Greetings.  I would like to formally announce my intended project.  I joined the ASSRA with the intent to do this, and hope that this project won’t prove to be too daunting.  I intend to produce a set of mechanical drawings which will be saved in four separate file formats: AutoCad, Pdf, Autodesk Inventor, and JPEG.  My intent is that once this project is completed, the entire suite of drawings will be sent to the archives so that they will be accessible to anyone who desires access to them.
     The subject of these drawings will be Hugo Borchardt’s masterpiece, the model 1878 Sharps Borchardt.  I have exchanged messages with both Laurie Gapko and Harry Eales about this project over the last few months, and they have both been very helpful.  I have the mechanical drawings from Moeller Machine and Tool that are available from the archives, but these lack some of the basic information that would be needed to produce a scratch built version of this action.
     Because all of the variations of this action are based upon the basic military receiver, this will be the action which I intend to detail. (If anyone has the expertise to machine a receiver from prints, then they would automatically possess the talents to modify a military receiver to a sporting model.)  Rather than produce a sheet with multiple components per print, I intend to make individual drawings for each component.  This will create a lot of prints, but it will be easier for me because, as I am attempting to reverse engineer something without a physical example present, I will most likely need to revise these drawings several times prior to completion.
     During the course of this project I will very likely post questions on the forum.  I think that it would be prudent for me to start a thread about doing these prints as a repository for asking for advice or for expert opinion.  There is an exception to this project which will differentiate it from other more familiar projects such as build threads or tutorials: I won’t be able to release the drawings until after the project is complete.  I may post individual drawings from time to time as I request advice or wish to confirm a dimension, but it would be irresponsible for me to release prints prematurely because the interactions of that part with other components might require a design revision later.  Because I’m doing this project in my spare time (which can at times be scarce) this project will probably take me well over a year to finish.  With this

I'm a 1878 Sharps Borchardt owner and I wish you all the best.

If your inclined, it would be very interesting to include (if you can obtain dimensions) some of the modification done to this action, such as the ones done by some of the old masters.

Thank you for your pursue of this,

Frank

Your intentions are a welcome addition. Having worked in the machine trade my whole life, I understand the reverse engineering process.  Good luck in your project, and I will be checking for your updates as you make them available.

ron

frnkeore:
              I'm afraid that it's already a challenge to try and get the basic action right.  Though it would be immensely desirable to see inside Adolph Niedner's mind, doing so would require vastly more resources than I can bring to bare at this time.  Though I have fooled myself into believing that things will become more apparent as the project progresses, at this earliest stage it's like trying to solve a Rubic's cube in the dark.  I'm planning to start racking my brain on this project this coming weekend.

I for one would be interested in the successful outcome of the project! Good luck to you sir. I'm sure that you will find a wealth of information from the membership here.