Howdy All

**Saxon Violence** · Sep 12, 2015, 11:24 PM

Friends,

I just joined this forum earlier today.

I'm 58 and on disability.

I never had much skill and training with metal working, drafting, machining and welding. I went back to school in my late 40's to remedy my lack. I was determined to learn everything possible and not take the bare minimum of classes. I crammed a two-year degree (Industrial Maintenance) into only three and a half years.

Shortly after leaving school I got too feeble to work.

I'd like to build my own Metal Working Treadle Lathe and then use it to scratch build revolvers. I'd also like to try my hand at metal sculpting—real life-like metal sculptures not the whirlygig and robotic looking clink-clank kitzch stuff that some folks do. That's fine but it's not what I aspire to.

I'm strapped for cash and none too energetic. Then Carpal Tunnel Syndrome hit and I can't even tie my own shoes anymore.

Right now if someone gave me a mint LaBlond Lathe; a Bridgeport Mill; A Jeweler's Oxy-Acetylene torch; TIG Welder and Plasma Cutter…

I have no place to put the stuff, so all of it would be in the back yard under a Tarpaulin.

{One of my Pet peeves in life is "Ugly Chops" like calling a Tarpaulin a "'Tarp'". Dang people! Are you so close to total exhaustion that using the two more syllables that it takes to say it right and inoffensively is going to push you over into Complete Physical collapse? Best push on to total breakdown and get it over with then…}

Yeah, but while it's easy to give up, it is hard to have the courage of one's convictions and stay down without raising at least feeble hopes…

Ah well.

I intend to talk some more about a few of my dreams that keep springing up like weeds no matter how often I try to be realistic and stomp them flat.

I like Bollywood and Nollywood movies ( Indian and Nigerian Movies Respectively). I also like Anime and Manga—Japanese cartoons. I once drew and painted and even now I write novels straddling the line between SF and Phantasy—my books just don't sell very well.

I have three Dogs.

A long time ago I had a Red Ford Econoline 150 van and I kept him for 16 years.

I hate Glocks and I sneer at folks who try to improve on the work of Jeff Cooper and John Browning.

Have you ever noticed that there are two glaring asymmetries in the World?

There is far more Desire than there is Satisfaction, and there is far more Induction that there is Capacitance. I cannot help but wonder if these two facts aren't related somehow.

Ah well, I wax verbose. I've been about 48 hors without sleep. About one night every month I have to skip a night's sleep due to total inability to fall asleep. I look forward to sleeping well tonight though.

Saxon Violence

**Jon** · Sep 13, 2015, 09:59 AM

Hi Saxon Violence - welcome to HomemadeTools.net

Sounds like you have a very wide range of skills and tastes. We have a new member who does beautiful kinetic metal sculptures; take a look: Jeff Kahn Sculpture | Fine Art Wind-Driven Kinetic Sculptures .

Scratch-building revolvers sounds like it will be a very popular project around here

. Looking forward to check out some pics.

**kbalch** · Sep 14, 2015, 09:05 AM

Hi Saxon Violence,

Welcome - glad to have you here!

Love your username - it immediately put me in mind of broadswords and maces, et al. If only Hastings had gone the other way, eh?

As a lifelong writer and editor, I admit to sharing your "ugly chop" peeve. My list of language sins is considerably longer…

I'm with you 100% re: Cooper and Browning!! I'm also very intrigued by your plan to scratch-build revolvers. Do you have any unique feature(s) in mind or will you be replicating an existing design?

Hope you got some sleep…

Ken

**Saxon Violence** · Sep 25, 2015, 04:55 PM

I designed a Modern Topbreak Revolver that I named "Rastina Ophelia". She incorporated an H&R style Frame. I wanted to get away from the necessity for side plates—they'd be a wooly-bear worm to machine.

Rastina Ophelia had a Webley Style Latch made ambidextrous and using Coil Springs and recessed plungers to get away from leaving the Latch Spring exposed.

I wanted to use a S&W style Trigger Return Spring Housing. No other Revolver's Trigger Pull feels like a S&W's and I believe the Trigger Return Spring Housing is a big part of a Smith's "Right-Feeling" Trigger Pull.

Both using a Smith style Rebound Spring Housing and Getting some sort of Hammer Block were both Challenges with an H&R style Solid Receiver.

I adapted the High Standard Sentinel's Hammer Block and attached all the Trigger Mechanism to be removable and attached to the Removable Trigger Guard much like the Ruger Security Six.

I have conceptual drawings but since I never built her, I don't have many dimensions. I've plastered her plans all over the net hoping that someone somewhere might build her.

Rastina Ophelia was designed to be build able by a determined craftsman in a home workshop…

But in truth, She would be more complicated to build than a straight H&R copy.

The H&R copy would be my first project were I able.

The old H&Rs have a reputation as junk. This is unduly harsh. Metallurgy was primitive in the late 1800s.The H&Rs weren't fitted as finely as the Smiths. Maybe they couldn't have fitted with the precision of a Smith, but the fitting could be improved. Leaf Springs are a liability but…

And keep in mind, any old H&R that you see today is older than your grandpa. Some are older than your great grandpa.

Made with modern metals and fitted carefully the H&R should give good service.

A 5-shot in .32ACP could almost be hidden in your fist and a 5-Shot .45 ACP could almost be hidden behind a baseball…

Once I had it built then the real Phun would start—Exotic grips, Engraving, Precious Metal Inlays.

Did I say earlier—I wanted to make Pistols in the same vein as the "High Art" Knife Makers who often sell their knives for from $10 000-$50 000…

Not that they get rich. Ivory, Fossils, Gold, Semiprecious Gems and whatnot are expensive and a single knife might have taken well over 200-300 hours of work.

And not that I necessarily wanted to get rich…

Or even to sell them.

That's just the type pistols that I wanted to make.

But that's when Reality hit…

Reality is a Meanie!

At any rate—thank you for your interest.

Saxon Violence

{ "Saxon Violence" was going to be my pen-name. It is a pun. Sounds like "Sex and Violence". My stories have ample violence but little or no sex. Being backward on computers—I had to rely on my sister to upload my stories to "Amazon Kindle" and she vetoed my pen name. Said she'd be ashamed for er friends to know that her brother used such a sobriquet…So all my Phantasy is under my real name…}