What's in the Box?

Here is how it came to me - at the best price $0. (Well, to be fair I bought him lunch).
Looks to be mostly all here.
Attachment 132698Attachment 132699Attachment 132700Attachment 132701Attachment 132702Attachment 132703Attachment 132704
So what is it? An Ithaca Lewis model side by side, early 1903 (https://ithacagun.com/serial-numbers/)

I've had it for about a year now in the backlog. I'm getting ready to finally close out several other projects that were waiting on me to finish bluing barrels and magazine tubes. So I figured to optimize the effort I should get this thing ready to boil and at least stop the deterioration. It looks a lot worse than it actually is. A lot of loose surface rust on top of the barrels that was well-oiled years ago. The oil has since dried up making the rust appear super thick and scaly. Should clean up fine.

I'm not sure what grade the gun was originally, but there are Damascus tubes under all that crud. The ribs seem tight and the barrels still ring. The bores are bright and un-rusted, but the right one has a few small dents about 1/3 back from the muzzle. I'd be cautious with old Damascus barrels, but with no corrosion in the bores and still ringing they should be ok.

I was able to get the bottom plate off and it looks like most of the internals are there. Someone before me tried to take it apart and put some screws and bits in masking tape or baggies with labels.

The stock shows no special figuring, but has a blowout in the expected place. Shard is in two pieces, and I only have the lower (larger) piece. So that will be interesting. I'll wait till I know if I can get it running first before I decide on what to do with the wood - salvage and repair, or carve a new stock.

This one will take a while to do. I can't find a parts diagram anywhere to verify I have everything, but at least we'll know soon enough what it's beauty potential is.

That stuff under the crud is called "patina." At least that is what I call it when I can't afford or don't want to to have it reblued!

I expect you'll rust blue after a hand paper polish? That blow out is all done for shooting unless you take them down to under that for a coach gun. It might come around...if you just fill the blow out and blue, it'll be a beauty of a hanger.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by browningautorifle

I expect you'll rust blue after a hand paper polish?

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that's how I'd go about it. I've been seeing pictures that shows these left with case-hardened actions. If it ends up as a wall hanger, I might try some faux case hardening with cold blue. But with the barrels in such good condition under the crud, and ribbing still good, I may want to use it. We'll see. Lots of time to ponder it all.

Popcorn is ready. Awaiting progress photos.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by HOOKED ON HISTORY

Popcorn is ready

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might want to ration the popcorn to make it last. long road ahead on this one.

Really looks like an excellent candidate for restoration. Looks like a shooter too.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Daan Kemp

Really looks like an excellent candidate for restoration. Looks like a shooter too.

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I think so too. I'll see what it looks like after I boil out the barrels in order to decide on stock options.
My google-fu the last couple of days produced nothing by way of diagram. Unless someone better then me can find something, I'll be going the old-fashion way of taking lots of pictures as I go - but this might not cut it as I don't know if I have everything, and many things are lying loose in the box.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ssgross

might want to ration the popcorn to make it last. long road ahead on this one.

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Based on your previous posts. It will be worth the wait. And popcorn is the only thing that is still relatively cheap. Let the inspiration begin.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by HOOKED ON HISTORY

popcorn is the only thing that is still relatively cheap

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...and FireBall.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ssgross

.and FireBall.

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I will take your word on that as I only use in an emergency.

What's all this now? Other than a scolding waiting to happen for taking over the kitchen table?
Attachment 132741
Seriously though, my current temp controller is just the simple on-off type, and doesn't hold temp too well. The min. differential is 1 degree, and will either boil over or just sit there.

So, we (my kids) wired up a PID controller. The PID and solid state relay was $25. The enclosure was a splurge at $15. I wanted something that would dissipate the heat from the SSR without needing a heat sink attached. The rest I had in a box in the attic - leftovers from when I made my brewery a decade ago. Should hold a perfect simmer now.
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Not to change the topic. I think I posted these once...before the great milsurps blackout.
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The previous rig?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Low & Slow

The previous rig?

