George Lauber- how to build your own flintlock

Can't help you with exactly that title but a couple of easily sourced popular alternatives include "The Art of Building the Pennsylvania Longrifle" (Chuck Dixon - available at TOTW last time I looked) and "Recreating the American Longrifle". I have 'em both as well as some others I've picked up over the years. All excellent references on the topic and you really can't go wrong.

If you're looking to scale down for a kids' gun just scale down the build. I'm just about done one now for one of my daughters.
 
Just pulled out my copy of the book. The lock plans have all dimensions to the nearest thousandth of an inch. Bit of overkill.
 
does anyone have a copy of this book? i need to make a smallish flintlock for a smallish gun, and don`t wish to re-invent the wheel, so to speak. i can do the work, if anyone with a copy, paper or electronic and is willing to make me a copy, pls let me know

You can buy a new lock for about $150. This is a complex build - what is your time worth or is it simply a labour of love?
 
Just pulled out my copy of the book. The lock plans have all dimensions to the nearest thousandth of an inch. Bit of overkill.

this is what i`m looking for. i have far more time than money, can`t justify an expense for a want when there are needs. i have an assortment of vee springs to choose from and modify for the mainspring (some are actually old mainsprings). also want to see how actually hard it is to make.
 
this is what i`m looking for. i have far more time than money, can`t justify an expense for a want when there are needs. i have an assortment of vee springs to choose from and modify for the mainspring (some are actually old mainsprings). also want to see how actually hard it is to make.

I have made a couple of flintlocks more or less from scratch and definitely all of the components from scratch. I think the hardest part is getting the ####, frizzen and pan in the optimum orientation / configuration. Tiriaq mentions the book having all the dimensions for the lock in it, so hopefully that solves the hard part. There are some tools however which you may no have but which are necessary to make some of the components. I used a metal lathe to make the tumbler and use a oxy-propane cutting torch to heat drill rod red hot and make springs. Also to make the frizzen as well as for tempering. I also used a milling machine to make the pan before fastening it to the lock plate. Finally, while I have make the #### using a milling machine to rough out the shape, more recently I have cut out the rough shape of the #### with a torch after drilling a series of small holes around its outline. I built up the sides of the lower jaw by welding because it saves a lot of milling from thicker material.

I don't feel by any means that I have done a particularly good job in making a lock but that is beside the point; what is important is that it is achievable but in practical terms you either need to buy the components or have some specialized and somewhat expensive machine tools to do the project. In my case I did the job partly for challenge and partly because I could not readily purchase what I wanted.

cheers mooncoon
 
i want the challenge, the moving parts, all that. yes i can lay out some cash, but would still need to extensively modify any lock that i find due to the small size i require. i have a forge, and have made more than a few intricate items via forging with a 3 pound hammer. it is covered in a book on blacksmithing i have, but no dimensions are given, nor details on the configuration as mooncoon mentioned. i have access to a bit of milling equipment, but will largely stick to drill, hammer, and file, as thats how it would have been done 200 yrs ago.
 
Over at americanlongrifle.org there have been threads shows the steps in forging lock parts, as well as making screws using a threadplate.
 
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