Thank you again guys for the very kind words, the gun's owner would be very pleased to hear all of this!
That rifle has "the look" I have often dreamed of. They may get fancier, but they get no better.
Please tell me, does that rifle have a TOE PLATE or METAL on the end of the SLIDING BOX LID??
Merry Christmas to all
No toe plate or cover at the end of the box lid. Toe plate would of course be unusual on guns of the period that this one is supposed to belong to, but a cover on the end of the box lid would be expected. Celebrate the unusual !
How do you get the dark edges around the stock? I would like to do that to one im getting ready to finish.
Thanks
Daryl I got your message asking this same question but I'm glad you asked here, might spur some conversation and ideas. There may not be enough space on the internet for me to describe how I do that. Ok, I admit I may be exaggerating slightly, but there are so many variables that affect how I approach a finish like this that there's just no way to put it in a nutshell or offer a recipe that will work in all cases. I go into a project with as clear a vision as I can possibly develop of the end result and everything that happens from there until the end is an effort to keep things on track. I don't have a standard finish regimen, I do a lot of experimenting and rarely do the same thing twice. Things are done in layers and each step effects the appearance of everything that has happened up to that point, and the only way to know what might work is to understand what you're hoping to achieve and then experiment constantly.
It's really cool that you want to try and achieve this kind of effect , so I'll offer you a couple suggestions that may help you get started. A simple way to add some darkened areas to the stock is to use some bone black or other dry black pigment - this was something that Mark Silver showed me years ago and I did variations of it on a few guns. What mark was doing was taking a dry fan brush and lightly dusting a small amount of bone black around the edges of relief carved elements. This is done typically when using an oil finish and is applied while a coat is still tacky. It doesn't take much and it really makes the carving pop. Marks suggested that while the bone black was a powder, it was just abrasive enough to where it would kind of bite into the finish when brushed around.
You can use this same technique to darken areas of the stock, in fact some builders use a fair amount of it mixing it with the finish on the stock almost like making paint. This takes some practice and knowing how much of each to use - too much finish and you have a smeared, finger streaked mess, too much bone black and not much of anything permanent happens. You also have to think about how you're going to top coat it and what with, because most things will lift some of the black as you apply over it.
Another technique that some use is the black spray paint method. I tried this on a few guns years ago but preferred other methods - but there are definitely builders who do this extremely well and get great looking results. Very generally, the idea is to stain and apply a coat of finish, then spray with flat black paint, remove most of it , then finish. I'm sure if you do a search here on the website you'll find more about it, or maybe somebody who does it will jump in here and offer some suggestions. Like with any other technique, there are right ways to do it.
A beautiful rifle. I really like the carving. Is it done in a particular style, or were you influenced by a maker, or school??
Thanks,
Bill
Bill - not intentionally a copy of a maker or school but I'm sure there are features that will remind people of something they are familiar with. I just kind of shot for something that might make you think 1770, offering enough familiarity to make it seem plausible but balancing that with a lot of unanswered questions. Often times the original guns of unknown origin are my favorites.
