The Gunmakers Fair at Kempton: Seminars and Demos

Friday

 Building The British Fowler

Basic Carving and Engraving

Starting the forges

Artistic Aging for the Flintlock Rifle

Making your own Ramrod Pipes/Nose caps

Historical Forging

Hunting Pennsylvania with a Flintlock

Leather bag/Shot Pouch/Forging parts

Knife Forging

Lock Timing and Tuning

Inletting 101

Forging a Belt Axe

Basic Bag Making (50 participants max)

Barrel Rifling

Hand Forging a Tomahawk

Barrel Refresher Tables

Mark Wheland and Art DeCamp are doing a seminar at the Gunmakers Fair.  Over the last several years I acquired two antique rifling benches that were from the shop of Huntingdon County, PA gunsmith J.S. Johnston (1832-1911).  

Both of these rifling benches passed from Art on to Mark, who is now the owner.  The first bench is set up to do 7-groove rifling.  The second one does 8-grooves.  When I got it two years ago, it came with an old wooden produce box that was full of rifling cutters.  These would have been used in his shop to freshen old barrels and possibly cut rifling in new rifles that he was making.  Both are set up with old rifle barrels as the guide for creating the proper twist in the rifling grooves.  Interestingly, one of the guide barrels is an old Lancaster County, PA barrel signed "C. Gumpf".  

John S. Johnston learned the gunsmith trade and was in partnership with Joseph Douglass, Jr. (1819-1882) who was likely his uncle.  Douglass, Jr. died in 1882 and Johnston carried on the business in McConnellstown, PA until he retired in 1903.

Mark and I are going to present information on all of this and demonstrate both benches in our seminar on Friday afternoon at the Fair. (per Art DeCamp)

Ashlee's Return

Saturday

The Contemporary Southern Horn

Carving Tool Sharpening

Let's Get Fired Up!

How to Fix Basic Gun Building Mistakes

Casting with Delft Clay

Barrel Forging for CW

Meet the Kempton Judges

Making your own Chisels

Basic Carving and Engraving

How to do Wire Inlay on a Gun Stock

Bring your unfinished project

Inletting mistakes and how to fix them

Barrel Forging for CW

How to Process Flax to Linen/Coloring

Better Techniques for a Stronger Gun

Gunstock Finishing

Historical Forging

Powder horns 101.201.301 and then Some!

Wrist and Lock Panel Shaping

Finishing Smithing Projects 

 Ladies Tatting (bring shuttle)

Sunday

How to Sharpen your carving tools

Fitting a Breech Plug to a Barrel

Starting the Forges

Kitchen Happenings

Powder Flasks

Screw Top Powder Horns

Forging Lock Parts

Cleaning Black Powder from your Barrel

Lock timing and breakdown

Historical Forging

Gun Stock Finishing

Barrel Forging for CW