Would it be wrong.....

[Scota4570]

To turn the fancy barrel contours on a lathe?  I see the original was hand filed.  My filing skills are not that good but my lathe skills are.

[Bob Roller]

It makes sense to me that a lathe is preferable to filing unless you are determined to
do it by hand.Is a lock produced on CNC equipment an undesirable thing?I think not.
How about a stock with 90% of the hard work done? Again,not a problem.
There are those among us who will labor mightily to file a round barrel to octagon.
I did it for a pistol when I was 18 but now at 84?NO WAY!
Bob Roller

[Chowmi]

Maybe see it as an opportunity!  Increase your filing skills! 

I know mine could be much better! 

Edit:  I assume you mean the wedding bands and the short edges on the octagon corners leading to the wedding band.  Not turning it from octagon to round.

I think it depends on how accurate you want to be.  My guess from the picture is that it is not filed all the way round the barrel, and if you use a lathe, I would think it would go all the way round the barrel, wouldn't it? 

I'm a sucker for doing things the hard way, and so I'd probably file it.  Especially because I don't have a lathe either....

It's your gun, and I think frankly, you can please yourself and do it either way.  Depends on how much you want to delve into doing things the old way.

Cheers,
Norm

[galamb]

The question really is "would you be ok with doing it on a lathe" or would you forever believe that you took some short cut etc.

I use machinery to the maximum extent possible when I do a build. It doesn't bother me one bit that I used a grinder or spindle sander instead of a file, rasp or sanding block.

I also bed all my barrels with bulked marine epoxy and use thin epoxy to (paint) the lock/tang inlet, cut out for the patchbox etc and have never found any historical documents showing how original builders used BPA to help keep the wood from cracking, warping, swelling or shrinking

[Marcruger]

I don't think the current barrel makers are hand filing the flats.   If you have the lathe and skill, go for it. 

[bob in the woods]

I did one by hand filing because I wanted to. It's a long job, so unless you really want to experience what it's like to do it by hand, use the lathe     This is in the same category as fretting a barrel by hand, rifling by hand, or even forging a barrel , reaming , rifling, draw filing to finish it etc.  If you are more interested in the finished product than the process, modern machinery and methods rule .

[Daniel Coats]

I filed a trade gun barrel by hand once. It turned out fine but took forever. Not sure what I did with the Mason jar full of filings.

[Scota4570]

 I just finished it.  Sometimes I get lucky. It came out nice. 



This will be my first pistol.    It is 45 caliber.  The barrel is 13/16"   The ramrod?  Should I go with 5/16 to keep it slim and graceful?

[smylee grouch]

Do it by hand and if it looks wonky true it up with the lath.

[44-henry]

Make or buy a filing rest for your lathe and you can have it both ways and you can keep it to one side.

http://www.deansphotographica.com/machining/projects/filingrest/filingrest.html

[Dale Halterman]

Don't know if this is typical or not, but all the originals I have seen had the bands only on the exposed part of the barrel so you didn't have to inlet them. If they are lathe turned and go all the way around as modern made barrels do, then you either have to inlet them or lease gaps at the grooves.

Dale H

[Scota4570]

Don't know if this is typical or not, but all the originals I have seen had the bands only on the exposed part of the barrel so you didn't have to inlet them. If they are lathe turned and go all the way around as modern made barrels do, then you either have to inlet them or lease gaps at the grooves.

Dale H

Or, file them off under the wood.  They are very shallow. 

[David Rase]

I just finished it.  Sometimes I get lucky. It came out nice. 



This will be my first pistol.    It is 45 caliber.  The barrel is 13/16"   The ramrod?  Should I go with 5/16 to keep it slim and graceful?

I would go with a 5/16" ramrod.  On a side note, the wedding band looks like it needs a bit more radius.  The photo makes it look kind of flat topped and squarish.  Your short quarted flats look great as do the two bands adjacent to the center wedding band.
David

[Scota4570]

Ok, I'll fix that.  Having never seen one and working from a photo has limitations. : )

[Craig Wilcox]

It looks really great!  Just as David sez, a bit rounded on the wedding band,

Yep, the old folks did it mostly by hand, but that was their livelihood, and they didn't have our modern equipment.
They also used outhouses, or privies - and had no Charmin' handy.  Chopped wood to keep warm, and lit candles at night.

[bob in the woods]

It looks really great!  Just as David sez, a bit rounded on the wedding band,

Yep, the old folks did it mostly by hand, but that was their livelihood, and they didn't have our modern equipment.
They also used outhouses, or privies - and had no Charmin' handy.  Chopped wood to keep warm, and lit candles at night.

My neighbour and I still do that !     

[Craig Wilcox]

Had to laugh, Bob,  And recall that you live almost totally off-grid.
How do you manage to keep your computer going, and how are you connected to the internet?
And have had to postpone my visit - something about some virus or something.  There is almost always "next year", but closing in on 75....  Maybe not.

Regarding that beautiful barrel, it is coming along nicely, and can't wait to see the resultant piece.

[Daryl]

5/16" tapered larger at the muzzle end. When making my pistol, I, or we made 3 rods for it.
Only one was needed and that's the top one.

[jerrywh]

I filed one fowler barrel octagon to round in 1973 or 1974. I still have the gun but won't show it to anyone. One time I showed it to Ron Scott. Ron looked at it for a minuted and said softly " you've come a long ways"

[Scota4570]

It does look better like that. 

[Bob Roller]

Good looking barrel.If you have a lathe with a good distance between centers you can use it
as a planer if you stop and think about it.It isn't hard but takes a bit of work to set it up.
Bob Roller

[Scota4570]

I have two fairly large lathes.  So, yes like a shaper powered by the hand wheel.  I have  done that for key ways, external flats and such.  Someday my dream shop will have a shaper.  That is one of those old machines that we don't think about much today.  They do some jobs that are inconvenient any other way. 

[Bob Roller]

Forget the hand wheel and put a live center in the spindle and the figure out how to
stabilize the object to be planed and turn the lathe on and engage the lead screw.
Bob Roller

[bob in the woods]

Had to laugh, Bob,  And recall that you live almost totally off-grid.
How do you manage to keep your computer going, and how are you connected to the internet?
And have had to postpone my visit - something about some virus or something.  There is almost always "next year", but closing in on 75....  Maybe not.

Regarding that beautiful barrel, it is coming along nicely, and can't wait to see the resultant piece.

Completely off the grid here.  We have computer [ lap top ] access to the internet through our phone line.  A hard wired phone line !    Lap tops don't use much power and we usually charge it up and run it on the battery.  We have a 12 battery 24 volt storage with 4 solar panels and a back up generator.
Yes. we use candle lanterns a lot. We like them.  No TV    Our one main amenity is our well , and 120 VAC wired pump which gives us running water in the house and a toilet [ septic system ]   Our neighbour has a hand pump on her well and an outhouse.  My wife appreciates the indoor convenience !     I have a smaller solar system for my shop, and a generator which I use to run machines about every couple months or so when I'm bandsawing or thickness sanding wood.  The solar is mainly for lights in the shop.  This is a very low stress life, if you don't mind hard labor on the wood pile.

[Daryl]

Stay young Bob!