The part that rotates is attached to a long rod at the other end, Xkalibur. The long rod has a small piece with teeth like a metal file at the end of it. By attaching a steel tube that had been forged and then reamed smooth the rod could be moved in and out of the steel tube with every stroke.
Since the steel tube is clamped down and cannot move this action slowly cuts a spiral groove down the inside of the tube. While the tube is clamped in place, the long wooden piece is rotated to a new slot as seen in the bottom photo. Now the steel rod with the file teeth cutter is able to make another groove down the inside of the tube next to the previous one.
Once the wooden part has been rotated through each position the steel tube will have a set of grooves the same number as the notches in the big wooden shaft. Because of the twist in the wooden shaft the grooves in the steel tube will also have the same twist down the length of the tube. Early German immigrants brought a similar technology to America and the machine you see above is just like the ones being used in the mid 1700's.
That invention allowed the colonists in America to manufacture guns with rifled barrels when most of Europe was using a smooth bore barrel. When the American colonists had come to the point that taxes and other issues made them want to leave British control, the long rifle gave them the advantage so that a limited army could keep the better trained British army at a distance and helped somewhat in gaining independence for the colonies.
So basically a flat piece of wrought iron bent around a mandrel and hammer forged into a steel tube could be reamed smooth with the boring mill shown in my other quiz, and then be given rifling with the tool in this quiz. All of this was done slowly and by hand.
It is said that the man pushing forward and then pulling back on the handle above would have walked several miles by the time the rifle barrel was completed. Today machines do this work in minutes rather than days.
Well DM, it is time for a little hint. In the top picture the man on the right is pushing in, then pulling out on the handle seen in the picture below that. The handle is attached to the long round piece of wood with grooves in it. The bottom photo shows the piece of wood in the tool frame work where the long round piece goes through.
Please note that there are notches or grooves in the pieces of wood so that they fit securely and also that the grooves in the long round part are not straight. Instead of having been cut straight they have a twist to them like the stripes on a candy cane so that it has to rotate.
What does that tell us? Well, it tells us that when the man pushes and pulls the long wooden rod through the frame it must turn exactly like the grooves in its surface. Since those grooves are permanent and part of those pieces, the part that moves must make one turn at exactly the same distance in inches or mm per stroke. That predictable and exact rotational movement is the key to the use of this tool. Think about it a little more.
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Since the steel tube is clamped down and cannot move this action slowly cuts a spiral groove down the inside of the tube. While the tube is clamped in place, the long wooden piece is rotated to a new slot as seen in the bottom photo. Now the steel rod with the file teeth cutter is able to make another groove down the inside of the tube next to the previous one.
Once the wooden part has been rotated through each position the steel tube will have a set of grooves the same number as the notches in the big wooden shaft. Because of the twist in the wooden shaft the grooves in the steel tube will also have the same twist down the length of the tube. Early German immigrants brought a similar technology to America and the machine you see above is just like the ones being used in the mid 1700's.
That invention allowed the colonists in America to manufacture guns with rifled barrels when most of Europe was using a smooth bore barrel. When the American colonists had come to the point that taxes and other issues made them want to leave British control, the long rifle gave them the advantage so that a limited army could keep the better trained British army at a distance and helped somewhat in gaining independence for the colonies.
So basically a flat piece of wrought iron bent around a mandrel and hammer forged into a steel tube could be reamed smooth with the boring mill shown in my other quiz, and then be given rifling with the tool in this quiz. All of this was done slowly and by hand.
It is said that the man pushing forward and then pulling back on the handle above would have walked several miles by the time the rifle barrel was completed. Today machines do this work in minutes rather than days.
Here is the link to take you through the process http://www.flintriflesmith.com/ToolsandTechniques/barrel_making.htm
Please note that there are notches or grooves in the pieces of wood so that they fit securely and also that the grooves in the long round part are not straight. Instead of having been cut straight they have a twist to them like the stripes on a candy cane so that it has to rotate.
What does that tell us? Well, it tells us that when the man pushes and pulls the long wooden rod through the frame it must turn exactly like the grooves in its surface. Since those grooves are permanent and part of those pieces, the part that moves must make one turn at exactly the same distance in inches or mm per stroke. That predictable and exact rotational movement is the key to the use of this tool. Think about it a little more.