This might appeal to some. Probably won't to many. Thoughts after a long day of working. Thoughts that seem odd after a long career or building. Always seems that the simple stuff gets all the interest and the foundational stuff gets ignored - or taken for granted. Wade thru if you wish. It's a continuation of a thread Sean and I started elsewhere.

Have a great day! Gary


And Now ...... The thread .....


Hope you all have a great weekend. Everybody must be on the bus to Mom's house. Not a peep today or tonight.

Yes ... I told you I would. Other gun is about 99% done. There's a back story going on there. When it's appropriate, I'll show it. I've moved onto other things for now. Actually took the evening and made something for Kelly for Mother's Day.

Checked the forum today. Man - I've set up til 1am and later (a couple of nights ... and this one too!!), laying out what I saw as a killer set up for discussion on custom, handmade, guns. Where the unique value is. What sets up the differences between different schools of work. Why can you have a thousand people interested in changing a screw in the side of a commercial gun (and they all want to post about it), and just ten interested in a gun made from an idea and billet, (and not one interested in posting a word).

Nothing.

Darned Curious.

It's like the whole world got the memo ... and there isn't a thing I'm ever gonna do to even initiate a discussion on the things I see, from the perspective of a lifelong craftsman. Still blows me away. I'll be sure I've set up the most perfect analogy .... experiences people can relate to ..... ....... ? ........... ........... nothing.

What the heck. I'm here alone ... guess I can talk .... won't bother anyone ......

Last attempt at a thread was the background house joke, of why I don't get all worked up over wood, and the rest of the world is "Stock First" all the way. We kid about that a lot. But man, I thought I nailed the set up wondering why handbuilt actions are so easy to ignore, and stocks are King. The Hot Rod analogy: Professional assembly of commercial catalog items. That's fun, but it's not so rare. Not like Restoring a 4 Cylinder Indian. Trying to provoke thought as to how ... when everybody at the Car Show has the same engine under the hood, then paint and chrome can distinguish. But the Classics, Iconic Models, Handbuilds ..... they are in a different class. I look forward to the replies ...... drop back in ........ ? ............. what .... .......................... nothing?.

All I can figure is ..... it gets screwed up ...... the memo goes out ..... "Gary Hates Hot Rods?" So; now he hates Hot Rods AND Wood? Well ... I'm not typing a word ........................................................................

Gary does not hate Hot Rods. But ... forty-eleven hundred and fifty eight million General Motors 350 Small Blocks are an entire different animal then a Porsche 356-C Motor with a Roller Bearing Crank Shaft. No - you can't SEE the roller bearing crank ... and yes .... you can see the Chrome Valve Covers of the Crate Motor ... but I'm dumbfounded when we have an entire Hobby/Sport that is about accuracy and precision. And "AIR guns fly in the face of conventional firearm shooting. That distinction seems valid - enough so to maintain interest in Air guns anyway. But; where is enough excitement to shoot, post, or discuss actually building something from scratch, that will shoot 1/3 MOA at 100 yards.

Everybody got the memo and accepts that I absolutely hate wood. And yet .... seems I can't get a soul to understand that I just chipped 150 individual parts out of solid steel ... and I think THAT is party central!! If everybody universally gets it when I try to start a thread ... I'd think one ... on an Airgun Forum .... monitored by a full time professional builder ..... maybe a "Yeah" ..... or a "Like" .... or some "Hashtag" or something.

Like I keep saying ... I can fill pages with pictures every day.

1:14am
Gary



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/10/2015 01:55PM by barnespneumatic.

Gary,

I, for one, truly appreciate what goes in under the hood of your air rifles. I like the wood too, but the power plant and barrel are what is really important. I agree with you that fine craftsmanship beats out "custom" modification of mass produced items; any day of the week. The engraved welds of the Bison series is probably the closet we are ever going to be to seeing the intricate metal work on the inside of your actions. I'm not going to take mine apart because any customization would ruin this fine piece of art!

Real, custom craftsmanship is expensive (think Ferrari vs. Mustang). There is a greatly smaller number of us willing to invest in "made from scratch" than are willing to buy a piece here and a piece there, and "create" our own "masterpiece". I think the biggest "problem" is the initial financial investment. You tried to make that easier with the ledger program, but that seems to have backfired on you. You are absorbing all the extra costs you didn't plan for when the system was instituted. And I know that grieves you immensely. That is likely the greatest source of your migraines!

With all that said, I'm glad to see you have been more productive lately. I hope the continued work on air rifles will actually improve your health (even though you keep carving that walnut....)

Scott

The wheels on the bus go round and round, round, round....

I get your frustration. Why do people put so much emphasis on the stock when most of the time building the rifle is in the metal work. Perhaps people do not truly understand what it takes to machine each part? CNC videos all over youtube have created a false sense that every product is currently mass produced and they see the ease?

Reading some pages in the Foxfire 5 book, seems that early builders had their own troubles. One builder was approached by what he called "fast buck boys" who wanted to profit from his hard work and make most of the money themselves by selling the guns for the builder.

I did have to chuckle at a point in the book. A couple who reproduced flintlocks, Silers, commented; "once you get into this gun making thing, it's like a disease. I don't call it a hobby. It's a disease"

Guess I have the disease as I am always thinking about building something. Just need to start and find a balance with work and home life.

Hope your week goes well. Hang in there!

Pedro

I posted an idea on the former thread, a bit about watches and such. I'll not repeat it here but the idea is still valid IMHO. I'll also use your "hot rod" analogy to discuss it here.

Human beings are visual creatures, we get most of our information through sight. As a result, the things we see will always take precedence over the things we can't. Hearing a story about how something works is one thing, SEEING it happen with your own eyes is a whole "nother thing. Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons we can't see "under the hood" on your rifles. All we have to look at is the airgun equivalent of chrome hub caps and a fancy paint job...engraving, exterior details, and of course 'the wood'. The motor is tucked away, out of sight, out of mind. Doesn't matter if it's got a honking huge turbo, hi-compression pistons, dual-overhead cams and direct injection, nitrous, whatever. It's a sealed assembly, so to speak.

Intellectually we KNOW that if the car will do 9 second quarters it's GOT to have the horsepower, there's just no getting around that. No amount of sparkly chrome and miles deep buffed laquer will make it go any faster, only the motor makes a difference. But we can't see the motor. It's a black box, "no user serviceable parts inside", like a hard-drive for a computer. If we choose to take it apart against the advice of the maker chances are pretty good it's not going to go back together right. We can only make it worse by fiddling around where we ought not, best we can hope is that it'll be no worse than it was before we touched it.

Again, puts you between a rock and a hard place trying to get folks to appreciate the hard parts instead of the paint. Other than going the "crystal back watch" route, I'm not sure there really IS a solution.

I am definitely much more interested in the internal mechanic's of anything that interest's me. When I was looking in the beginning, I viewed many different style's of air rifles's. The originality, beauty, power, precision, quality and accuracy place Gary above the rest. Just my opinion and thought.