Bicycle Parts "Flintlock"
I was cleaning off the work bench out in the shop, yesterday, taking advantage of the nice warm weather, when I ran across a pile of these:
Those are the pieces which I removed from old drop bars in order to make "flop and chop" bullhorn bars for fixed gear bikes, back in the GrinderBikes days. I had noticed their pistol-like profile, back then, and saved a few out, with the intention of possibly making some toy guns for my nephews. I never got them done, but the parts and pieces never got thrown away.
Needless to say, I got distracted from my bench cleaning.
Part of what had prevented me from building guns, before, was the fact that I couldn't figure out how to do the trigger and hammer. I wasn't worried about making a working firing mechanism, but I wanted the gun to look complete. Yesterday, I had a little flash of inspiration...
I carved the hammer out of the brass-plated hook from an old coat rack. I used my angle grinder and Dremel to cut the rough shape, then filed and sanded it to suit. The striker box is a V-Brake pad mounting nut, held in place by a drywall screw.
The trigger is an old 1970s MAFAC brake cable hanger, which originally mounted on a seat-post clamp bolt. I ran a bolt through the gun to secure both the trigger and hammer, and topped it off with a brass acorn nut. The trigger guard is bent up from some Ace Hardware brass strap.
I messed around with some wood blocks, trying to figure out how to get the wooden stock on the gun, when my gaze fell on a couple of strips of natural-colored Cinelli handlebar tape that I had left over. They are the cheater strips that people use when they can't figure out how to do the figure-8 wrap around brake levers.
So, I used some contact cement to stick the cork on, and wrapped bands of hemp twine where the steel mounting straps would be on a real pistol. The ramrod is a brass screw from the coat rack (as is the bolt which holds the trigger and hammer on).
I wrapped the grip area with a couple of layers of hemp twine, and inserted a champagne cork to serve as the butt of the stock.
At this point, it looked like a pistol. But, I wanted to put a more wood-like finish to it. So, off to Ace, the Helpful Hardware Place, yet again...
I got some black enamel paint for the barrel bands, and some shellac for the stock.
I put the finish on the gun, stuck it on a drumstick to dry, and went to bed.
In the midst of all this, I pulled this little box out:
I had bought this at the thrift store, a while back, and planned on sending it to my nephew Sean. I figured that he would use it to store/display some knives, or something.
Coincidentally, the gun fits right in the box. I don't think that I could have made it fit that well if I had tried.
I am pretty happy with how it came out, and I think Sean will enjoy it. I may have to build another version, sometime...
x
5 Comments:
Oh yeah - Sean's going to love that. The box is the crowning touch - we all have to keep any "cool" box we get (watch boxes, tins from mints, etc.) for Sean - he uses them to keep pins, knives, cartridges, whatever.
--Joy
AWESOME!
Thoughtful, creative, and inspiring.
What a lame uncle I am.
Dude, that is just awesome!
DROP! - bar...
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