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more along something like this
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...78162k6m-1.jpg

Looks like more my speed. If I had the brains, I'd get closer to your Mark II.

fired up my boil tube last night to try it out.
Attachment 132772

First test went well. Obviously the settings for the thermocouple need tweaked. I get a nice roaring boil, but because the element is pulsing it doesn't boil over the tube. Went from room temp to boil in about 15 minutes. The element is a 120v 1500W water heater element (shorty). Definitely a bit over powered. The solid state relay heated up pretty good. While the element was continuously on during heat up, the temp of the enclosure underneath it topped off at ~160F. Not too hot to touch, but don't leave your finger on it. Once it got to the set point and started pulsing, it immediately cooled down and stayed at ~90F while it held station.

At some point, I plan to build a bluing rig with a boil tube and cleaning tube - a 15 minute dip in brownell's 909 sure beats getting yelled at for scrubbing a barrel in the kitchen sink!. Heck, I can even do a second boil tube for parking. Cartridge heaters are pretty cheap. I'm thinking two 800w cartridge heaters for the boil tubes, and a 500w cartridge heater for the 909, and it should all fit on the same 20amp circuit.

This will do for now though. I suppose I'll do a big how-to thread when I build the rig. I've got a backlog of barrels and magazine tubes to do. I'm tempted to pause this, build it, and clear the backlog in a weekend.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ssgross

I suppose I'll do a big how-to thread when I build the rig.

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And the brew rig?

Years ago...I was active on a homebrewing forum. I don't recall which. I did a thread on on it.
It was pretty easy. The blue box on the inside has bare bones computer with several discrete inputs/outputs, and temp probe inputs. Its firmware is basically a simple web server. Everything is held in text files, accessed with ftp, and a web page(s) to display it all. The displays on the panel are just 7segment displays - the blue box as two I2C ports that makes those work....but the whole thing can be pulled up as website too.

I chose to build a propane rig, rather than switching high voltage. The gas plumbing is all inside and under the rig...just 24v solenoid valves, lit with an intermittent pilot light like you would install for your fireplace to turn it on from a switch. The panel itself is only lighting up and switching off the control signal voltages to relays that switch 24v for the burners and 120v for the 3 pumps. The hot liquor tank (on the left) has a coils of 1/4 stainless pipe. Wort from the mash (center) is pumped from the bottom, into the top of the coil, then out the bottom, and into the top of the mash. Thus, but tweaking the temp in the HLT, I can dial in and hold various steps of mash temps to get exactly what I want. Basically, different temps activate different enzymes in the mash that make different sugars and other compounds. Lots of chemistry books have been written about this if anyone is interested I'll point in the right direction.

The brewery has been covered in the garage for a few years no. My free time for making and drinking beer progressively vanished as the kids got older. But just before all that...I was responsible this happening at a local brewery.
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/25435/130563/
The guy that ran the place was nice enough to give me a tour of their setup one afternoon. I thanked him with small growler, and he called the next morning to ask more about it. Couldn't believe it was full flavored with only 2% alcohol. He increased that a bit in production so it would sell better. It turned out pretty good...I'd say it's still better in my garage at 2%, 10 gallons at a time instead of 10 barrels.

The name of the beer comes from here...https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Math...an%27s_Apology
Full text of the famous (and short) essay is here https://web.njit.edu/~akansu/PAPERS/...ansApology.pdf

Best beer I have ever had.

Well, I got an itch last weekend and started making a bluing/parkerizing rig (disclaimer: no silly it's not for hot salts bluing!). Then I waited all week for Bezos to deliver a $5 4.5inch hole saw to make it extra pretty.
Attachment 132902Attachment 132903
I haven't glued up the tubes yet. Cartridge heating elements are on their way. x2 800 watts for boil tubes and a 500w element for the 909 cleaner tube. As you can see, it's 4 inch sched. 40 pvc pipe, 4in x 3in reducer at the bottom, and then 3in slip x NPT fitting at the bottom. To this I will epoxy in place a 1/2 NPT nipple, then a tee with ball valve on the horizontal and my cartridge heating element on the underside.

why 5 tubes? I wanted to reserve the right to parkerize in the future. Plus, when I rust blue I like the last iteration to convert in clean water (depends on the solution. some need a final baking soda boil to neutralize, some just need a clean water boil.) So two boilers, one to heat 909 to 180F, a cold water rinse tube, and a water displacing oil to soak tube when it's all done.

I do need to get slightly larger casters for it so I can put ball valves under the tubes, and of course build the control panel. Until then, my existing boil tube doesn't need bungied to the workbench.


