The other project

[shootrj2003]

What Is... this.. ab...abi..abilitee? I did not think I had that much. But if you just do one step after the other ,you will walk a mile, however I walk slow and I sure have tripped and stumbled a lot! I do appreciate the complement ,thanks,I’m glad that someone thinks it good work ,I’ll try to finish rough shaping it tonight or tomorrow .I will ask again it’s not wide enough for a cheek piece and iplay with the idea of applying extra wood to make one,however it may end up worse than non at all, it could conceivably be done and with no glue lines or joints showing and the grain almost a perfect match and titebond III is really good glue,as in forever.However,I may overstep my bounds!And skill-level
  Has anyone ever done such a thing?I have not seen a Hawken/plains rifle without one either,except my Renegade,I see them as slightly redundant ,would not miss one as far as shooting comfort however ,I do see them as attractive decorations and as a great place to accentuate silver foofaraw and a attachment back to the past masters ,when guns could be tools as well as a one of a kind,individuals artwork and not just black metal and plastic machines .So,has anyone ever added one with glue or should I just go without?

[Ohio Joe]

What Is... this.. ab...abi..abilitee? I did not think I had that much. But if you just do one step after the other ,you will walk a mile, however I walk slow and I sure have tripped and stumbled a lot! I do appreciate the complement ,thanks,I’m glad that someone thinks it good work ,I’ll try to finish rough shaping it tonight or tomorrow .I will ask again it’s not wide enough for a cheek piece and iplay with the idea of applying extra wood to make one,however it may end up worse than non at all, it could conceivably be done and with no glue lines or joints showing and the grain almost a perfect match and titebond III is really good glue,as in forever.However,I may overstep my bounds!And skill-level
  Has anyone ever done such a thing?I have not seen a Hawken/plains rifle without one either,except my Renegade,I see them as slightly redundant ,would not miss one as far as shooting comfort however ,I do see them as attractive decorations and as a great place to accentuate silver foofaraw and a attachment back to the past masters ,when guns could be tools as well as a one of a kind,individuals artwork and not just black metal and plastic machines .So,has anyone ever added one with glue or should I just go without?

John,

Here's a picture of an addition to my cheek piece I did on my retirement rifle a couple years back, as I didn't get the cheek piece exactly like I wanted when making the stock. so... I just inlet the wood into the that area as I did not come out far enough with the cheek piece (dang castoff), I then used beeswax and a brass screw to hold it in place. I've since made some file angle adjustments to it, and it has held up just fine.



This is what it looks like today;



A cheek piece is not necessary, it's up to you whether you want one or not. You're doing fine!   

[shootrj2003]

Well ,I decided to chicken out ad do without a cheek piece actually I felt I had enough on my plate getting this shaped and turned into a functioning rifle and I am looking forward to take what I learned and start that Fowler project rolling again,I found a old book ,for years I thought it was an old catalogue for the company called” lock stock and barrel” and never looked at it so I was in the attic looking for another book and saw it began looking at it,it is in reality an old guide to assist in renovating and rebuilding antique muzzleloader and methods and tools to help,it’s actually a great resource can’t believe I passed it over all these years,I think I got it with a bunch of gun books and literature I got at a gun auction [ Invalid Attachment ]  [ Invalid Attachment ]  [ Invalid Attachment ]  [ Invalid Attachment ] cool cheek piece by the way I actually made the cheekpiece before I decided it was to much this time. It

[Ohio Joe]

The ideal cheek piece is shaped into the stock as we make it, but sometimes we have to use a little different approach if we, (well kind 'a botch it "as I did on my rifle") as I was 'a making it...

In the end, it's all free hand learning unless we have a "stock copying machine" to do our cutting for us... So without one - we're doing it the old fashion way, and sometimes IMHO that is the best way to hone one's skills...

Always tell yourself (as I do myself),,, if we should make a "blunder" - don't look at it as a blunder - look at it as an opportunity on a learning curve so to speak, and do what it takes to make it work. 

A side note; the ol' gun makers had their "epoxy type adhesives" in the form of hide glue. Many a folks won't show or tell of their miss-Q's, so I give you lots of credit. You're doing fine.

I've always found this video a good watch with inspiration for sure;

 

[Winter Hawk]

This project is coming along nicely!  I keep thinking of making a new stock for the Hodgepodge rifle but have never done one from a plain piece of wood before; you are inspiring me to try it.  If it doesn't turn out, I will still have the original stock.  Of course, I have to finish the canoe first to get some room in the garage/shop, then clean out all the accumulated junk so I have room to do something new.... 

