putting a curl on triggers

[Jim Kibler]

Mr. Ehlers, you are pretty handy with a file Sir.

And has a pretty good eye to boot!

[JH Ehlers]

Yip, If I was you I would buy a trigger from Jim and use it to get the elegant curves right, you could add the spiral thingy( I dont like those very much).
Thank you Taylor, your perfect work is an inspiration for me.
Jim I spent about 80% of my time looking thinking and researching, 5% finding the right tools and 15% doing stuff. Cant do anything without an optivisor.

[smylee grouch]

Nice work, I like the trigger and the plate. 

[yip]

  FELLOWS I THANK YOU ALL FOR THE REPLIES, MY PROBLEM IS TRYING LIKE $#*! TO COPY A BUCKS COUNTY rifle TRIGGER, I FIND THIS A TOUGH ENDEAVOR. BUT I KEEP TRYING TIL MY FIMGERS BLE

[GrizG]

Watch Wallace Gusler`s video: The Gunsmith of Williamsburg.  Very detailed and everything you need to know.  Wormey

Sort of... There are things Brinkley didn't mention in the narration. 😉

The trigger was cold smithed from a single piece of flat stock. It took a series of annealings between smithings to prevent the trigger from work hardening and cracking on the way to getting the pad to sufficient length and width. Once it was sufficiently sized the pad was tapered to a smooth width and thickness. It has to flow smoothly so that it doesn't kink as it was curled with the hammer. The attached is a trigger I made using that process... no heat or pliers used in forming the curl, just the hammer.

[yip]

  GrizG THATS A NICE JOB, YOU USED A HAMMER TO FORM THE CURL? THATS A NICE TIGHT CURL, HOW THIN IS THE TRIGGER WIDTH?

[Pukka Bundook]

What Flintrocket says up the page.

Heat and tap straight down for a very nice curl.
I don't like the big open curls myself, preferring the tight English style.

[GrizG]

  GrizG THATS A NICE JOB, YOU USED A HAMMER TO FORM THE CURL? THATS A NICE TIGHT CURL, HOW THIN IS THE TRIGGER WIDTH?

Yes, just a hammer. It was annealed prior to curling and not heated again. The widest part of the pad is about a 1/2" wide. The curled area is narrower in width and thickness... The face of the pad is not flat but rather it is thinner at the edges so it doesn't look as clunky. Despite the dust specs and my phone camera quality I think you can see the details in these images.

[yip]

  AFTER LOOKING AT THE TRIGGERS WIDTH OF 1/2" IS THAT WHAT THE TRIGGER WIDTH  OF THE ORIGINALS? MY TRIGGERS ARE 1/4" WIDTH. AND WHAT THE WIDTH OF THE MATERIAL. I LOVE THE WIDTH OF THIS TRIGGER

[GrizG]

  AFTER LOOKING AT THE TRIGGERS WIDTH OF 1/2" IS THAT WHAT THE TRIGGER WIDTH  OF THE ORIGINALS? MY TRIGGERS ARE 1/4" WIDTH. AND WHAT THE WIDTH OF THE MATERIAL. I LOVE THE WIDTH OF THIS TRIGGER

The short answer is there are originals with wide triggers… Perhaps not common though as smithing stock that is perhaps 1/8” thick to 1/2” + is time consuming and customers may not have been willing to pay for it. Doing it for yourself… different story.

[yip]

  SHORT ANSWER I CAN ONLY GET 3/8" PAD SITTING IN THIS @!*% WHEELCHAIR INSTEAD OF 1/2". I GUESS I SHOULD BE HAPPY. MY MATERIAL IS 1/8 X 1 1/2" THATS ALL I HAD ON HAND
"
"

[GrizG]

  SHORT ANSWER I CAN ONLY GET 3/8" PAD SITTING IN THIS @!*% WHEELCHAIR INSTEAD OF 1/2". I GUESS I SHOULD BE HAPPY. MY MATERIAL IS 1/8 X 1 1/2" THATS ALL I HAD ON HAND

That is not an unreasonable outcome... especially for a first attempt. Next time you will use you current experience to guide your future actions in regards to starting material size, technique, and how far you can go (Without getting greedy... when almost done, cracking due to work hardening is frustrating as it kinking due to not having smooth tapers. Ask me how I know this?  ).  As with pretty much all pre-interchangeable parts (John Hall interchangeable, not Eli Whitney interchangeable) parts were typically made to patterns or copied by eye. I'd have to say that it would a coincidence that two parts were exactly the same rather than by intention. My example trigger is an interpretation of one in the Williamsburg gun shop at the time.  Is it exactly the same as the original, no. Is it pleasing and functional, yes. I imagine yours will be pleasing and functional too...

[Jim Kibler]

A 1/2” wide trigger???  I’d like to see some original examples.  Not saying this might not be so, but seems pretty darn wide.

[JTR]

I've never seen a 1/2" wide trigger on an original gun. Not to say they don't exist,,,,

[GrizG]

A 1/2” wide trigger???  I’d like to see some original examples.  Not saying this might not be so, but seems pretty darn wide.

I've seen wide triggers on true antiques... Never occurred to me that others hadn't! The trigger Wallace made in the movie is quite wide also. I just pulled up the scene to refresh my memory as I haven't handled that gun in a long (long) time. I wouldn't be surprised if it was a 1/2"+ wide--it appears to be at least as wide as his index finger. As Brinkley mentioned in the narration "...as he is making a finer than ordinary rifle he is making a finer than ordinary trigger." A sentiment that could explain the rarity. I don't think any of us would question Gusler's judgement too much (though I know there are conflicting opinions on some things  ). Laubach, Suiter and Wagner didn't seem to take issue with my choice of width--I don't recall Brumfield ever seeing that one as it wasn't for a CW gun, it was for mine.

When it comes to guns nothing really surprises me anymore... variance is the norm! In addition to the guns themselves, I find the different processes folks here use to get to a similar result interesting.

[Jim Kibler]

This is simple.  Show me a 1/2" wide original trigger.

You've written a lot of words, dropped a bunch of names, etc. but this all does little to answer the question at hand.

Jim

[GrizG]

This is simple.  Show me a 1/2" wide original trigger. 

Jim

Not so simple... I know it's not something for which I have photos. My reference books all seem to have side views of triggers and outside of using shadows to infer the width of the shoe/pad the width is unknown. Reporting this dimension apparently weren't deemed important... You may recognize this page:

[yip]

  BOTTOM LINE THE TRIGGER SHOE ON THE PHOTO IS A DARN GOOD ONE, I GUESS IT'S UP TO THE BUILDER AND WHATS HE LIKES

[yip]

 # 2 TRY 3/8 SHOE AND THE CURL ISN'T RIGHT BUT I GETTING THERE

[Randall Steffy]

That looks done to me, Yip. I'd move on to frying the bigger fish. Very nice.

[yip]

   HERE'S A BETTER PICTURE, I KNOW I GOT A LONG WAY TO GO. WISH I HAD A PROPER ANVIL ALL I HERE IS A PIECE OF R/R TRACK
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