Thanks guys. Hershel was always so pleased to hear stories from people about how he helped them get started in gun building. One of his favorite things in life was passing along the things he had learned.
I agree that the quality of the photos in the book leave a lot to be desired, and if you start studying the math in the part they did about Hershel some of the info definitely doesn't add up either (I don't want to knock the Foxfire books - they are wonderful and very important records of the past). I honestly didn't have any better reference material, and the gun itself apparently disappeared from the Foxfire Museum's a long time ago. What I did have was a familiarity with the way Hershel worked just from being around him and from studying his work from that same period. I should probably also mention that the drawing that some refer to is unfortunately NOT of the actual Foxfire rifle. I saw Hershel politely point this out to students quite a few times. I really don't know what happened there. There are similarities between the two guns but it's not the right one.
So as simple of a gun that it is, there was still a bit of reverse engineering that had to happen to figure a couple of things out. The trigger guard was one. For a time he was forging these from 3/8" round stock and splitting out the back half vs. forge welding the spur. I have forged some larger musket type guards from a bit bigger diameter round stock but this was a little different and took me a little longer than I expected to work out. I made this one slightly different than the original to suit my shooting style but the others I made for the class were closer to the original.
Ian, could you describe the "boiled in bleach" that John House did for those of us not in the class?
John you are basically boiling your steel parts in a mix of household bleach and water. You have to experiment with what bleach is available to you locally. John House has been liking a cheaper brand that I think he gets at the Dollar Store. Everyone who used to do this used to use Clorox but apparently the formula changed and it won't do what it used to.
There are less toxic ways to rust metal, but few that work so quickly .....seal any surfaces you want to protect (like the inside of your lock) with poly varnish. Grease the bore, drive a tight wooden plug into the muzzle, point up the end of a small piece of soft copper wire and drive it into the vent. Stretch a piece of gutter sealed on both ends ( or other suitable vessel) across a forge or camp stove, fill with poison, bring to a boil and dump all your precious steel parts that you bought, made, shaped, engraved or otherwise slaved over directly into the boiling poison. Don't breathe for the next half hour or so. If you see bubbles chugging out of your barrel, stop immediately. Remove the barrel, call Bobby Hoyt and try to explain to him through your desparate sobbing that you will be sending him a barrel to fix.
Stir the poison and reposition the trough to try and get an even heat along the length of the barrel. Periodically remove the parts and scrub with steel wool. Wear gloves or your hands will fall off. When you think the parts are rusted enough, remove them, rinse off in clean water. If you see spots that need more corrosion, throw them back in.
For a dark finish like John did, keep rusting until you don't see many bare spots. Burnish everything with a fine wire wheel and re -inspect, throw back into the drink if needed. When satsified, wash with water and dawn dish soap. Before oiling, leave the parts for a few days for best color and coverage .
If you want more of a gray and pitted look, you can work the parts over a time or two with steel wool , wash then oil. Or as above wait and allow it to color up more before oiling.
I did some like this for a couple years or so when I got started then abandoned it for other methods. It was cool to see it done again and it certainly gave the rifle the right look! We actually deviated from how it was done in the book, but Hershel did hundreds of guns this way so John and I decided to run with it.