Couple lessons I learned the hard way bluing this way for a while:
1) a regular water heater element doesn't have enough threads to screw into pvc directly. As the tubes heat up, the pvc will stay rigid, but deform at pressure points - like where it's leaning against workbench, or at the threads if there is and side-load on them which will cause it to leak. To prevent leaks, use a pipe nipple in the pvc, and instead of teflon tape to seal it epoxy it in place with jb weld. I've been using my current tube this way for dozens of projects for a couple years now. Other than the dent where it leans against the bench, it is still serviceable and will last years more.
2) don't leave your tube on the porch over any period with large temp swings. the bottom reducer, which is harder than the tube, will crack if it starts off very cold and you go to heat it up.
3) don't move it until the pvc has completely cooled. any weight or side-loading on threaded fitting, like holding it while you dump it, will flex the threads while the pvc is malleable and potentially cause a leak.

that's it. very cost effective compared to buying or building metal horizontal tanks, not to mention heating them. Not that I needed such a nice setup, but it's compact and removes most of my time-suck when bluing...which is clearing out space, fighting to use the kitchen sink to degrease the hard way, etc. After using 909 on some receivers, I'm sold. Soak for 15 minutes and rinse. No scrubbing needed! I might put a shelf on front of the rig for prep and applying my solution.

Very creative solution.

Okie dokie friends. I have a rafter in the shop from which hangs my backlog of barrels and magazine tubes all prepped and ready to blue. Took me long enough. Still need to get some things organized in the shop. But, I figured I should have these Ithaca tubes prepped and ready too. I got them all stripped down. I'm going to boil to convert all the active rust, card, and see where we are at. Before that though, I need to be extra careful with the ribbing. Boy do these tubes ring!!! perfectly still!! we do not want to go and screw that up. So I was going to drill a vent hole, underside down by the chamber so it will be hidden to prevent any steam or pressure inside the sealed vent from blowing it out. Looking it over, there appears to be a screw - take a look at the second pic from the original post. Don't click, here it is again
https://www.milsurps.com/attachment....9&d=1692899181

Is this a screw to pull the ribs tight at the base, or is it a plug for a vent when it was rust blued at the factory? Didn't budge first attempt (I'm never too serious in the first attempt at a screw. Basically just checking if I'll get lucky). It's soaking right now before making another go. If someone is certain it's just a plug, I'll dill it out, rethread, and replug when I'm all done. Thoughts?

EDIT: HA! never mind. soon as I hit enter I went to try it and it came out like butter. It's a plug. Here is a close up with some more Damascus eye-candy of the original finish.
Attachment 134837

my borecam isn't tiny enough to fit, but here is a look inside. some crud around the opening and threads, but inside looks clean...looks like burnt flux in the bottom of the hole, with some oil on top from my soak. i'll pull the bead to see if it was drilled through the rib to make it easier to drain and dry when I boil it all.
Attachment 134838
Attachment 134839

Some progress.
I scrubbed the outside down with brakeclean and a nylon brush, just to keep most of all the dried grease and oil out of my tubes (boil tubes that is ;)).
Here is the before...
Attachment 134901
And here is some of the worst areas, on top down by the chamber, after an hour of boiling. I carded just one side so you can see how it comes clean.
Attachment 134902

After carding...
Attachment 134903Attachment 134904

We haven't quite gotten to the bottom of the rust, so back in the tube it goes for another hour. In my experience, something this cruddy will take 2-3 iterations to get it all neutralized. When it's done, if I'm not ready to rust blue right away It will get a dunk in kerosene, which is I think the best water displacing oil there is. light Wd40 then before storage. 909 takes wd40 off very easily before rust bluing. Kerosene after rust bluing to harden the finish, then plain clean (no detergents) motor oil - lawnmower variety is good, or used motor oil where all the detergents have been burned out. That's my process in a nutshell.

Looks much better after.

after dunking in the kerosene, a blob of crud fell out of the front sight hole. It does indeed go all the way through between the ribs. My probe didn't go in very far, so I thought it sat atop the front block. This made it very easy to drain.

