Flintlock repair

If you can't get either one to spark, I would take a careful look at the flints. Are they both using the same brand of flint? Are they machine ground or hand knapped? Are they good and sharp? How are they being held in the hammer jaws, with lead or with leather? Try turning them over, reversing the bevel, from up to down or down to up. This will change the angle that the flint engages the frizzen. Is the frizzen clean and dry, no film of grease or oil? Try another brand or type of flint as well. If it is happening on two different guns I would tend to believe it's something to do with the technique and not the springs. My son and I both have flinters and each one likes the flints loaded in a slightly different way, for best spark. JMHO
 
jon99griff said:
The problem for both of them is i cant get either to spark. Weak springs i guess?
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it sounds like perhaps your frizzen needs case hardening or re casing. That means that the part is heated red hot with a source of carbon on the striking face (usually Kasenite) and kept that way for 3 minutes or more and then quenched in water and finally the striking face is cleaned with abrasive tape and reheated to brown colour. The Kasenite tends to burn away even when the part is heated from the bottom and more Kasenite has to be added usually during the process. The carbon is gradually absorbed by the red hot metal hence the need to keep the part hot and covered with Kasenite for 3 minutes or so.

A dull flint and / or weak mainspring will add to the problem. Knapping the flint sharp again is something you hopefully have already done and know how to do. Finally, with guns which have been shot a lot, the frizzen tends to become rippled from wear and that rippling slows the flint down reducing or eliminating its ability to spark. A 6" grinding wheel is about the right diameter to remove the ripples before recasing the frizzen but keep in mind that you are not removing a lot of metal; only the ripples

cheers mooncoon
 
I have tried english black flints and cut agate flints. No luck with either. Right side up or upside down. On the one flintlock there is very little resistance when i #### it. On the other i cant seam to position the flint to strike the frizzen properly. It will spark sometimes but seldomly and the sparks wont land in the pan.
 
jon99griff said:
I have tried english black flints and cut agate flints. No luck with either. Right side up or upside down. On the one flintlock there is very little resistance when i #### it. On the other i cant seam to position the flint to strike the frizzen properly. It will spark sometimes but seldomly and the sparks wont land in the pan.
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As long as the flint is sharp, it does not matter what kind you use. Bevel up or down is to adjust the angle that the flint strikes on. Start out bevel up which lowers the cutting edge and as the flint is knapped shorter, switch to bevel down. What you are trying to avoid is having the flint strike square on which more shatters the cutting edge than scrapes off sparks, When the flint is too short, the screw which clamps the top jaw down, will hit the frizzen and prevent the flint from effectively striking it

Weak V springs can be heated red hot and opened a bit more then reheated, hardened, and drawn to a working temper. On my lead thermometer, I draw the temper to 720 - 740 F and use molten lead to give an even temperature. Keep in mind that is on my thermometer and it is not necessarily correctly calibrated. I also have an inexpensive temperature gun for want of a better word. Point it at something and push the button and it gives you the temperature of what you are aiming at. Seems to be accurate from around freezing to about 100 F but not accurate at all on high temperatures. Tempering is not difficult to do but you do need an accurate way of measuring temperature. Almost forgot; ignore the temperatures that you read in blacksmithing books; they don't seem to match either the fahrenheit scale of the celcius scale

cheers mooncoon
 
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