Period gunmaking question - pin holes?

[Mark Elliott]

This is just for those sick individuals, like myself, obsessed with period techniques. 

Exactly how would I bore 1/16" (or thereabouts) pin holes through the forearm using 18th century tools?  I have a 5/64" gimlet, but they aren't the best for deep holes in thin wood.  I am afraid it would split my forearm if I tried to use it for thimble pin holes.   Then there is the issue of joining up the holes from two different directions.  Usually you start with a smaller pilot hole.   That is what I do for lock and tang bolts using very small gimlet type brace bits that cut much better than my hand gimlets.  The smallest gimlet bit I have is 3/32".   Where there smaller gimlet bits or would something else be made like a fishtail bit used for the metal?

[bgf]

Small holes through thin wood.  Heat the pin up and burn the hole.  Just a guess. 

[Mark Elliott]

I am thinking fishtail bits with a bow drill.   What do you all think?

[Dave B]

Mark,
I have pondered this very question. I have seen originals with 1/16" pins for the rod pipes. The holes drilled perfectly to  hit the molding grooves on both sides of the forestock full length all those pins on a straight molding line. I figure they had to have a very good way to drill those holes. Here are a couple pictures that I have come across that show period hand drilling tools. The Wood cut below is from Espergarda Perfecta translated from the Portuguese "The perfect Gun" an original book written to expound on the way superior guns were made at that time late 1600's IIRC. look at what the apprentice is holding in his hands.  I would say its a bow and drill frame. Maybe a 17c. Makita? This next picture I came across is a drill for boring the draw bolt hole for a violin's Bow.

[jerrywh]

 There was a method. They made watches and chronometers and needles for centuries.

[E.vonAschwege]

This came up for me working in the Colonial Williamsburg gunshop over the summer.  It's just a matter of taking your time and using a very skinny flat bit in either a bow drill (preferred I think) or a brace.  It takes time, an eye for keeping things lined up, clearing chips frequently, and a well-tempered bit.  If you have the stock squared up to 1/8" on either side of the barrel, then there's not too much wood to pass through.  Same methods discussed here, just smaller :  http://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=18949.0



Jerry - the Wycke tool catalog ca 1760 has a dozen engravings depicting very complicated tools for sale specifically to watch makers for precision drilling, teeth cutting, and lathe work. 

-Eric

[okieboy]

Mark, in a handmade drill bit of 1/16" or smaller, I don't think that the point would necessarily be fish tailed if you mean that the point was larger than the shank; I think that the bit would be the same diameter its entire length. I am thinking of reference tools such as a typical brad awl, which just has a square cutting edge. The later and much more complicated bit used in a Yankee push drill also is one diameter along its cutting length. These are obviously not efficient by modern standards at chip removal, but none the less do work.
 The hole start location would probably be marked with a sharp center punch (machinists call this spotting). After that the drill can be rotated by finger using a pin vise. I have drilled a lot of very small holes using a pin vise, but always used modern twist drills.

[okieboy]

 This question also points out what does and doesn't survive the passage of time. Brad awls were once common, but old ones are rare to find these days; plumb bobs may survive centuries, but at one time the cord for them came on nicely turned wooden spools, those spools are now almost nonexistent. A 200-300 year old drill bit (how would you date it?) 1/16" diameter or smaller is probably is probably as scarce as the proverbial hen's teeth.

[Keb]

I don't know how they did it but I know how I do 1/16" holes that pass thru the stock. I drill the hole with a twist drill with the barrel out. I stop when the drill just starts to enter the opposite side leaving a witness hole barely into the wood. I then use a piece of 1/16" hard wire that's been cut off with side cutters that's long enough to complete the hole. The cut off end is sharp and will drill right thru the wood. No chips or hole to clean out and will punch right thru the rest of the way. After I get all the holes drilled thru I put the barrel back in and drill thru the tenons setting the depth to just pass thru the tenon. I use this on trigger guard & pipe mounting holes too. I know there are other ways of doing it but this works well for me.

[Chris Treichel]

Jewlers still use bow/pump drills to drill small holes. If you look at Diderot's encyclopedia section on gunsmithing among the tools you see a bow drill. Watch makers were already making incredibly intricate pocket watches in the 1760s.



PLANCHE IV.
Fig. 1. Foret en bois. 2. Broche pointue. 3. Queue de rat en bois. 4. Compas en ressort. 5. Broche à pans. 6. Trusquin. 7. Pierre sanguine. 8. Ciseau. 9. Lavoir. Fig. 10. Gratoir. 11. Calibre. 12. Canon carabiné. 1, le canon coupé en deux sur sa longueur. 2, la culasse. 13. Canon brisé. 1, le canon. 2, la culasse. 14. Langue de carpe. 15. Ciseau à bride. 16. Equoine. 17. Bec de corbin. 18. Fer du rabot à canon. 19. Rabot à baguette. 20. Fer de ce rabot. 21. Calibre double avec ses parties d'assemblage, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. 22. Calibre simple. 23. Chevalet avec la fraise à bassinet. 24. Porte - tareau. 25. Plastron. 26. Archet. 27. Foret avec sa boîte. 28. Rifloir. 29. Etampe quarrée. 30. Pointe à tracer. 31. Monte - ressort. 1, sa griffe. 2, le bec. 3, le dos. 32. Fraise à roder. 33. Fraise pointue. 34. Tenaille; à chamfrain. 35. Tareau. 36. Filiere. 37. Tire - boure. 38. Compas d'épaisseur.

[James Wilson Everett]

Mark,

A truly great question, another HDTDT (How Did They Do That).  Here is my 2 cents worth.  Certainly the tiny holes required tiny drills that were a lot more susceptible to breakage than larger drills.  Here is one way; make just a longer and thinner version of the 18th c drill bit, like the top one in the photo.  A thought is that if this bit is restricted only to wood, the temper can be a lot softer and less easy to break.



