Rasak Restoration.

[ward]

Regarding the scrollwork on barrell I would bring it out a little more. 0000 steel wool on that and maybe on the top contours. you want to keep patina as much as possible but if you can not see details what is point. In Islamic societies they shine everything to a mirror finish I do not agree with this and most western collectors do not agree. There is a fine line between cleaning a piece and overcleaning it. Regarding lock I doubt spring is bad. If you have already gotten screws to remove pull of the cover to the sear and take pic. It should move but I need to see a little more. Always hard to see when not in hand. I will be at hethrow for a layover in a couple of weeks if you want we can meet and I can probaly tell you in a few minutes what is wrong one way or the other. Just a thought I Know scotland is not 5 minutes away but closer than america

[Norman McCormick]

Hi Ward,
Photo of spring and hammer sear without cover. I cannot cock the hammer with bits in position as per photo. I compressed the spring by external means to the next position and engaged the trigger sear, I was able to fully cock the piece but when I released the trigger the spring brought down the hammer as it should but it, the spring, disengaged from the hammer sear resulting in the spring protruding from the bottom of the lock just the same as when I first removed lock. I am sure there is too much wear between the mainspring and the hammer sear and this wear is enough to guarantee that they will disengage from each other every time. This is why the lock appeared at first not to fit or to be a replacement as the disengaged spring had pushed the whole lock upwards causing the crushing effect to the brass sheet adjacent to the top of the lock. Without either making new spring or new hammer sear I don't see how I can get lock to work properly, I think for display I will remove mainspring, keeping it safe of course, so that I can engage hammer in first cocking position so that the pan cover will close. If you have any other suggestions that would be great.
Thanks again for your help.
My Regards,
Norman.

[ward]

this is fixable. basically you need to beef up 2 areas the main is where the sear meets the spring and where the sear is in the safe condition. pick up some thin metal strips worse case brass.add a strip to the section that meets the spring. you can solder this and it will engage properly also where the trigger lever meets sear you could add a piece but that is secondary. will take about 1/2 hr for cutting filling and then soldering. I would not go to war with this fix but should last extreamly well for our purposes. If it is a issue ship the lock to me and I will fix it.

[Norman McCormick]

Hi Ward,
Many thanks for the advice, I'm keen to have a go at this myself but I'll keep your kind offer in mind. I have plenty of mild steel and EN45 spring steel which I have used for making blades before but no soldering iron, easy and cheap to get though. I use epoxy a lot in blade construction would it be strong enough for this or should I stick to soldering, stronger and more appropriate? Approx how much past the present end of the sear should I be aiming to extend. Thanks again.
My Regards,
Norman.

[ward]

as long as you are not firing it should not be a problem you are not going to have to add to much pic should give you a pretty good idea

[Norman McCormick]

Hi Ward,
That seems pretty clear, will give it a shot.
My Regards,
Norman.

[ward]

how is the repair going ?