Wooden freehand die-less forging patterns and what they reveal about making parts for the best gun trade from the 1860s to 1960s

<p dir="ltr">The wooden forging patterns to guide the freehand forging of double gun components from James Woodward and Sons are important and rare survivors. They bring significant insight to our understanding of the trade of ‘best’1 gunmaking. Most date from the 1860s and 1870s to the first and second decades of the 20th century. The patterns represent a Victorian method of standardisation for the products and low number series production required in best gunmaking. In the 19th century highly skilled hand–freehand and die-less–forging techniques were seen as giving the highest quality starting points for best gun components because of their closeness to form and the way they managed orientation of the ‘grain’ of the material to maximise strength. They had the further advantage of being inexpensive because of their very low capital requirement. This utility declined with a reducing number of skilled freehand forgers, but the techniques persisted into the early 1960s when the close to form freehand and die-less forging techniques were lost with the final generation of capable craftsmen. They consequently had to be replaced by other, less craft skill intensive, methods; initially the use of closed die forgings and ultimately Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machined starting points for final components.</p>