construction. Thanks for sharing the details with us.

davec2 · « **Reply #3 on:** July 07, 2008, 06:04:47 AM »

G. Hansen,

Two questions - One, can you post a picture of your set ? Two - anyone have a feral hog I can shave?

Tim Crosby · « **Reply #4 on:** July 07, 2008, 04:48:09 PM »

Dave,
Really neat. How are the bristles held in?

Thanks, Tim C.

Dr. Tim-Boone · « **Reply #5 on:** July 07, 2008, 09:39:30 PM »

I have one made by a friend with an antler tip handle and turkey beard bristles!! Works great as long as its not tooooooo humid!!

Collector · « **Reply #6 on:** July 07, 2008, 10:35:53 PM »

Dave C. I'll try and take a photo and post it, for you, later this evening.

Collector · « **Reply #7 on:** July 08, 2008, 03:08:56 AM »

Dave C. I hope these photos helpful. Gaylord Hansen

Dr. Tim-Boone · « **Reply #8 on:** July 08, 2008, 03:19:49 AM »

Gaylord, Is that a Peter Berry Rifle on the cover of the book under your brushes, pics and guns?? Which, by the way are quite nice!!

davec2 · « **Reply #9 on:** July 08, 2008, 03:27:37 AM »

Gaylord,

Thanks so much for posting these pictures. I was not only interested in the original whisk and bristles, but also the type of chain used. These pictures showed the chain perfectly. I have often done refurbishment work on antique scientific instruments for a few people I know who have Smithsonian quality collections. It is often times the minute details of missing or damaged parts that are hardest to replicate but make all the difference in the quality of the restoration. (I have even had the metal alloys analyzed so that I could reproduce the metals used.) It is a great help to just have some knowledge of the usual manufacturing techniques used one to three centuries or more ago. Thanks again.

DC

Dr. Tim-Boone · « **Reply #10 on:** July 08, 2008, 03:33:13 AM »

Dave, did you carve the handle on your brush? What is the material? It is incredibly well done. Way beyond "folk Art"

davec2 · « **Reply #11 on:** July 08, 2008, 04:52:42 AM »

Dr. Tim,

The whisk handle is made out of ebony and I turned it on a small wood lathe I built for use aboard ship. (The wood lathe is made out of maple scraps left over from gun stocks and is about 18 inches long). I have made a few whisks out of ivory, cow horn, and antler also.

DC

Collector · « **Reply #12 on:** July 08, 2008, 06:40:16 AM »

Dr. Boone,

It is indeed a photo of a Peter Berry. It's on the dust cover of, 'The Kentucky Rifle' by Merril Lindsay - Photgraphs by Bruce Pendleton, Arma Press-The Historical Society of York County, Copyright 1972, LC-72-78520, I.S.B.N. Cloth 8079-0185-7. It could be mistaken for an Allen Martin bench copy of a Peter Berry though!

The pick and whisk set was found with that early GA parts gun, pictured.

Thanks for your kind remark. I took the photos on a table in the study. My wife 'uses' my 'stuff,' as she calls it, to decorate with, so it's 'accessorizing' throughout the house. You have to be vigilant though. I came home from a business trip and after taking off my shoes and dropping my briefcase at the top of the hallway, I walked passed the livingroom and saw my 1st Edition Shumways' RCA Vol. I & II underneath a potted plant, of some kind, on a library desk. You know, the kind you have to keep a small saucer under when you water them.

I think I sounded like John Belushi (Pluto), in Animal House, when the guy dropped a whole case of Jim Beam on the sidewalk as they were dismantiling the bar in the Delta frat house!

Dave C. If you need measurements or more detailed photos, contact me by private message.

brobb · « **Reply #13 on:** July 10, 2008, 12:23:16 AM »

Roger Fisher · « **Reply #14 on:** July 10, 2008, 02:15:02 AM »

You are doing fine work. I would say only when you get to that pick beware using material that is too hard, too serrated. Does a job on the vent. Soon the shooter will be losing 2 f outta the vent and getting low shots...Ask me how I know this.

Using a nice copper wire and bending it to get around the flash guard kinking said copper wire and roughing it up did a number on the vent....needless to say I replaced the vent - problem solved.

We had a shooter couple or three weeks ago that was having hard fouling cake problem in the breech and when 'helping' him we found he was actually using a small DRILL BIT as a pick. Had a nice handle on it; but we advised him to not use it...

Only a heads up!!

davec2 · « **Reply #15 on:** July 10, 2008, 07:16:49 AM »

Roger,

Good point on the vent pick. The following photos show the matching pick. It is tool steel, but polished very smooth, heat treated, and tempered. It is very sharp and it doubles for me as a sewing awl. As a consequence, I made a brass, screw on scabbard just to keep from stabbing myself with the darn thing. Also shown is the same style of pan brush except that the handle on this one is made of turned and polished deer antler.

