The Bishop's Jig

[steven c newman]

Friend of mine, Mr. Bishop, is in to Black Powder firearms.....think Josey Wales handguns...and he had a jig made to help reload the old cap & ball pistols while on a range...just a "stand" to hold the revolver with the barrel pointing up....
411206
But, it wasn't working quite right...no place for the hammer to sit, at half cock...to allow the cylinder to rotate. My task was to re-do this jig for that problem..
Decided to buy a bit of White oak, and a few hinges, and build a second jig...that when He returned with a revolver or two, I could cutom fit the new jig for fit..
411207
Cut a bit off the 24" long plank, to make the two parts...had to use the bandsaw, only room I had,,,
411208
Blade had too much set (have since stoned it back..) looks like i need to shoot the edges..
411209
Shooting board.. laid out a larger groove for the revolver's grip to settle into..Dremel with a cutting wheel to make a wall, of sorts..
411210
As the OEM one was at the wrong angle to hold the grips...Then dig out a gouge, and do a little chopping...
411211
A little wider, and a tad deeper, into a flat, vertical wall.. laid out for a hinge..
411212
And chopped a shallow recess for it...
Stay tuned, part 2 coming up...:D

[steven c newman]

Ok, hinge work 101...start a hole.or two..
411213
Couple of taps on an awl...just enough for ..
411214
The drill for the pilot holes to start in...recheck the fit of the hinge
411215
Then screws were added to this side only, for now..
411216
Wax the screws BEFORE driving them in...yes, that IS a phillips tip in the Yankee 30A....
411217
The other half of the new jig had been cut to match the existing one...left alone otherwise, awaiting a fitting session with a Remington Army Model...
That will be in part 3...stay tuned..

[steven c newman]

Ok, part 3. Mr. Bishop brought a couple revolvers to the shop...and we custom fitted the new jig...a notch was added for the hammer, and a bit more room for the cylinder to set into...
411218
Notch was cleaned up with a chisel. laid this onto the old jig..
411219
And outlined what needed sawn out...hinges on the old jig ( with square drive screws, no less) was too loose and sloppy
411220

Recessed one leaf of the hinge...
411221
Then put things back together...same with Jig #2
411222

Then was told he wanted 3 jigs, total, counting the rebuilt one...by this time, I had found a VIX bit to make hinges easier
411223
Found a better way to hold the part while chopping grooves..
411224
Soon had all 3 assembled,,
411225
And stained...Any rough edges were beveled with a sanding drum in the Dremel...then fold these down, when dry..
Mr. Bishop stopped by Friday to pick them up...was very happy. he was headed for a shooting match in IN. and was going to put them to work..

Not a bad little project....