thank. you

Thanks Jeffrey.

First thank you for watching. I will try to answer your questions in order: 1) Yes I draw filed the barrel and then sanded with 220 and 400 grit wet/dry paper soaked in oil. I cold blued it and carded the bluing off using 600 grit oil soaked paper until I had the color I like. I did the same for the lock. 2) I did not buff it as that ruins the lines. I used files and oil soaked wet/dry paper wrapped around files. I polished the inside lock plate with honing stones as well as the bolster where it meets the barrel to ensure as flat of a surface as I can get with hand tools, files and stones. I finished the outside of the lock plate the same way 3) that is always a concern. Before I inlet the lock plate, I mark the lock plate side where the bottom of the barrel channel is. I then mark where the bottom of the ramrod hole is (I drill a very small hole through the web at the bottom of the barrel channel and use a depth gauge (an old caliper with the plunger ground down to about 1/16" diameter). I transfer these measurements to the outside of the stock. When I position the lock, I ensure the "nose" of the lock will line up between the two lines. If I measured right and drilled straight, the lock bolt will go through the web and neither interfere with the barrel channel or the ramrod hole. I mount the parts in a drill press vice and drill through with my drill press to tackle the "drill straight" issue. In 30 some rifles I've built, I've had maybe 2 where the lock bolt was slightly in the ramrod channel. It's pretty easy to mark the screw and then file a small notch in it for clearance or if it is barely in there just taper the ramrod a little. Mostly, though, if one measures accurately, it's not a problem. Hope this helps.

Thank you Gustavo. It takes approximately 100 hours from start to finish. The flint is chipped (knapped) to form a sharp edge. The steel striker (Frizzen) is heat treated to harden it so that it will make a spark. In the photos and while I'm building one, I use a block of wood instead of a flint during function testing and building since it has to be cycled many times. Flints are expensive (2 to 3 dollars each) and no need to break one or use them up in function testing so a block of wood allows me to be sure all the parts are moving freely and working properly. Usually the frizzen is already heat treated when you get them but sometimes not. The process is to use a torch to heat it cherry red and quench it in oil. The heating and quenching changes the crystal structures of the steel. Once hardened that way they are brittle like glass. Then they have to be heat cycled again to about 600 degrees or so to take some of the brittleness out. Lots of methods, one way is to heat it slowly with a torch to a straw color and let it cool slowly. Another way is to melt a pot of lead, float the steel on the molten lead (steel floats on top of the melted lead) and let it cool slowly. Lead melts at about 600 degrees plus or minus. I've used both methods and can't tell the difference in the end result.

Thank you