TENdriver · « **Reply #16 on:** July 16, 2008, 06:04:24 AM »

Dave,

I have to ask...what does a wood lathe built for aboard ship and made out of old gunstocks look like?

I can see the results so it must work well.

Kevin H

davec2 · « **Reply #17 on:** July 16, 2008, 10:22:38 AM »

Kevin,

When I went to sea on my first deployment as a newly minted junior officer aboard a destroyer, I knew I would be gone for over a year or more. On the off chance I had some free time, I thought I would bring some hand tools with me to do skrimshaw and the like. (It seemed a good past time for a sailor at sea.) At the time, I was also engaged in making jagging wheels and similar objects in whale ivory and exotic woods, so I needed a lathe. I shared a "stateroom" with two other junior officers (and all of our earthly posessions) and the whole @!*% place was not quite 8 feet by 10. My "office" was a fold down desk top 22 inches wide and about 20 inches deep. The following photos show a small wood lathe I made up from left over gun stock maple and brass before we deployed. My desk was 22 inches wide and the lathe base was 21.5 inches. I kept it stowed under my rack when it was not in use. I made many a nautical trinket with it and even made a repair part for a missile launcher on it. That was 30 years ago and it still serves me well for small items like the picks and whisks.

TENdriver · « **Reply #18 on:** July 16, 2008, 03:02:14 PM »

Dave,
I stumbled upon the photos of a few of your items and was amazed by your work.

Thanks for sharing those photos. I've had a few deployments myself but I'd be happy just to drag along my Flextool carving set and a kevlar glove.

Kevin H

brobb · « **Reply #19 on:** July 16, 2008, 08:03:59 PM »

Dave

I would very much like to see a photo of the turning tools (gravers?) that you use with your small lathe. I see that you have a wood lathe type tool rest and are turning brass. Do you have any tips for this? Do you have any trouble with chatter?

Bruce

RWood · « **Reply #20 on:** July 16, 2008, 08:57:03 PM »

Dave , Your lathe is as sharp as the accoutrement's you have been making.On the tin can I was on I alway got complaints when I tried to stow things under my rack from the guy below me.

davec2 · « **Reply #21 on:** July 16, 2008, 10:44:38 PM »

Bruce,

I usually only use a set of small wood carving chisels to turn ivory, wood, or brass. Nothing special. They need to be sharpened more frequently when cutting brass - about twice as often. As far as chatter goes, I work close to the head stock, make sure the tool is sharp, and keep the tool support post as close to the work as possible. I use this same technique on my large metal lathe for turning even very large, non ferrous metal parts (aluminum, brass, copper, silver, etc.) Rather than grinding form tools for decorative types of cuts (barrel wedding bands, etc.), I use the wood turning tool technique. The only time I bother making form tools is if I intend to make many of the same type of parts. The muzzle rings on this blunderbuss barrel were turned with a set of very cheap, very old, Sears Craftsman wood turning chisels, just on the large metal lathe with a heavy tool rest. The brass cuts as easily as wood and, if the tool is sharpened properly, the finish is very nice just as turned.

And this brass powder testing mortar was made the same way. It shoots golf balls.

RWood,

I had the same problem with stowage....the guy in the rack below was such a complainer about living with all my junk. I finally had to swap him for the bottom rack.

DC

Dr. Tim-Boone · « **Reply #22 on:** July 17, 2008, 12:16:04 AM »

Amazing, And you do amazing work too Dave!! The precision is wonderful and the pieces are alive!

RWood · « **Reply #23 on:** July 17, 2008, 09:57:30 PM »

Dave, Wonderful work! Did you do the engraving also? I just finished a engraving class with Mark Silver and that is just some beautiful work. Engineering Officer?
Ron

davec2 · « **Reply #24 on:** July 17, 2008, 11:56:29 PM »

Ron,

Yes, I did the engraving....back a few years ago when I had started teaching myself. It's a little embarrassing to look at now and digital pictures are very unforgiving of mistakes. I spent some time studying with JerryWH last September and I'm still not a good engraver, but I'm a lot better than I was when I did the blunderbuss.

Actually, I was in both engineering and topside departments. I started off as a DCA, then MPA, then did tours in the Operations and Weapons Departments on other ships. As a DCA, they called me a "fresh air snipe" because I stood EOOW watches in Main Control, OOD on the bridge, and CICWO in Combat. (I have not taken the time to spell out the acronyms because you seem to be familiar with the terms...I hope I guessed correctly....I didn't mean to be rude by throwing nonsensical terms around.)

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Author Topic: Pick and Whisks (Read 18904 times)

brobb

TENdriver

TENdriver

brobb

RWood

RWood