Now that it's all clean and all the rust neutralized, the couple dings in the right tube stand out now. They aren't serious - very minor in fact but I'll have to raise them if not just to remove the eyesore when it's all gleaming. Most of the rust left behind a gentle frosting that passes the 10ft stare test, but there are a couple spots of some pitting with jagged edges. Not deep, but its jagged edges make it pronounced. I think I'll put the barrel's hardware back on for now, it was all in the white anyway, and work on the receiver group. I have no parts diagram to go off of, so I can't even be sure if I have all the parts. First test past though. The tubes are serviceable. If the receiver comes together, I'll likely smooth out the tubes with paper before re-blueing. I normally don't try to remove all the pitting - just smooth the edges. I'll take some more pics tomorrow of how they came out.

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First pic, you can see a couple of the minor dings reflecting in the light. Last pic shows the "worst" are of pitting.
I'll wait to do anymore work on the barrels while I address the receiver and carving a new stock. No use spending $60.00 to rent a dent raiser and hours to polishing and rebelling only to have a catastrophic failure hiding inside the receiver.

Got the receiver completely disassembled. Only one tiny screw fought me. Little soak while I took apart the rest, and a good scrub of rusty gunk out of the slot and it came right out. Was much easier than I thought. Then again, there was a baggie with what looks like the sears, associated levers etc. in the box. I took pictures as I went, and put away the left and right parts separately, just in case they are slightly different as can be on other similar models.
I haven't looked in the baggie with the sears yet, but all seemed to be on the receiver except one small spring...
There is supposed to be a spring under this screw.
Attachment 134922
Well, there was one. I thought something was fishy - even before I took the main spring out (under that slotted bushing), there was loose floppy slack in the lever before the tension of the mainspring engaged. My guess is that spring is tensioned by the screw, and has something to do with adjusting when/how it locks up. If I can't find a parts diagram, etc., I suppose I can get a cheap spring kit and just wing it.

I think now my plan is to conserve the receiver and all its parts, then assemble everything to make sure I know how it works and confirm everything is there in working order. Passing that check, I may just have to do a detailed disassembly instruction, video or written, with all the parts listed, since no such thing exists on the internet in complete form (did find a guy that did some videos restoring one, but they are far from thorough).

Here is the top lever, minus all it's rust.
Attachment 134926

You can clearly see a spot where something was broken off.
Also notice the slight bronze color, and there are some rather sharp and large burrs in the area.

The font on the serial number underneath appears to match the that on the top lever cam, but larger, yet the serial on the receiver, while also smaller, has serifs.
Attachment 134927Attachment 134928
At first I thought the top lever's second digit was off. Looking at it under magnification I think it indeed is a 6 as it should be, with some file or grind marks interfering.

Sure bubba could have swapped one on, ground off, and re-numbered. My sleuthing turned up lots of non-lewis toplevers. they all have a hook right where something was broken off on mine. To my knowledge, the Lewis model came right after the Crass. I found a crass top lever with a hook. Then, I found an eBay listing of a reported Lewis toplever...no hook!
ITHACA-LEWIS Hammer Less 12 Ga. 1 1/2 Grade - Top Lever Rotary Cam Assy. #125- | eBay
Here is one of the pics from the listing...
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...2/sl1600-1.jpg
Serif's on the serial. You can clearly see a smooth bump where the rough portion of mine would be.

In my mind, the hook on the top lever locks in the eyelet at the rear of the top rib and holds the action closed. unless there is some other locking mechanism on the rear hook on the barrels? Mine also appear to have been heated, perhaps bubba tried to weld the hook back on? or was it heated to remove?
Attachment 134929Attachment 134930
The more I study it, it looks like it locks up at the the bottom. perhaps Ithaca re-used some parts on hand in the Lewis, but this would mean receivers (notch cut for the barrel eyelet), top rib (with it's eyelet), and toplevers. The eBay listing does not appear to be damaged like mine, and it doesn't have a hook. Sure it could have been smoothed over to make a buck.

Anyone out there know any better?

After a lot of searching, I've seen claimed Lewis SxS's with hooks on the top lever and some without.

Then, when reassembling the mainspring I figured out how the lockup adjustment works and I'm convinced no hook on the top lever is the design and any leftover evidence of one is from using parts on hand.

So, the way this thing locks up...No one on the internet seems to know, except this guy
"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7dWf4_CCxY"
I tried NOT to embed the video here, because he has it all wrong - installation too (is in another video), but our forum automatically parses the link no matter how I enter it, so you'll have to copy/paste to learn what NOT to do.
Having no other resources, I used his method to remove...and to install. Then I went to adjust the block underneath and did a double take as the lightbulb above my head flickered. Can it really be this easy?

