Pocket Pistol Update W/Pix Of Jig To Hold It While Shaping

[Tim Crosby]

  Pocket pistol, no butt cap, along the lines of a Lehigh/Great Coat. I've looked at dozens of Pix and have a drawing by Eric VonAschwecg. What I'm not sure of is does the back of the grip roll over to a straight/curved edge, is the butt itself round or similar to what it is now and does the entire grip need to be thinned?

  Thanks, Tim C.

[Cory Joe Stewart]

Hello Tim,

When I am shaping a pistol handle I am constantly grabbing it to see how it feels.  I can often find high spots that way.  I do not know the original you are looking at, but to me it looks like you could make more of a curve on the inside of the handle by removing some material.  Not much.

On mine the butt stays rounded and follows the lines coming from the back of the handle.  If you chose to make more of a curve on the inside, do not include the very bottom of the handle, by leaving it the bottom will point forward slightly.   

I generally remove material around the grip so that the butt is a little wider that the rest of the handle. 

Its looking good!

Cory Joe

[Tim Crosby]

  It feels right when gripped, I can't take much off the inside because the guard is inlet, I looked at bending it so I can take more off but the trigger plate is in the way. Since the trigger is already pinned and works well I hesitate to move the plate. I'm going to clean it up, even things out and see how it looks.
 The trick is going to be to get Both of them to look the same.

  Thanks, Tim

 

[flinchrocket]

I would do the best I could and move on. No need to waste your time with something that probably won’t be the same anyway.

[David Rase]

Tim,
Here is a picture of a little pistol I did a few years ago.
David

[Tim Crosby]

  Slow but they are coming along, still a Long way to go. Figuring out how to hold them is a pain.

    Tim C.

PS: Looking at the Pix I see things I didn't notice in hand...TC

[Kevin Houlihan]

  Slow but they are coming along, still a Long way to go. Figuring out how to hold them is a pain.

    Tim C.

PS: Looking at the Pix I see things I didn't notice in hand...TC

Tim,
 When I was working on the stock on my little pistol I used a couple of different methods for holding it.  The first was with the barrel clamped in a vise and the stock sitting upside down on top of  the jaws.
 The second, way was I wrapped a dowel with tape and jammed it in the barrel, leaving 3-4" sticking out and gripped the dowel in the vise.  I could use this to hold the pistol up and down or sticking out the side of the vise. 

 I took pictures all the time during the build and saw stuff that I didn't see with the pistol right in front of my face.
Good Luck!
Kevin

[Daryl]

Cool looking barrels.

[Bob Roller]

Looks like all the hard inletting is done so I would remove everything that didn't feel right when holding these little guns.
Bob Roller

[Cory Joe Stewart]

That is a nifty trick to get those round barrels to stay in the vice.  I like it. 

They are looking good. 

Cory Joe

[Tim Crosby]

That is a nifty trick to get those round barrels to stay in the vice.  I like it. 

They are looking good. 

Cory Joe

 Jig for holding while shaping, it is a 2 X 4 with the profile of the Pistol cut out and cut in half under the tape:

 

[Gaeckle]

Awesome idea Tim.....never liked making a pistol due to having difficulty holding it while working it. Now I'm thinking about trying

[ed lundquist]

I worked with a conventional vise and thought I was doing well with wedges, shims, jigs etc. You are making it alot harder than it needs to be. Get a a pattern makers vise and make your life easy. When they go on sale at Woodcraft and you get the free shipping it's not alot more than lunch and a couple beers. Do yourself a favor. I am about to start my sixteenth and I really don't have many holding issues. Good luck!

[Tim Crosby]

Cool looking barrels.

 Daryl, back in the late '80s I had a friend who had a 42' Bay Boat he kept at Deltaville Virginia. The prop shaft wore out and he gave it to be. It was Bronze so I asked Ed Rayl to make me a 28" 3/4" 40. barrel pit of it and two 4" Oct/Rnd .54 barrels out  of it if he could and he did, the 40 is smooth, neat little barrel.

  Tim 

[Tim Crosby]

I worked with a conventional vise and thought I was doing well with wedges, shims, jigs etc. You are making it alot harder than it needs to be. Get a a pattern makers vise and make your life easy. When they go on sale at Woodcraft and you get the free shipping it's not alot more than lunch and a couple beers. Do yourself a favor. I am about to start my sixteenth and I really don't have many holding issues. Good luck!

 John, Ed, I have a Great tendency to over think things. I doubt I will ever build another pistol but I have a "wall of shame" here of rifles I started but never finished...
 I'm on the down hill side of these but there is still room to turn them into fire wood. Wouldn't be the first time 

  Tim

   Tim

[ed lundquist]

Tim, I am having a heck of a time keeping things as good as I want them to be. The mind is writing checks the body is having trouble cashing. I'm not going to quit yet but things are getting tougher all the time. Better tools often make things easier for me, great folks here have done the most to ease my way. Thanks for all the guidance, those pistols are going to be swell.