Fancy work

[Minnesota Mike]

Any advice or guidance on how to do the wire inlaying in a rifle stock . . . other than "don't screw it up"

r/
MM

[Riley/MN]

Shiny side up

[BEAVERMAN]

MM, do a search on google and on ALR bulletin board, theres a couple great tutroials with pics out there, wyosmith does some nice inlay, bet ifn ya talk real sweet to him he might even do a tutorial here!

[FG1]

Do a search here, I think vikingsword did a ditty on it some time back.

[R.M.]

Boy, you make it look so simple. It sure does make a good looking gun look even better.
I admire your work, Keep'm coming.

[Uncle Russ]

Boy, you make it look so simple. It sure does make a good looking gun look even better.
I admire your work, Keep'm coming.

Same what R.M. seez....you do make it look easy!

Thanks for sharing your insight, not only on inlay, but on a lot of your work!

Respectfully, Uncle Russ...

[Flint62Smoothie]

That's why I joined the TMA.  More men and woman making guns in the old way is the only thing that's  going to keep the sport alive and healthy.  If we don't share out knowledge, it dies and leave only the in-lines and the plastic stocked guns for our kids.

Amen brother   ! Well said ... and thanks for sharing your knowledge.

[Riley/MN]

... and thanks for sharing your knowledge.

Ditto what Dale sed!!

[BEAVERMAN]

Thanks Steve! well done, Lauras' finally got all her tools and wire, shes ready to give it a go! These pics will help dramatically, Thanks agin, Beav

[Gambia]

Inlaying silver wire is only as good as the design,I use small straight sided chisels with only a 1/16 cut each one the blade is only a maximum width of 1/8 and smaller and each chisel should have a stop so that it only allows a 1/16 cut.You will not only need straight chisel but also curved ones.You use this type of chisel like a punch working along the design at 1/8 inch at a time care must be taken on small curves it so easy for  the wood to break loose.
Silver wire should be no more than 1/16 deep any broader and it will buckle when you tap it in.When you have got your wire tapped into the cut smear wood clue over the design and when dry file it flat to the surface and finish off as a ordinary stock finish.This is the method I have used for the last 40 years it is a slow process but the finish job looks good.

Feltwad
                ------------------------
A Flint Lock will not secure a chicken house door

[Captchee]

i do it basically the same as steve but i make my own punches/chisels  from old  hack saw blades .
 i cut them  about 3 inches long. i then sharpen the ends .
 for the concave  chisels i bend them around a socket .
 this will allow you to bend different sized radiuses . I also do not cut stops in the tools .
 What I do is lay the wire  along the edge and with a black marker  color  along the upper edge . This gives me a  reference line for depth .
 I also do not glue the wire into the wood .  When you file the teeth in to the silver or brass ,  yes you can do the same thing with brass and copper , even gold . it will hold  just fine  unless you snag it when you are filing. that’s why you go lightly . remeber your not removing wood here  like you do with an inlay , your just displacing it  or opening it up  so as to accept the wire . when you wet it , it swells back closed , clamping down on the wire
 When you put the finish on the stock , the oil  will lock it into place even more  thus holding it just fine .
  I would also add that one should take care  when working along  with the grain .  Dead ending with the grain will produce a small whisker crack . This doesn’t show with a dark stock . But if your doing a blonde , you will see it  .

Also as to layout . This is ALLWAYS very important  with carvings, engravings   and such . But with engraving  and wire inlay it is doubly so . Once you start your cut , its there . You will not be able to sand it out . Simply put , you have what you have . So take your time , draw out the layout . And then let it set , step back and consider it for a while before you actually start  the wire

[Mule Brain]

Thanks for sharing!

I kinda had an idea of how it was done, but wasn't exactly sure. I  know now thanks to you folks.

[Minnesota Mike]

Super tutorial. Thanks.

Any suggestions or advice about the types of designs?

r/
MM

[Minnesota Mike]

Well, yes, but I'd first have to know the rifle.  What era and what school of building do you want to make?

Sort of have to give you two answers . . .in first case, I'm just looking for general info to edumicate myself. Have seen a lot of different styles and curious as to why which had what.

Second case - have two weapons I might decorate. The first is a new flintlock trade gun (Jack Garner kit my Dad and I finished) that I got to have for shooting shot at range clay bird shoots, give me flinter for any flint-only shoots, and trade gun goes with 1832 persona. The other is old, old CVA Frontier that I got back in college as a kit (from Track of the Wolf when they were still a single room small store in Osseo, MN) for deer hunting. She still works and I still use her for Bambi.

r/
MM

[Captchee]

WOW Steve , don’t know if I should be insulted or what LOL  

with CVA it depend on time frame . early on some of their stocks were  walnut . but that didnt last long  and the switched to Beech and birch  to do wire on these you will need to glue it in  to get it to stay . i have also seen CVA kantucks  that were full  1 peice stocks  but these are few and far between

 there 2 piece stock design is also late percussion era so  the wire work would be much like the engraving of that period . lots of overlapping scroll work  and finals .
 myself if i was going to do wire on a CVA ,, i would restock it  in hard maple or walnut  before i made the attempt .
 carving also doesn’t turn out to well on  birch or beech unless its of higher grade and hard . i have heard of folks using wood hardener on  soft birch and beech  so as to  do clean carving and wire work . But i myself have never  used it for anything but artificially doing  tiger striping