Cutting Barrel Key Slots in Kit Gun

[smart dog]

Hi Folks,
I've built 40+ guns over 30 years but only 1 was a kit.  That was a Navy Arms Springfield Model 1863.  All the rest started as bandsawed blanks.  I now have a wonderful Ehlert (Chambers) fowler kit.  It is very well done, however, I want to install barrel keys without key escutcheon plates and am perplexed because the forestock has already been rounded and shaped in the kit.  I've done this many times but only when the stock is still squared up.  Do any of you have tips on how to drill the holes and cut the key slots when the stock is already shaped and there is very little excess wood to play with?  I have a drill press but not with a very big table to support the stock and there are no perfectly square surfaces left on the stock to use in the set up.  Does anyone have any advice?

Thanks for any help,

dave

[TMerkley]

It definately can be done, but to do it, start small. and go slow in order to adjust.  First, take a depth mesurement where the key is at from the top of the barrel, then set the barrel into the stock.  Then make a light mark where the stock and the barrel will rest.  Measure the depth from the mark on the barrel to the key slot on the lug.  this will give you the depth from the top of the stock to where you will center the slot.  Also, you will have to measure your length of where the slots will go. You can take two measurements to find the front and the back of the slot. or you can measure for the center and gradually work out with a swiss file.  It is time consuming, but do-able. Use your muzzle as a reference for the length measurements and the top of the barrel for depth.  If you have a calipers this will help as you can lock you measurements for uniformity.   

[Majorjoel]

Hi Dave, I have found that a small level comes in handy when working with a rounded stock. You will find that the lock panel and the opposite side panel to be about as level a plain to work from. That is to say on most kit assembly's. I also have made make-shift extensions for my small drill press table in order to support the long stock. The level I use is about 8" long and works for both the longitudinal plane and the axis swing. You get both dimensions center bubble and your pin or key holes should line up evenly. Hope this helps you buddy......Joel     Another after thought.....Tom Snyder who is a member of this board makes and sells a real handy drill jig that is great for just this purpose. I have used it on one precarved stock (a Hawken) and it made a perfect pin hole that I filed into key-ways using Mr. Merkley's measurement tecnique's

[Lucky R A]

    Dave an entirely different approach is to use a drill to center jig as is commonly used to drill tang bolts etc.  This jig is the one where you clamp a center post in your drill press vice and center your drill bit over the center so you know exactly where the hole will come out.  I then mark the exact position where I want the holes to go in and come out on the stock, then center punch the locations.  I set the one side of the stock on the center post of the jig and drill in half way.  Reverse the stock and set the center post in the first hole you drilled and drill from the opposite side.   Repeat this process until you get your guide holes drilled.  At this point you can remove the wood with a chisel, or remove most of the wood and burn in the keys.  I usually do the latter.  Make a slightly undersize key about twice as long as normal, heat it red hot and insert it into the started slot.  It is good to do this before the forearm is shaped down to the final size as some surface charring adjacent to the hole will result.  If done before final shaping, the charring is removed and you have nice virgin wood adjacent to the key mortise.   

Best of luck

Ron

[Lucky R A]

    I was just reading the above on how to find your barrel loop locations.  This is real simple if you have your barrel loops on your barrel.  I always finish shaping the tang and lock area and buttstock before installing my barrel fasteners.  With the tang area shaped you can then sit the barrel with underlugs/loops attached tight against the breech of the barrel inlet. allow the underlugs/loops to hang over the top side of the fore stock and mark the locations directly onto the stock.  You can then use a small square to transfer the markings to the opposite side and using the same square draw straight lines down the outside of the stock.  I then use the depth gauge of my calipers to determine depth from the top of the stock...I never was good at math or measurements---so I take a simple approach to things

Ron

[Curt Larsen]

I've had this same problem drilling pin holes on pre carve stocks.  It is really hard to line up the holes.  I now use one of snyder's or Dave Rase's drilling jigs that are available from those two of our members.  I use snyder's myself.  After I carefully measure  for the location, I now use a pin drill to drill the holes by hand a little at a time.  I start the hole with a 1/16" drill in the pin drill to 1/16 in depth on both sides just to start the holes.  This helps me keep the drill jig in place when I start.  Then, I use the pin drill to slowly drill the hole through half way and into the mortise for the lug.  Then I do the same thing from the other side.  The holes should line up almost perfectly if you are careful.  If I screw up, I generally plug the 1/16" hole with a round toothpick and try again.  For your purpose, you can drill a series of these small holes and then open them to fit the size of your barrel wedge.  I think I prefer snyder's drilling jig to Dave Rase's (sorry Dave) as it is smaller and helps me line up the holes a bit better.  It is a pain trying to drill on a curved surface but this has worked for me.

Curt

[Dr. Tim-Boone]

I haven't tried Dave's, but I have one of Tom Snyder's and it worksfine.  Luckily. on the gun I am finishing up now I put the keys in when the forestock was still square....but I din't pin the pipes until I already had the forestock shaped and almost to finished size... so Tom's jig came in handy again!!   I did it to myself....

[mjm46@bellsouth.net]

Building from a kit can be challenging.

[Herb]

Dave, go to the Tutorial board and read "Installing Rod Pipes" by Herb.

[mbokie5]

Smart dog, I have no advice, just a piddlin' question. What bore is your kit?

Reason I ask, is that I have one of those kits coming soon. The barrel won't show up until next year in Jan or Feb. I ordered a 10 gauge.

I will be following your progress with great interest.

[smart dog]

Hi Folks,
Thanks to all for your replies.  I appreciate your help very very much. It is why this forum is so great.  I opted to use Ron's method and it worked really slick.  I made a center point that fits vertically into my cross-slide vise on the drill press. I then use the vise to line it up with the drill bit.  The slots came out perfectly with no gaps around the keys.  After drilling the holes spot on I simply used a chisel I made for key slots.  It is an old flat needle file that broke at the tip.  I ground a bevel on it like a chisel and sharpened the tip to a razor's edge.  I use it to cut away the wood between the holes.  It slices and grinds as it goes into the wood.  Works very well.  I am very happy.  Thanks again.

Mbokie, my kit is an older Chamber's kit that was something Ron Ehlert designed or customized for a friend of his.  It is a 20 guage Getz barrel.  I'll keep you posted.

dave    

[mbokie5]

Thanks smart dog. I need all the help I can get.