Thursday, November 27, 2008

The allegory of Will Shipman's boxcar

Folks,

At my post "More anecdotal "panic"", Tom has left the following post. In it, he has broken the code of Absolved and thus is deserving of repetition:

REAL Patriots have sheet metal brakes, CAD/CAM files and related machinery to make the files useful, lathes, milling machines, welders, a working knowledge of metallurgy, reloading and casting equipment, stocks of metals, a decent working knowledge of chemistry and no worries in the world other than the ethical dilemma of probably having to stomp on the fingers of people that are trying to board their ships without having anything to offer other than dragging their boat underwater.

The people that try to jump on lifeboats and beg food without having done their homework on how to swim when they had the legal chance to learn are the ones that are damned.I have no feelings for them but pity, and not much of that, truthfully.

SOW-->REAP

FORGET TO SOW-->GET RAPED

They made the call.

TRUE Three Percenters aren't worried about much of anything as far as gear. If they can't keep cocaine and heroin out of the US I think primers will still be available also.The rest everybody should have learned by 10th grade anyway.


Several people have taken me to task for the creation of Will Shipman's boxcar in Absolved and jeered at the distribution of its bounty into the right hands at the right time.

The boxcar, gentle readers, is allegory.

What went into it? American arms, designed and built by Americans. Is there anything that I packed into that fictional boxcar that couldn't be made by reasonably intelligent Americans in the 21st Century using just the techniques and, more importantly, the attitude that Tom describes above?

NO.

WE hold the elements of the preservation of our liberties in our own hands and between our ears. WE are the "Arsenal of Republicanism," to paraphrase the Democrat pagan demigod FDR. Tom has expressed this succinctly.

In recognition of Tom's ability to break the liberty code that is at the heart of Absolve, I hereby confer upon him the title, Sipsey Street Irregular, if he is willing to accept it. We have no ranks in the Irregulars, or I'd make him an officer.

-- Mike Vanderboegh
III

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Weapons Shop at Isher

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Weapon_Shops_of_Isher

ranamacar said...

FYI, the CAD files and ordinary blueprints are available on the intertubes, as are basic machining manuals and chemistry texts. A simple program like uTorrent (for Windows users- Transmission for Linux) and the website https://www.isohunt.com (yes,that is HTTPS as is Secure website) will get you a lot of information in a very short time. Make hard copies, so you have something to work with if the 'net goes dark or you are (dis)placed somewhere where your computer doesn't work.
Gingery authored a fine set of manuals years ago on how to make your own machine shop from scratch- look around at used book shops or maybe Amazon or eBay for a set. The Foxfire series is still in print, Volume 5 covers old-style gunsmithing.
I recall discussing with a friend back prior to Y2K the possible psy-ops value of marking handmade firearms with the logo "Militia Arms Factory #32" just to make the ATF wonder how many production facilities were out there. Military Intelligence may be seen as an oxymoron, but it was great training and I still use some of what I learned to this day.

Stay sane.

ranamacar

tom said...

Thanks,

When I lived in rural Colorado I knew the widow of the town blacksmith.

He managed to progress from shoeing horses to having a machine shop by starting with his shoe forging gear and one piece at a time building one tool or bit of machinery in order to build the next one.

When he died he had lathes, shapers, grinders, a drill press, and a mill, along with all his forge related tools and hand tools such as files and hardly a bit of it was store bought. He just used his mind and his hands.

I was schooled the old fashioned way in fabrication and mechanics: If you don't have a tool you need you make it.

The fellow that taught me to make rifle stocks made me make my own stockmaking chisels and rasps and learn to properly temper and sharpen them before he'd let me touch a piece of wood.

The fellow who taught me how to be a machinist made me learn to file things flat, square, and accurate before he'd let me touch a lathe or mill and before you could use the lathe you had to make your own cutting bits on a grinder and before you could use the mill you had to use the lathe and hand tools to make your milling cutters.

My toolboxes are full of tools made for one particular job. Knowing physics, chemistry, hydraulics, electrics, electronics, and programming these days is a lot more useful in the long run than having a mythical boxcar.

Ronnie Barrett of .50BMG sniper rifle fame started out with an idea and a tiny shop in a gravel floored garage by his house.

First thing they teach in gunsmithing is "you are going to have to make a lot of parts as many replacement parts will no longer be available and if you can make a better version of the part, all the better."

Problem with most trade school trained and military trained technicians and mechanics is they are used to being able to just get new parts and swap them out. Works fine if you have a warehouse full of spares but not so well when spares are unavailable.

On topic, no bragging intended, just factual. On an African hunt I fixed a couple rifles for farmers over there. RSA has very strict parts importation laws for firearms. Almost every single part has to be serial numbered an approved for import. Spoke with one of the fellows the other day and the bolt I repaired for his mini-14 because he couldn't get a new one is still running like it should a couple thousand rounds later.

American firearms parts supply could go that way. If it does, so be it. And I truthfully do have machine drawings and files for the M1918 BAR, Garand, up through AKs, M-60s, and AR/M rifles and carbines. I actually have the better part of the plan set to build a B-17G but that'd be a bit beyond the scope of my home workshop.

III

tom said...

Oh, new avatar to the right should give my views on your offer. Glad to be of assistance.

Cheers,
tom

tom said...

A good source of books from beginning to advanced regarding metallurgy, chemistry, et al.

Direct link to "Build a Metalworking Shop From Scratch" by Gingery.

STILL IN PRINT.

John H. said...

For those who haven't the time, inclination or desire to employ Gingery's methods (which work, but are labor-intensive and also of comparatively low tolerance for precision) there is always the Multimachine.

http://opensourcemachine.org/the-multimachine

Loren said...

You can get CNC machines on Ebay for reasonable prices--keep in mind that these machines are usually well over $10,000. Most community colleges or technical schools like Vaterott teach CNC programming courses. Basic equipment can be had if you set aside the money, and the time to learn to use it.

Some things, like the electronics we will inevitably need, are harder to get. Expect things like rangefinders to become hard to acquire. Less sophisticated stuff can be made from parts without too much trouble, but don't be afraid to commission your local geek to hack something for you. He's a valuable resource for things most people can't take the time to understand properly.

John Higgins said...

I've dedicated a whole lot of time over the past few months to the study of chemistry and energetic materials - explosives.

It's not too difficult to synthesize most of these substances, but the problem is expense. High purity nitric acid, a necessity in explosives manufacture, is many times more expensive by mass than anything else we might possibly require. It would also be strictly regulated in the case of any sort of armed conflict.

Has anyone taken this into consideration? What was your conclusion?