Cap-square and rings of 0.65 mm

It took some puzzling, but I have finished the first cap-square, if that is the right name. The idea is that all the gun carriages get such a plate. I have also ordered chain for the cap-square pin that has to go through it. Hopefully it won’t turn out too big.

The pins go right through the cheeks of the gun carriage and are secured at the bottom with a small ring. So no glue is involved. Those rings are the biggest challenge, because they may only be about 0.65 mm in diameter. What I do now is drill out a 1.5 mm brass rod with a 0.7 mm drill bit, but that is a real chore, and there are quite a few rings on such a gun carriage. Pingu57 pointed to websites for watchmakers’ supplies (or Ali) for M1 or M2 rings. Stephan makes rings by winding wire around a drill bit; that is also how he makes hooks with eyes, chains and eyebolts. I had already tried that with a drill bit, but it didn’t go so well yet. Practice makes perfect, I suspect. Watchmakers do indeed have very small nuts, but I don’t think they had those back then. Perhaps buy some after all, should making them myself not work out.

Tilted or level

Leaving aside that the rear end is still completely loose and there is no quoin in it yet, a question. I have made the front axletree somewhat higher than the rear one, so the whole gun carriage tilts aft. I took that from the drawing below. On other drawings, however, the gun carriage sits level again. It may of course have to do with the camber of the deck, but that is already taken up by the larger truck at the front.

Stephan is adamant: it really is the camber of the deck that makes the rear trucks smaller and the whole thing tilt back. Pingu57 thinks the gun should sit roughly horizontal on deck, and that otherwise the front axletree needs to be let in a bit deeper.