Let me take some pics taking it down again, and putting it back together, and I'll do a post or thread of just that for posterity. Now...to figure out how the rest of the guts go back in!!!

spent several evenings this past weak soaking parts that weren't originally blued in evaporust overnight and cleaning them up. Today's goal was then to figure out how it all goes together in order to make sure sure I had everything. Well, I certain it is all servicable, but I am missing a couple minor parts.
- The top-lever tension spring I already mentioned. I have what I think will work from the older crass model on the way from Numrich. No big deal. There is some backlash in the top lever with out it, but is of no consequence
- I'm missing the trip pin and flat trip spring, which locks the top lever to the right when opening, and automatically release to lock when closing. I think I can make these myself pretty easily.
- I'm missing the safety bar and the safety T-bar which make the thumb safety work, and automatically engages the safety as the hammers cock during opening. This doesn't affect safely shooting or test firing from a bench, but I would never carry it loaded afield without. I have a picture of what I need. The T-bar I can make easily enough. The safety bar has some bends in it. I would need some measurements from someone to make one.

That's it! all else is in working and serviceable order. The main spring install threw me for a loop last night and all morning. But once that was figure out, it's all actually pretty simple.
Attachment 134963Attachment 134964
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Some pitting on the underside receiver to polish out. I'll 3d print some special sanding blocks to preserve the edges and contours. Now that it's stable and no longer deteriorating, I will likely take my time to finish it, given the couple missing parts and all.

Nice looking dog too!

The safety bar - the part that would be the most impossible to make - was found at Numrich. Much of the parts for the Crass hammerless and Lewis are the same. It wasn't expensive, so worth a try. Still much to do get things working - including the dog. She is itching to get out, literally ;)

I was able to fit the safety connector. I made a trigger lock (T-bar) from scratch and fit it up by first 3d-printing several attempts just to figure out how everything is supposed to function, and then use as a pattern to make a permanent one out of steel. I found a good picture of one next to parts I already had so I could get some relative measurements to start with. In this process, I figured out that these old side-by-sides have a 3 position safety. Forward is fire+auto-safe-when-opening, middle is safe, and rear is fire without auto-safe. Neat. Anyways, all this works as intended now. After drilling 2 holes for the slot (which is only 0.045 wide) I did the best I could to open up the middle with a small centering bit, and then used some flathead screwdriver bits to break the middle and broach the slot open and most of the way so that cleaning it out with a small centering bit would make get the tab of the safety connector to slip in.
Attachment 135141Attachment 135142
Attachment 135143
It was delicate to fit. First I fit the connector so the notch in the tab fits against the trigger pivot pin with the safety in the rear position. This then provides an index measurement for the slot on the trigger lock bar. The hardest part then was evenly removing about 0.040 of thickness from the 1/8" bar stock by hand with a file. In the words of the great Obi-Wan Kenobi...patience. This took me 2 evenings.

Next up, make a trip spring and pin.
Attachment 135144Attachment 135145
The spring was made from an old hacksaw blade. It's a bit thin, but I was able to confirm in another forum that the original is 0.038 thick, and my blade was 0.024. I have an old sawzall blade that is 0.040 powder coated, so I will likely make another. I made the trip pin out of the original left firing pin which had a cracked head. Does this count as an original part? The pin has a notch that engages the spring. I slotted the top to make it easy to align the notch when assembling. The trip assembly locks the top lever to the right (bolt unlocked position) when opening, and snaps the bolt closed when closing the action, without the need to touch the toplever.

So that's basically it. The gun has all its parts now in working and serviceable condition. It will likely sit on the shelf for a while now. Next up will be to fix the stock and/or carve a new one, then raise the dents in the right barrel. I also noticed the muzzle of the right barrel is out of round from bubba dropping it likely. That will need swage out. I might beg one of you guys with a lathe to make me tapered swage once I pull the measurements. Lastly, I'll clean up the screw heads and refinish. The barrels look pretty good. Will probably only need a single rust blue pass, without stripping/polishing, and a quick dunk to re-etch the twist pattern. For the frame, I'm thinking some faux color case, https://steelfxpatinas.com/product-c...-starter-kits/. In my experience, real color case finish is pretty much just as delicate as cold bluing anyway. I don't mind a little lipstick on a pig.

