The Home Machinist!

Hi Guys, Yes I`m at it again, got the plans for the sharps rifle from Ebay , and I know you carn`t do this on a lathe, but, well I`v got to have something to do.
And yes, I will have to make the barrel to. This will be in 45-70 cal, bore size .430", grove size .450" six grove, left hand twist of 1-24", barrel steel is 1214 for easy machining and it will be only for black powder. They say you carn`t put a round peg in a square hole, but that is what I`m doing, Homebrew.357

I haven't finished my Sharps yet, having too much other work to do. But it'd only take a couple weeks effort to finish it, very close to complete. Very good to see somebody else build a rifle from barstock and chose to build a tough one at that. .

Never would I make a breechblock before cutting the receiver mortise as -I knowing for myself- , the mortise is the hard part to get perfect and it is far easier to fit the breechblock to the finished hole than the other way around.. Too easy for me to end up with a loose fit breechblock even doing everything 'right' , but it can be done either way, whatever your preference. Fun to watch. Thanks for sharing. If you lived here in the states I would loan you the couple fixtures I spent long hours constructing. I made one as a file guide for finishing the mortise and another to hold the breechblock on correct angles to make the cuts for the firing pin.

You are going to work real hard at it to do it all with just a lathe. It took me about 40 hours using vertical mill to make firing pin and cut breechblock to accept the firing pin .. You will have earned high praise and net wide recognition when you finish this one only using lathe..

If Homebrew says he can do it... he's definitely made his bones on earlier projects, and posted the pictures here.

How you approach breaching the rcvr I know will be interesting and I expect to see some serious out of box thinking.

Hi, Well it`s not easy, I went cross eyed making the firing pin thing and the breach block!!!. Went to a gun show today and saw a sharps in the raw, really nice , I`m thinking this is going to be a bit of a mission on this one. So have made the breach block first,? yea, well , I just start in making bits, it will rust away by the time I make the receiver , that's what the big block of round steel is for. A few more pics, homebrew.357.

How is the quality and accuracy of the prints that you bought.

Hi, The plans I got on your EBAY are from Tools International Inc, Sharps 1874, scale 2-1, size 24"x36" and I have had them laminated to keep them clean.
Basically they are quite accurate, looking at what I`m making and checking where it goes it is 0.003" fit, but , yes I have found some mistakes and will have to keep checking things, more so as I have not build from plans before. Will not be looking at the plans for a bit, as you can see I have a huge pile of swarf to make carving out the receiver , Cheers, Homebrew.357.

homebrew .357 wrote:as you can see I have a huge pile of swarf to make carving out the receiver

Speaking as one who has spent years in the machining trade, I hope you'll accept the following in the spirit in which it is offered.

When you carve items from a large piece of metal, there is considerable movement as the stresses are relieved. In order for the end result to be as desired, it is customary to "rough" the piece first, leaving anywhere from .03" to .06" to be removed in finishing. By doing so, the movement you will experience can be corrected, as once the majority of the material has been removed, further movement is minimalized, made even smaller if little material is left for final machining. You must balance the amount of potential movement with the amount of stock left for finish machining, but ANY roughing is better than no roughing.

Luck with the project!

Harold

That is real purty work Homebrew.. Fun to watch..

Alpha says, Build a rifle form bar stock and chose to build a TOUGH ONE AT THAT!, I wish you hadn`t said that, here I am working a way in blissful ignorance of how hard it is to do and you go and pop my balloon, , A good chug form one of my homebrews has sealed the nerve ends.
Harold-V, Yes will be roughing out very roughly just to get it square , a hole for the barrel and receiver and thin down the tang , keeping it well over size and then a stress relief at 200c for two hours should see it right.
Hammermill, there are nine sheets of the plans and are nice and clear and yes I`m digging into the comeinhandy box, this time to make leaver spring.
My idea is you make a spring out of a spring, so I have a length of a car rear spring, cut a chunk of and put it in the fire over night, in the morning fish it out, it`s soft to work with and when you have made your spring just reharden and temper, done. Detter have another homebrew, Homebrew.357.

Wow. I am eagerly watching this thread. I am a 45-70 lover. A sharps is a bucket list want for sure. I envy your skills. I am just starting to build tube receiver guns (Sten's) I hope to graduate to bigger better projects as my skills grow.

Great job!! Tagged for interest.

Homebrew,

Another interested viewer of this thread, flagged for future updates. Keep them coming.

Jack.