Finished a cased pair of dragoon style pistols. Once in a while a project actually gets finished!!!
PistolsThe barrels were made from a used 20mm Vulcan cannon barrel.
http://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=28822.msg275168#msg275168Then brass was bougth from muzzelloader building suppiles. Standard dragoon butt cap. The spurs had to be straigthen and modified to fit the Stock.
French dragoon triggerguard. Sideplate is from a Fowler. Lock is Chambers round face Colonial (rifle Lock). The stock blanks are curly English walnut from Dunlop. The finish is Chambers oil. Hickory ramrods
The small round ball is caliber 54 , the other the pistol amo, caliber 82.
Case.
The case is made from cherry, following Smart Dogs tutorial. It is lined with cotton baize and glued with pearl(hide) glue, bought from Peter Dyson, England. The brass hinges are from Brusso. All other brass fittings turned/filed from brass stock. I did not put a lock on the case because I always lose the keys. These pistols are large and heavy (almost 2kilos each), therefore the handles on the side of case. I was afraid the lid would not take the weight. The compartment lids are made from amboyine burl and cherry.
Cutting baize.Smart dog cut his baize with a xacto knife blade. I could not do it that way. The blade kept pulling the fabric out of shape. I used a flat chisel blade to stab the parts out. This avoids distortion.
Pearl glue.
Pearl glue granules must be dissolved in hot water (about 80 Celsius). Add granules until you have a tomato sauce consistency. The glue solidifies when it cools down, heating it up again will liquefy it. As water evaporates from the glue, it thickens, and more water must be added. The jar must be kept in a pot of hot water and given a quick boil before applying to the wood.
Do not apply directly to the baize. It will soak through and make a mess. When applying the glue, you have about 1- 2 minutes before it gels, and the fabric won’t stick. When gluing large pieces to the lid or the bottom of the casing it pays to add 10%(by weigth) salt to the glue. This lengthens the working time of the glue up to 5 minutes and is a big help. But this also reduces the stickiness of the glue and lengthens drying time.
Salted glue can also be used for lining partitions without shoulders.
Do not use salted glue to glue fabric to the shoulders of the casing and partitions With shoulders. It only falls off and makes a mess. Getting the fabric to stick the shoulders even with unsalted glue was the hardest and messiest part of lining the case. If anyone has a good solution to this, please let me know.
Patterns for cutting out the bottom lining of the case can be used as drop cloths when gluing walls and partitions.
Best regards
Rolf
