doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Classic & Custom Single Barreled Sporting Rifles @ doublegunshop.com Early M70 Win custom rifles

Scraping - of course. Thanks very much - that makes perfect sense.

For Ford:



Somewhat "underwhelming"

Kind Regards,

Raimey
rse

The photo of the scrapers is because LRF asked for them.I knew Raimey's email address.
Mike

I would kill to see a video of someone scraping a bolt or Springfield safety with a good photo of the finished product. I have some examples of the finished product, but could never figure out how it was done. About 98% of engine turning is best left undone, unfortunately. Most scraping I have seen is wonderful. I guess it's a sign of the times.

Hi All:

As a younger man, I watched a millwright scrape the ways of a large lathe that was being installed in a steel mill in Cleveland. He had wooden nail keg that had a thick padded top on which he sat. It was a real treat to see him scrape very small amounts of metal off of the ways to get a near perfect fit by hand. I think that this was the new J$L mill.

This guy was a real artist! I was always impressed by the skill the the older tradesmen possessed! This included a back hoe, glazier or a window painter! These men were very good at what they did!

In those days, all tradesmen took immense pride in their work! I think that pride in one's work is a think of the past. It is sad to see this pride disappear in today's work force!

Stay well my friends,

Franchi

Franchi, I never thought I'd be saying this, but I've seen this same sort of pride of workmanship in some union workers. Believe it or not, it's true. I know it's hard to believe, I wouldn't have believed it myself if I hadn't seen it and worked next to it.

I hasten to add that these fellows were working as subcontractors in a commercial nuclear plant and so were fairly well paid by local standards. However their work was so good that we called them craftsmen rather than workers or tradesmen. I DO know that much of their pride in workmanship was due to peer pressure but the result was still most impressive to me.

I also hasten to add that my state is a Right-To-Work state and most of the residents are adamantly opposed to any sort of union. I was raised in an environment where most of the goodoleboys fairly screamed "I don't need no stinkin' UNION to get me a job OR keep me a job!" and "Unions are a tool of lazy weak-kneed no-work socialists!"

So you can see that my change of opinion was significant. I found that some of these guys were every bit as proud of their work as any artist in any other genre, and the quality of their work reflected it.

Not saying that all or even most union workers are superior craftsmen, no not AT ALL 'cause I know better. Just saying that pride in superior craftsmanship isn't completely dead quite yet, and (lucky for us) can still be found in some surprising places (grin).
Regards, Joe

Joe,
I suspect the craftsmen you spoke of got that way by serving an apprenticeship,moreso than being a union member.Some unions require(or run the program)an apprenticeship for membership.Some don't require, but encourage it and offer a program.I also am from a right to work state and not a union supporter,but was really impressed by ASME welders on a fuel storage job and structual welders putting together a gantry crane.There was a union "quality control" chief that inspected the work before we did.At the final inspection(2 days worth),not a single deficiency was found.Really impressive.
Mike

Mike, you're absolutely correct that most if not all of the Pipefitters served their apprenticeships. These subcontractors were all union men and this was considered a premium job so the locals sent their best men. Ditto most of the other locals too, but I'm most familiar with the Pipe-Fighters and Electricians.

I got into a 'discussion' on another forum about full-penetration welds, and it appears to me that very few gun folks have ever seen a truly GOOD welder's work. Some of these guys are EXTREMELY artistic and creative as well as quite demanding of their own personal skills; witness some of their truly spectacular handmade and bespoke belt buckles! 'Government work' of course, but IMO their expertise more than made up for any personal projects done on company time. When these guys finished a job, you KNEW that it was done by a professional taking pride in his work.

IMO the ACGG is kinda like a union hall in the sense that whoever belongs is almost always at least competent. Maybe not the best but supposedly not the worst either. Of course we've all seen even some Guild members' work that smacked of what Ackley called 'fearful turkeys', but then others' work is IMO the epitome of elegance and grace as well as flawless performance.

IMO internet forums like this one have done MUCH to weed out the crooks and charlatans but also IMO the rest of us are too quick to give a pass to substandard work. We don't want to hurt anyone's feelings so we don't tell folks that the smith they're planning to use is a doofus with all the refined taste of a space alien and the mechanical ability of a gorilla.

True craftsmanship isn't dead yet but it's become all too rare and now we hafta HUNT for it!
Regards, Joe

Okay, now that has been said, maybe we can get back to the subject of fine work done by the good craftsman on M70 Winchesters.

I "scraped" the bolt body of a Springfield once to see how it would come out after seeing a G&H at a show.It's hard work for someone with compromised hand strength(carpal tunnel syndrome)and the results weren't the best but it was interesting to try your hand at something when you can't ruin the workpiece.