Thanks for the barrel pin advice from my other post. I got that taken care of today. I just wanted to post a few observations as a complete newb to this hobby:
1) A vast amount of time is spent just looking at parts and how the thing looks as it sits in it's current state of progress. Ponder, eyeball, ponder, read some more, look again. I like that stuff
2) I started removing wood around the lock panels today. Rasps, files, scraper, sand paper.... now it's starting to really look like a gun you'd want to own. I referred back to #1 above and eyeballed and looked at pictures of old pieces after I had done a lot of the work around the panels. I decided the panel curves needed to extend downwards more and the stock below the flats section of the barrel needed to be thinner and more sculpted, so I had at it. That was fun. The actual shaping of the stock is really creative and rewarding. I'm no expert, but I really enjoyed that and am happy with my progress so far.
3) Scrapers are cool! I used old utility knife blades, and man, does that smooth stuff out. My precarve had all kinds of machine marks that became visible once I rubbed it with mineral spirits to see what kind of grain I have. Almost all are gone now except for the butt. Being a club butt, it has a big butt. More work needed.
4) Rigging jigs and supports is fun too. I have a 6' walnut board (left over from my kitchen counters) that I now use as a table extension on my drill press. I also made one of those point jigs you use drilling the tang so you know where the drill will bust out. I also mounted two wooden clamps to bases to serve as work holders. My benchtop has holes for stops and clamps and I use them to lock the bases down solidly while the fowler is in the homemade clamps.
Again, thanks for the direct answers to my questions and for the hundreds of other answers/ideas I have gathered from reading old posts. This place is a fantastic resource.
Geoff
