Shotgun Box WIP

[kinsella]

In a moment of madness i promised my three shooting mates i'd build them one each as a gift. Note to self - Shut up!!!!!!

 

[Bm101]

lol.
The thing here is to be more lawerly. Turn up with 3 cardboard boxes and bluff it! I never said oak boxes! Then change the subject quickly. :wink:
Looking good and escutcheons was the word I was looking for! Can you tape them up to save damage?

Cheers
Chris

 

[kinsella]

Today, decided to work on the handle. So i'm making all the bits from scratch. So i decided i'd make the D rings myself.

So i opted to make a jig, in reality it meant i get to play with the Clarke Mill. So i found a 25mm bar off cut. Mounted it in some V blocks.

After a bit of machining.

Confession: the metal workers among you will already know this, I DO NOW. You shouldn't use mill cutters with an ordinary chuck!! lets just say, this photo is the second version of the jig, plus the first cutter is knackered and now scrap

Jig in action. I heated the brass with a torch and then used gloves and a wood block to force the material around the jig.

rough out of the jig.

Soldered the end together.

Roughly what it will look like.

The leather handle before fixing the D rings.

Now just need to burnish the exposed edges so they look polished. Was planning to make a new leather burnishing tool. Loads of ways on Youtube, but opted to make an all singing and dancing version which caters for all sizes of leather. Will post photos as it goes.

A retired friend of mine got me so old Lignum Vitae green bowling balls. So using one of them to make a leather burnishing tool. i glued a steel shaft into the top and then mounted it in my small metal lathe. Now turning to make the burnishing tool.

In hindsigh the wood is a beauty to work with, it turns beautifully, it smells gorgeous when turned. It reminded me of home cooking. Weird but a lovely memory was triggered while working with it.

So this is where i am currently. Will finish the burnishing tool, then burnish the leather and then fix the first part of the handle together.

 

[kinsella]

lol.
The thing here is to be more lawerly. Turn up with 3 cardboard boxes and bluff it! I never said oak boxes! Then change the subject quickly. :wink:
Looking good and escutcheons was the word I was looking for! Can you tape them up to save damage?

Cheers
Chris

Don't mind making them actually, but i never specified WHEN!!!!

 

[kinsella]

I finished the burnisher.

Burnisher

Handle with rivets

The final part of the handle

Handle getting close to finished

The handle is connected with a folded piece of leather

Final look

 

[kinsella]

Handle now finished
Just need to work on the internal compartments next.

Final lap as they say.

 

[Bm101]

Fantastic. =D>

 

[memzey]

Gorgeous. Very well done.

 

[kinsella]

It has been a while since i have been able to get into the workshop to finish the box. But i managed to get a few hours this weekend.

Latest progress in now working on the compartments within the box. Each part of the shotgun will only touch leather.

The U sections are just under size to have a push fit. The length is also just slightly undersized, so that when its pushed into the box, it has no movement in either the X or Y dimensions. The last bit is to glue another section when done to the lid so that when the lid is closed it pushes down on the barrel to stop any Z movement. Will continue to post updates as i go.

 

[mayo.mick]

Brilliant job Kinsella!! Thanks for sharing the WIP.

 

[kinsella]

A view of the leather work, every potential contact point will be leather. The U sections and end pieces are lose fit in the photo, but in a glue-up at present.

Next is the shotgun stock fittings.

 

[AndyT]

What a fantastic job!

I really like your dedication and thoroughness - I thought brass corners and leather handles would be bought-in components - but making those as well means the box will be really special.

I especially liked the digression into making the leather burnisher - could you say a bit about how you used it?

 

[kinsella]

What a fantastic job!

I really like your dedication and thoroughness - I thought brass corners and leather handles would be bought-in components - but making those as well means the box will be really special.

I especially liked the digression into making the leather burnisher - could you say a bit about how you used it?

I did consider buying the corner protectors and handle, but the cheaper ones were very thin and the decent ones were up to £15 each (£15 x 8 ). The handles were similar and none of the ones i could afford looked decent. This way all the leather within the box matches the handle. It started to add up so i opted to do it all from scratch, partly to see if i could

To use the burnisher, all you do it spit (yip spit, the enzymes in saliva break down leather, legacy of our caveman history, you can of course buy proper stuff to do the same job, but as you can see from the tread i do everything as simple and cheap as possible.) you dampen the edge of the leather to burnish. The burnisher is mounted in the drill press and ran at a mid range speed without burning the leather and as you can see from the photo the width of the grooves is to match the thickness of the leather. I'm using circa 2mm, so when i did the handle when the two edges met i used the nearest 4-5mm groove.

You simply run the edge back and forth and continue to put saliva on the edge until you get the desired finish. The whole texture changes and you get a mirror finish on the edge.

 

[kinsella]

Update
Managed to get a few hours in the workshop.

So finished the barrel compartment by doweling and gluing it to the U and end blocks.

Then started working on the stock holder.

Starting to come together.

This piece looks fine when its sitting on the table, but looks a bit clunky when its in the box. I might round off the corner opposite the internal round stock holder section?

Then started on loose cutting the leather sections.

 

[Hot stuff]

If it was a bit thinner would that work? You'd have to match it at the other end if that makes sense and it might be too late for that but a step down might reduce the chunkiness.

 

[kinsella]

If it was a bit thinner would that work? You'd have to match it at the other end if that makes sense and it might be too late for that but a step down might reduce the chunkiness.

I initially made it the same height as the rest of the box, but i think your right. Thinner might also make it look more elegant. i think i will do both, round the corner, round the tops with a 10mm roundover and then make it thinner like you suggest. Will do a test piece to see. watch next week to see how i get on.

 

[n0legs]

My word that's looking rather splendid =D>
Love the handle, love the whole thing to be honest

 

[kinsella]

My word that's looking rather splendid =D>
Love the handle, love the whole thing to be honest

That's very kind of you. Thank you.

 

[kinsella]

It was so cold in my shed, i lasted about 2 hours max.

But managed to do a few bits.

I thought i'd experiment with the leather that is going to sit on the bottom of the box where the gun will sit on. So i was thinking if i make a leather patch the same shape as the leather logo (no reason but it matches the other details of the box). I previously had some branding irons made in stainless steel in the US (no reason that i actually remember). These are so cheap its unreal. My initials are KK by the way, so the branding iron output might make sense. (you can see the branding part in the second photo) The major cost is actually shipping back to UK. The making of the part is peanuts. All you need is a sketchup output file.
See video here which explains it all. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yo6hWKTo-g The US company is Shapeways.com. Does anyone know a UK or Euro supplier as cheap as these guys?

So i cut the leather, did a hot branding option (see photo-not happy with it) and currently have a debossed version drying in clamps to work out which looks better. Branded or Debossed?. Will post photos of both during the weeks when i take it out of the clamp when its ready.

I also reshaped the chunky bit i referred to in the earlier post. The rounding over looks much better.

leather work

 

[kinsella]

Update
Finally starting to come together.