Stock work this weekend.
Attachment 135199Attachment 135200
Got the shard that I had glassed back on. When cleaning up the area today, I went ahead and removed the filth and finish with a cabinet scraper so I could see the grain enough to select a replacement block for the top piece that I am missing.

There are a couple other small blowouts underneath, either from the same loose stock issue that that created the large blowout up top, or bubba trying to pry off the bottom plate. Too small to fit a replacement piece. I'll probably acraglas those areas (dyed to match) when re-bedding the frame to the stock. Not trying to hide all the damage, just trying to pass the 10ft stare test.
Attachment 135201Attachment 135202
Next we have a top block to fit, some dents to steam up, checkering to chase,....lots to do.

After scraping, I decided to soak the front half of the stock in acetone to pull out as much oil as I could from the end grain before proceeding.
I made my replacement block and glassed it on, let it set up overnight then worked it down to rough shape. Lastly, I re-inletting the frame.
Attachment 135641Attachment 135640Attachment 135642
Lot's to do yet. Need to get the gap at the frame edges just right, level the top of the new piece to match the other side - the tang stands proud towards the rear, so we'll match that. I'll glass bed the recoil area inside so the blowout never occurs again. I'll fill in the tiny missing pieces underneath when I do this. Most all the dents should steam up, and the scratches aren't too deep to sand out. There are a couple knicks around the buttplate edge to deal with. I can fill those in with dyed acraglass. I'm planning on a darker staining with reddish undertone to hide the repair as much as possible. The filled in areas will then disappear at the 10ft stare test.

Looks pretty good, once it's stained or oiled you'll have a hard time seeing the difference.

I'm cleaning up the parts of a little Hopkins & Allan falling block .22 at the moment and there are hours of careful work with needle files and diamond laps in involved in "improving" the original finish and removing as much of the damage as can be removed. It's something you either do because you enjoy it so much or because the piece is worth the effort. A surface grinder or a rotary power lap are useful tools for this sort of job. Buffing wheels have no place in the process if one wants to achieve anything like an original appearance with crisp edges etc.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Surpmil

because you enjoy it so much or because the piece is worth the effort.

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It's the best form of mental therapy for me. In my day-job profession success with most problems comes at the end of a long river of constant failure. When I am truly stuck, and all progress seems hopeless, a short escape in the shop often makes all things clear. I've lost count of the times I've finally solved a hard problem while mowing the lawn, scraping away on a stock, or doing some menial physical task. I think the reason why it works is that it provides an equivalent re-direction of sorts and a mental release. Smithing of this sort requires equal focus, but in a way that diverts attention to the hands.
All mathematicians are aware of a thing called a "really good, bad idea" - ideas that are so promising you invest all of yourself, mind body and soul, in the approach, only to find out weeks, months, or years later it's a dead end. But it was so good and so clever it cannot be forgotten. The effect is any subsequent idea ends up in a logic circle right back to just rephrasing the original dead end. Finding a solution now requires a great purge, only accomplished by putting it down for a very long time and moving on to something completely different, or with massive amounts of alcohol. I'm too old for the latter now, and time spent doing this kind of project greatly speeds up the former. Apologies - I'm a romantic at heart.

Sorry for the delays. I've been busy. Slowly making progress on building my checkering cradle for next steps.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ssgross

The effect is any subsequent idea ends up in a logic circle right back to just rephrasing the original dead end. Finding a solution now requires a great purge, only accomplished by putting it down for a very long time and moving on to something completely different

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And other times perhaps genuinely "really good" appearing ideas are still-born only because they appear to similar dead-ends?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Surpmil

And other times perhaps genuinely "really good" appearing ideas are still-born only because they appear to similar dead-ends?

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Ha! Questions which provably have answers but are provably impossible to answer?
I would say no. Meticulously following every lead no matter how ridiculous it seems is a normal part the job - like always first ensuring a clear chamber before anything else. Then again, if I am wrong I have no way of knowing it because as you say it would have already been dead, unless of course someone else answers to the contrary to provide me the example.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decidability_(logic)

Ok...back to finishing my checkering cradle. The other job can wait till Monday morning.