I finished the percussion rifle. The final touch was the front site. I cut the blank out of Sterling silver and soldered it to the bronze dovetailed piece 20 years ago. At the time, I just did not feel up to cutting the dovetail into the barrel, and was pretty bad at metal engraving. So it has just been moved around with the unfinished rifle for all these years.
But this week I finished it. here is the front sight:
Happy to do so. The story is that I wanted to build a rifle as much from scratch as possible. I purchased a barrel blank, which is essentially just a tube, and rough castings (Siler) of the lock parts. The stock is from a board I brought back from Brazil, and all the bronze parts are cut or cast from marine salvage scraps. The hardening, casting, and forging were done on the balcony of my dorm room at college. Yes, the fire department showed up, but they got used to me after a while. As I mentioned previously, I never worked up the nerve to cut the dovetails for the sights. And my original decorative carving could charitably be described as ārusticā. The finish on the wood is Mylands Friction Polish. Only hand tools were used in the construction of the gun. It is .36 caliber, but a little non standard in bore, so I use .345" lead balls for ammo. Rifling twist rate is one turn per 40 inches.
We had a French drain installed in the basement about a year ago when a big storm came through and the whole place flooded. Anyway it all started in a room that had been built out with drywall that had to be removed due to mold and water damage so Iāve decided to just turn the room into more of a shop. I want to be able to set up my table saw in there but I donāt want sawdust clogging the drain so Iām working on building a guard to go over it in addition to always hooking the shop-vac to the dust collection outlet instead of using the crappy bag.
When thatās done I can get to work on building a cabinet for some old drawers I salvaged. Theyāve got wooden fronds and backs with folded metal bodies and are about the size of short card catalog drawers. I think they used to be in a shop cabinet but theyād look pretty great in a box that hangs on a wall. Itās something Iāve been wanting to get around to for a while and hanging out in the basement is much more pleasurable compared to doing yard work these days.
Some people are using a vortex-inducing cover that turns a trash can or large bucket into a dust collector first stage, using a shop vac as power. That keeps the shop vac from clogging up continuously.
Interesting. Will look into it if I find my shop vac clogging. Could probably get away with the 5 gallon bucket model. I donāt do a ton of woodworking and Iād probably wheel the table outside for larger projects. Looks like itād work great with my router table too.
Tomorrow Iām bringing my Ford Falcon to a car show that is being put on by my workplace. My car isnāt in pristine shape, though, so I was thinking to just theme it appropriately for one of the big projects that my workplace is involved in.
I used a 3D printer to ad an extra word to the carās emblems. The rest is just foam core.
Iāll take terrifying table saw operation for a thousand, Alex.
Thatās also just a bit more complicated than I want. Iām thinking outlet centered on the lid and inlet at the edge and angled properly so the air is drawn against the side of the bucket. Maybe a mesh over the outlet to stop the more pesky bits of sawdust. Everything in the lid so if I screw it up I still have a bucket.
Work in progress (cropped)ā¦a long-term project for my neighbors and indirectly for myself (as an opus painting for advertisement).
Itās a medium-sized canvas, 24X15, but itās going to take some time because of a woven straw hat, many ringlets in the hair, and patterns in both the dress and pavement. Iām just going to take it in shifts, layer by layer, so Iām not muddying the paint or getting my hands in it.
Side Note: I really need some short money now, like yesterday (Food! Drink! Kitty Litter!).
I have some small panels ready for painting that Iād like to find homes for - two 6X8s and five 10X10s if anyone is interested. I can start as low as 50 bucks + mailer shipping. Feel free to DM me if you want my email.
Since theyāre small, please no intricate subject matter. Simple is best.
Making my own reference photos is better, but I would accept very good photos as reference material. One subect, no intricate patterns, good focus, high resolution.
Example: Hereās my cat, Ruby. She has a simple fur pattern, and Iām not having to paint ringlets, woven material, or text. Hey, if you want a painting of Ruby, Iād do it!
Ended up keeping it stupid simple. Inlet is two 90 degree elbows angled to direct incoming sawdust along the wall of the bucket. Outlet is a short section of vertical pipe in the center of the lid with another 90 degree elbow on the outside for ease of use. Seems to work well enough in my testing.