However, the tool I use is an adaption of what was known as a lantern stock.  This tool allows the use of round drill bits which are a lot easier to make than to ones above.  Here are some photos of the lantern stock with replaceable drill bits.  Again, make the pin hole bits at a softer temper to help avoid breakage.  Both of these use a hand brace.







[

I will post another reply for bow drills so this does not get too large.

Jim

[WKevinD]

Mark there is a nice pictorial chapter on gunsmithing in L'encyclopedie Diderot Et D'alembert- Fabrique Des Armes.(1751-1772)
Sad to say I have no French to understand the notations but it shows a lot of drill bits, bows and braces as well as general tools and techniques specific to musket fabrication.

http://baptor.free.fr/Forge/Encyclopedie%20Diderot%20&%20D'Alembert-Fabrique%20des%20armes-Escrime.pdf

[James Wilson Everett]

Mark,

Using a bow drill - I don't like to use a bow drill, it seems that I am too clumsy.  Using a bow drill is more difficult that juggling three balls!  Anyway, here is my bow drill, again it uses a lantern stock an the same replaceable bits as the brace lantern stock, above.  The bow drill pivot point is mounted in the dimples normally found only on the left side of 18th c bench or post vices.  Here are some photos of the bow drill adapted from the Wyke tool catalog.








.




Here is an original bow drill from the 19th c that uses a set screw to secure the replaceable drill bit without the lantern stock.



Here is a scan of the Wyke tool catalog showing a variety of bow drills, do you see the one that I copied?



Looking at some of the Wyke bow drill bits I am sure that you can see that these are capable of drilling even deeper and smaller diameter holes than what is required for a barrel pin.

Keep up your good work.  I hope that this helps.

Jim

[Chris Treichel]

Origional pump drill

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ESKJ8tv4xtc/Uaf0TKjP3dI/AAAAAAAALuM/z44vb5lWGMg/s1600/Pump+Drill+2.jpg

[David R. Pennington]

FANTASTIC! Another HDTDT mystery solved with a good bit of education along the way! Thanks guys. This is why I stay tuned to this site. Notice the workman on the right side of the original woodcut screwing in a breech plug with wrench on oct./ rd. barrel mounted vertically in post vice.

[David R. Pennington]

Also,,, notice small appliance on bench between the two guys drilling. Auxiliary vise jaws for holding small parts at an angle? I need one of those.  Same item on tool catalog page. Also notice clutter on workbench. My shop is period correct in that manner.

[James Wilson Everett]

David B,

The young apprentice in the woodcut is actually holding a pan grinder.   This is the tool used to hollow out the flashpan recess in a flintlock.  The copy of the Diderot page posted by Chris shows a better depiction of a pan grinder.  Here is a photo of the cutter end of the pan grinder that I use (I did not make the cutter).

Jim

[David R. Pennington]

Jim, I have a little vise nearly identical to yours, I need to look at it again and see if it has any dimples in the jaws. On the floor near the fellow breeching the barrel, is that a set of axillary wood jaws for the vice? Just noticed what looks like taps on the bench and perhaps an adjustable die with different sizes for plugs?

[Mark Elliott]

That is all great info guys.   A couple of the firsts techniques reminded me of what my father gave me to use when I was a kid.   As a kid needing to drill holes,  I was given an egg beater drill with a wire nail as a drill bit.   For pin holes, it worked well.  Until I saw the bow drill frame pictured above, I didn't understand how that worked in the 18th century.    I also like the simple bow drills that Jim pictured.    I already planed to make my screw tap drills for a lantern stock like Jim showed. 

[kaintuck]

Also,,, notice small appliance on bench between the two guys drilling. Auxiliary vise jaws for holding small parts at an angle? I need one of those.  Same item on tool catalog page. Also notice clutter on workbench. My shop is period correct in that manner.

I don't see any mice on the bench................maybe they had tomtom 1700 era~

marc n tomtom

[Mark Elliott]

I whipped these up to play with them.   One is 1/16" and the other is 5/64".   The 1/16" one works pretty fast, but both are a handful just like Jim said.   I will keep playing.   I do need some rosin for my bow string.   

[Mark Elliott]

Does anyone know is a collet chuck was used in the 18th century?

[bob in the woods]

If you go to the Martin's Station Rifle Project video, you can watch Andy Thomas use a bow drill to install the pipes etc.  Worth a look 

[Bob Roller]

Does anyone know is a collet chuck was used in the 18th century?

Maybe by watchmakers in the industrial areas of Europe.Switzerland would be my guess if
they were used.

Bob Roller

[Mark Elliott]

Mark,

Using a bow drill - I don't like to use a bow drill, it seems that I am too clumsy.  Using a bow drill is more difficult that juggling three balls!  Anyway, here is my bow drill, again it uses a lantern stock an the same replaceable bits as the brace lantern stock, above.  The bow drill pivot point is mounted in the dimples normally found only on the left side of 18th c bench or post vices.  Here are some photos of the bow drill adapted from the Wyke tool catalog.








.




Here is an original bow drill from the 19th c that uses a set screw to secure the replaceable drill bit without the lantern stock.



Here is a scan of the Wyke tool catalog showing a variety of bow drills, do you see the one that I copied?



Looking at some of the Wyke bow drill bits I am sure that you can see that these are capable of drilling even deeper and smaller diameter holes than what is required for a barrel pin.

Keep up your good work.  I hope that this helps.

Jim

Jim,  could I see a photo of the bow you use with your drill?

Thanks,

Mark