Joe long or any other style as a matter of fact.

[bdixon]

How large of head size can a guy get away with for brass nails for inlays, such as the half moon and other misc inlays on a joe long, etc, etc style rifle?

Brett.

[JTR]

On the Joe's that I owned, he used Steel nails, not brass.
Most were the headless variety, and were filed flat with the inlay. Nails in high stress areas of inlays had domed heads about 1/16" diameter, maybe just a bit larger.
John

[wvmtnman]

I make my steel nails out of finishing nails. I forget the number size but they are 3/32.   I make them around 3/8 long and grind them into a cone shape.  I drill a 1/16 hole through the inlay and SLIGHTLY counter sink a hole in the inlay . When  I drive in the nail,  I leave a little extra , 1/16 or so and cut off the rest.  Next, I peen over the head of the nail with a small punch and file flush.  You can always add a little epoxy incase you don't think the nail will hold.  I have been doing this for years and it has worked well for me.
   For VERY large inlays, you can always use a VERY small screw.  Counter sink the inlay so that the slotted head is above the surface of the inlay and file flush. 
   I too have never seen nails made form anything other than iron/steel. 
                                                                        Brian
               

[bdixon]

I can do finish nails, plenty of them laying around.

[omark]

if you do use screws anytime, be sure they are steel, not brass. were no brass screws then.   mark

[Jim Kibler]

In my experience the tendency is to make pins too large.  I've made them thinking they look good, but when installed they can look huge.  Might help to keep this in mind.

Jim

[Don Getz]

Brett......they are normally held in as John described above.  You don't need a head on the nail.   I make mine out of small brads.   Put them into a lathe, or an electric drill and file them to a long taper, similar to an old, old phonograph needle.
I normally inlet an inlay, glue it in with an epoxy, then drill a small hole wherever you want them to be.  The hole should
be slightly smaller than the large end of the tapered nail.   Them drive it into the wood until it becomes snug in the inlay,
then clip it off and file smooth with the inlay.  When you drive the nail into the wood, don't get carried away here, stop
when it gets snug in the hole, otherwise you will pull a dimple into the inlay, requiring a lot of extra filing to remove it............................Don

[bdixon]

Thanks Don, I have already made the mistake of "over-drawing" the inlay on my practice pieces and hope to avoid that again.  I will get a closer look at some originals in Lewisburg and have a few questions on stock shaping to ask you when I get there.  I will be picking up a Keck Driesbach at the show and am looking forward to it.


Thanks

Brett.

[Lucky R A]

Brett,  I just took the calipers and measured the brass brad heads on a Samuel Baum that is in for restoration.  To my surprise there was a variety of sizes, but the most used was .095-.100.  these were soft brass and undoubtedly upset  a little while being installed.   There were several .80 and a few obvious replacements that were around .115  A while back I had a Jos. Angstadt in, and subsequently made a copy.  Angstadt use brass brads with a head diameter of around .115.   I have seen dome head brass brads used on a number of Lehigh and Berks county rifles.   They have all been dome head and were solid rather soft brass.  Finding solid brass dome head brads is getting harder and harder, many of the brads are only brass plated.  Be careful what you are getting when you buy "brass nails."

[Blacksmoke]

omark:   Caution on the forbidding of brass screws for patchboxes and other inlays!  I've had a number of old originals on the restoration bench that the original maker had employed "brass" screws for his inlays and patchboxes.  Granted these longrifles were of the "late" percussion period, but none the less, never say never.      Hugh Toenjes

[Don Getz]

Brett-----I'm going to bring a Joe Long original, and a copy of one that I did many years ago, to the Lewisburg show.  Stop
by my table and check it out..........Don

[omark]

omark:   Caution on the forbidding of brass screws for patchboxes and other inlays!  I've had a number of old originals on the restoration bench that the original maker had employed "brass" screws for his inlays and patchboxes.  Granted these longrifles were of the "late" percussion period, but none the less, never say never.      Hugh Toenjes

apparently i stand corrected, thanks hugh, mark

[bdixon]

Lucky, thanks a bunch for the measurements, I have obtained "solid" brass nails that I could turn down as they will probably be much too big and cause a "scene".  I am definitely not interested in brass screws so I am safe there.  Don I will surely stop by and look at what you have on Friday morning.