RadioFreeCalifornia
Breech
Some time back, an old machinist buddy asked me if I could reverse engineer parts of a vintage firearm. This was really a project I enjoyed. I took an original .44-70 C. Sharps carbine and took it apart, measured on either a CMM or an optical comparator and made drawings and solid models of the parts I examined. From the past, the skills and methods, the file marks and tooth patterns of my forebears tools spoke to me of the way things were done 130 years ago. In a way it was spooky, because what I found was these guys did things in ways that weren't too far removed from the way I made parts. What was a bit of a surprise was that the methods used had to be very advanced for that period of time. Cutting edge technology from 1874....
Breech
Some time back, an old machinist buddy asked me if I could reverse engineer parts of a vintage firearm. This was really a project I enjoyed. I took an original .44-70 C. Sharps carbine and took it apart, measured on either a CMM or an optical comparator and made drawings and solid models of the parts I examined. From the past, the skills and methods, the file marks and tooth patterns of my forebears tools spoke to me of the way things were done 130 years ago. In a way it was spooky, because what I found was these guys did things in ways that weren't too far removed from the way I made parts. What was a bit of a surprise was that the methods used had to be very advanced for that period of time. Cutting edge technology from 1874....