Figure 65.
To make this tool, select a piece of steel, centre it in the lathe, and turn one end—say an inch or so—of the same size that the joint is to be. In this end drill a hole lengthwise, but exactly in the centre, of the same size that the rivet is to be. Cut teeth on this end, and temper as any tool for cutting metals. Insert a steel pin in the hole, leaving it projecting half an inch or more, and the tool is ready for use. The cutting end of the tool is shown in [Fig. 65]. Of course the other end must be fitted to the lathe chuck or a bit-stock in order to use it. Insert the projecting end of the pin in the hole A, drilled for the joint, and by means of the lathe or bit-stock, cut down each half of the mould to about half of its thickness. The outer circle or cut of the tool will be a guide to which to file the circle of the joint. If the cutting end of the tool be made a little convex it will form the surface of the joint a little hollowing, and a better fit will be the result.
Countersink the outer ends of the hole, insert the rivet, and rivet them together. The perfection of the joint can be ascertained by opening and closing the mould a few times, removing the surface where the rubbing is apparent, with a fine-cut file.
If the surfaces of the two halves at B, [Fig. 64], do not exactly come together, and the material be brass or malleable iron, a few blows with a hammer will insure close contact. It may be necessary to say that the surface at B must first be made true and square, so that the two halves will fit closely, and then “lay out” the joint from this surface.
If there be many bullet moulds to make the circle of, the joints can be made by means of a cutter revolving in the lathe. Make this cutter about two and a half inches in diameter and half an inch thick. Cut teeth in the sides as well as on the circumference. Fit it in a spindle so it will revolve. After the joint is drilled fit it so as to turn on a pin fixed in a piece of iron that is held at one side of the cutter. By feeding the mould up to the cutter the surface or shoulder is cut where the two portions of the joint come in contact when opened. By turning the mould slowly around a portion of the circle is cut, say about one-half. Remove the mould from the pin, invert it, and the remainder of the circle can be cut; the whole “round” and the abutting surfaces being produced at two cuts; a little smoothing up with a file being necessary to finish it. This operation and the cutting is shown in [Fig. 66].
Figure 66.
How to Make a Ball Cherry.—The term “cherry,” as applied to the tool used to make the mould for spherical balls or bullets, was no doubt borrowed from the fruit of the same name—in fact the fruit and tool are very similar in form and size. To any one not conversant with the process of producing a sphere in metal it seems a very difficult operation, but nevertheless it is very simple, and only requires a little knowledge and experience to make a cherry to fit any bore of gun. This is the rule governing the operation: A rotating body is passed through a properly-shaped circular aperture in a flat steel die that is held with its upper or cutting in the same plane as the axial line of the body rotating. That’s all.
