Cheekpiece Moulding

[Okefinokee Outlaw]

Are there any good how-to references on cutting moulding into a cheekpiece?  I've basically finished my Chambers early Lancaster, and would like to put some simple moulding on the cheekpiece.  I worked up enough nerve to add some moulding at the lower portion of the stock, but do not want to do much carving on my first kit build.  I see the pictures, but am not quite sure how to achieve what I'm seeing.  I do have a good selection of chisels and gouges.  Thanks all.

[Acer Saccharum]

I plan out the cheeckpiece molding, then cut in several passes at a time, with a parting tool. This puts a Vee cut for each groove. Then I straighten out the cuts with a file. I use a #3 gouge to pare the tops of the molding round. With a fine rasp or coarse file, I smooth and blend. Then everything is scraped for finish.

Sorry, I don't have a whole chhekpiece on one photo. I also don't have photos of the early stages of development.

[Mark Elliott]

I do all my cheek piece moulding with either a triangular or round file.   I have a large (~10") triangular file that is only used for cheek piece moulding.   I file it the same way I file rings on a thimble or butt piece heel extension.    That is one of the simplest things I do.   It takes mere minutes to add a decorative moulding with a file that is large enough to reach across the entire cheek piece.  

The example that Tom shows would just be done with the large triangular file.   I would file two grooves and then round off the part in between.    I would layout the grooves with a pencil line.   The moulding lines and the top and bottom line of the cheek should all converge at the same place.   My point of convergence is generally the apex of the head of the rear lock bolt.   It varies by maker, but that usually works.    

Also,  that moulding is one of the very last things I do.   

[Acer Saccharum]

Good point, Mark. There is a lot of moving the gun around during a build, and the cheekpiece is easily dinged up. Finish it just before the carving.

[Okefinokee Outlaw]

Thanks guys.  I think I can handle this.  Acer, with the gouge, you are using it inverted, correct?

[Acer Saccharum]

Oh, no, no, no.    sorry to not be more explicit. I pare ACROSS the grain to round the tops off. This technique leaves a lot of highs and lows. Then I use a coarse file lengthwise, much as Mark describes, to smooth out the gouge marks. Then scrape.

[Acer Saccharum]

Funny how I forget certain details. Well, it's not funny, really.

[Mark Elliott]

When I said that the cheek moulding is one of the last things I do,  I really meant that I did it in conjunction with the cheek side carving.   Actually stock shaping is going on throughout the build process and into the carving.   There are a lot of elements that you must work on at the same time to make sure everything flows together.   Most areas are touched several times throughout the build.   For me it is an iterative process.    I was naturally doing that from the beginning and was later instructed to build that way.   What that means is that my guns don't look finished in any way until they are actually finished.   They certainly don't look like Tom's in the picture where he has done all the background relief and then will do the modeling.   His work looks like it came out of a text book.   Mine looks more like a evolution (from primordial slime   to homo sapien) .   I would normally have carving in various stages of completions spread around the entire butt stock.   My work actually evolves.    I start with a design on paper, but it rarely looks exactly like that on the gun when I am finished.   I start with an idea and it evolves as I execute it.  You don't have to do this this way, but I thought that I would explain that different people have different processes and approaches.  I guess that is really obvious, but for some reason I felt compelled to explain all this.  

[Acer Saccharum]

Hey, Mark, my work evolves, too!

Even though it looks like you are talking way too much, you are bringing up very good points. You're talking about finer points of the process, which sometimes are not conscious to me during the build. In other words, thanks for bringing this up. 

I agree, it's a process of working one area into another, until you decide it's done, or sick of it.   While carving, as Mark talks about, I also do minor stock shaping. Stab the design, cut away background, then rasp and scrape everything smooth. At this point, I turn everything in a slanting light to see the contours. If I see a shadow line I don't like, or a hump or a hollow here or there, I scrape it to the proper contour.

cheekpiece in the early stages. I didn't know what size or where it was going to end up, so I left it large and long.



All those things happened with stock shaping, then carving, shaping, finishing.

[Ray Pennington]

Awesome!!