~Kees~

[shootrj2003]

I thought I was the only one with accumulated junk!
I still have some shaping to do on the buttstock to shape the comb, the grip and the end of the lock panels ,just the curves used to delineate the three,I’ll thin and sharpen the comb but Leave the area below it fatter as the grip flows into the ,I’ll also cut or rasp a slight “end to the lock panel,just enough to seperate it from the grip right now I feel they are all mixed together ,I guess it’s stronger that way but less pleasing to the eye [ Invalid Attachment ] y [ Invalid Attachment ]  [ Invalid Attachment ]  as you can see I inlaid 1 side of wedge plates I tint the epoxy and any glue I’ve hade to use for repairs and bedding etc.as they will blend in with the finish which will be a reddish brown using Aqua fortis and a red stain ,hopefully this will avoid the problems of any glue not taking the stain.as in holding with older time wise rifles,I held to using brass escution pins to hold the plates on ,the pins were cut t about 3/8”-7/16” long restock predrilled with a slightly tight hole then the plates were bedded and glued in their inlets then tackedwhile wet and left to set,,hopefully never to move again.I am getting a little better with inletting but much room for improvement ,I thought the one plate was tight enough but it was a hair big,I then allowed for that but the second inlet was a bit small and had to be enlarged a hair to get the wedge in. I’d much rather the inlet be too small & make it bigger though..
 Thanks for the words of encouragement from all there were some bad events,but I got over them.

[Ohio Joe]

She's a shaping up just fine! 

[shootrj2003]

I trimmed down the comb a the back of the lock panels to accentuate them so this things at the point of 100-120 grit sandpaper ,I will sand the whole down to 320 grit then inlay the lock bolt and toe plate and pin things that get pinned along with any minor inletting till very thing is together as a rifle then take it all apart and polish and finish the metal and either brown or rust blue those parts ( still thinking on that,!)and apply the stock finish.I called L&R and they advised me my lock is on its way back!how many business’s give you like,uh 2 days,turn around. I  know it’s an easy switch but still ,most places you would be waiting awhile.I mailed it last Wed.at least 2 days to Sumter,SC and on Monday it’s on its way back,that’s good service ,thank you Tim at L&R! [ Invalid Attachment ]  [ Invalid Attachment ]  [ Invalid Attachment ]  [ Invalid Attachment ]

[Winter Hawk]

then take it all apart and polish and finish the metal and either brown or rust blue those parts (still thinking on that,!)

I used LMF to blue a barrel, something you may want to consider.

Here is what she looks like after bluing using Laurel Forge degreasing and browning solution.  I followed the directions although they suggest sanding down to a 600 grit and I stopped at 420.  I made a scalding trough like they recommend, although they say use 2 1/2" PVC which I couldn't find, but 3" worked fine.  Also, to save a bit on buying it the lumber yard guy suggested using sewer pipe which is not as thick as schedule 40 PVC.  It worked out great.  I sawed it with a hand saw and would suggest that you glue the end caps on first to stiffen it up a bit.  I bought 6 gallons of distilled water for this at Walmart, and have 3 gallons left over....  Only problem I found is that the corners of the flats are pretty thin, possibly from getting to carried away with carding.

Anyway, here are a photo of the assembled rifle and one of the barrel, screws, thimbles and under rib in the scalding tank:

[ Invalid Attachment ]
 [ Invalid Attachment ]

[shootrj2003]

I use a steam tube powered by a wallpaper steamer the tube is 3” pvc stood upright ,the steam is fed through the bottom, once the item is rusted and the steam is built up you hang it through the top foil it turns black then I scrub with a tooth brush sized  carding brush( Brownells)I tried the carding wheel but thought it too harsh ,I use the brush with acetone then  oooo steel wheel wit same til clean ,then repeat  usually3-5 times will give you a really beautiful,and way durable blue  [ Invalid Attachment ]  [ Invalid Attachment ]  [ Invalid Attachment ] hope you don’t mind the modern contraption,just try to look at the blue job and ignore the rest!i need some ideas to fix this [ Invalid Attachment ] check out the toe of the stock under the toe plate and buttplate I will eventually get the hang of curlymaple

[shootrj2003]

Winterhawk,that is a nice looking little rifle and excellent blueing job,I had considered a scalding tube like that .but for various reasons decided on a steam rig ,however it is accomplished,I feel rust bluing is a very superior way to blue and far more durable.I am thinking browning this time.

[rollingb]

i need some ideas to fix this [ Invalid Attachment ] check out the toe of the stock under the toe plate and buttplate I will eventually get the hang of curlymaple

It's a bit difficult to advise on this because the picture only shows one side of the stock, but usually repairs for this nature (if you can't find the original piece that chipped off) is gluing a small 3-cornered piece of the same wood in place and trimming it down and sanding it to fill the void. Just make sure the "grain" is running the right direction, and it won't be noticed by anyone but yourself. 

[Ohio Joe]

i need some ideas to fix this [ Invalid Attachment ] check out the toe of the stock under the toe plate and buttplate I will eventually get the hang of curlymaple

It's a bit difficult to advise on this because the picture only shows one side of the stock, but usually repairs for this nature (if you can't find the original piece that chipped off) is gluing a small 3-cornered piece of the same wood in place and trimming it down and sanding it to fill the void. Just make sure the "grain" is running the right direction, and it won't be noticed by anyone but yourself. 

What Rondo says, and you've got the right kind of glue setting there on the bench. 

[Hank in WV]

Be sure to pre stain the glue joint to make it invisible.

[Winter Hawk]

This is a link to charcoal bluing on TOF's site.  I suggest checking it over now, as he is going to shut it down this month!  Check out the other stuff he has, there is a lot of information which folks might want to copy over to a word processor and save.

Anyway, the link: http://oldfoxtraders.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=26

~Kees~