Question about barrel inletting

[Cory Joe Stewart]

Hello all,

I am about to inlet my first barrel by hand.  By that I mean chisels, gouges and a plane.  I am also planning on using the "rail system" where two strips of metal are attached to the stock marking the profile of the barrel. 

Here are the questions or the ponderings that have come up in my research:

#1. In Peter Alexander's book he shows that the barrel is inlet from the very top of the stop blank and down to the final depth.  By this I mean the profile of the rifle is not cut at this time.  I think this leaves a little room for error but you are also removing a lot of material that will eventually be cut a way with the profile which means more inletting work to be done. 

#2. In the video of Wallace Gussler inletting a barrel at Williamsburg, he has already cut the profile of the stock, thus only inletting the barrel to the depth it will be seated at in the finished product.  This would mean not as much inletting as the above mentioned method, but not nearly as much room for error. 

Is there a preferred method here, do any of you have experience with either method?

Coryjoe

[sz]

Here is a tutorial I did some years ago.
I hope it will help you.
http://blackpowderfa.proboards.com/thread/194/left-hand-lehigh

[Long John]

I have let in a bunch of barrels by hand into a blank.  I DO NOT USE RAILS.  I think they are a waste of time and effort.  If you want a copy of the MSWord document that I have sent to a bunch of members here just email me.

I profile out the blank first cutting about 1/16th inch above the line for the top of the stock where the barrel goes.    If you don't do this then you are cutting a much deeper groove and that is much more work and harder to keep the walls of the inlet vertical for a nice tight fit to the barrel.  Remember that you have to leave some wood at the breech for the transition from the top surface along-side the breech tang down to the top of the stock that has the barrel groove.

When I profile out the stock I leave about 1/4 inch extra along the bottom of the stock.  This is to help deal with ramrod drill run-out if it occurs.

I use a customized saw for cutting the sides and bottom corners, mallet and chisels for cutting out the groove and then scrapers to finish out the bottom to octagon.  There are lots of folks that have machines that can let in the barrel for you.  They are all fine folks and do good work.  But I am a hobby builder.  Why pay some one else to have the fun for me?

Good luck.  Approach the job of letting in the barrel as an adventure, not a chore that must be gotten through, and it will be great!

Best Regards,

John Cholin

[E.vonAschwege]

You definitely don't want to inlet the barrel through the entire blank - you'll have more to remove and less control as you do so.  Lay out your lines for the whole gun on the stock and bandsaw about 1/16 to 1/8 above where you want your finished line to be.  Don't cut the wood away from the ramrod side, as it will give the stock stiffness as you inlet the barrel.  I use a drill press and depth stop to drill out side by side holes the length of the barrel channel to the depth marked on the stock.  The centerline then gets hogged out enough to lay the barrel in place, and then I mark sides.  The rest is personal preference - some folks cut the sides first and then bring the bottom to final depth - I do the opposite, and then bring the sides to final fit last (I also don't use rails, again, personal preference)  Good luck!  Have fun and pay attention to the direction of the grain before hogging out big chunks  . 
-Eric

[Cory Joe Stewart]

Good information everyone. Thanks.

Coryjoe

[Cory Joe Stewart]

The process that you have described is similar to what has been in my mind.  I will keep you all posted.  It is going to be a while yet.  Just getting all of my research in.

Coryjoe

You definitely don't want to inlet the barrel through the entire blank - you'll have more to remove and less control as you do so.  Lay out your lines for the whole gun on the stock and bandsaw about 1/16 to 1/8 above where you want your finished line to be.  Don't cut the wood away from the ramrod side, as it will give the stock stiffness as you inlet the barrel.  I use a drill press and depth stop to drill out side by side holes the length of the barrel channel to the depth marked on the stock.  The centerline then gets hogged out enough to lay the barrel in place, and then I mark sides.  The rest is personal preference - some folks cut the sides first and then bring the bottom to final depth - I do the opposite, and then bring the sides to final fit last (I also don't use rails, again, personal preference)  Good luck!  Have fun and pay attention to the direction of the grain before hogging out big chunks  . 
-Eric

[Curtis]

Lots of good advice here.  Steve, that is an excellent tutorial for certain!!!  Thanks for posting the link.

Curtis

[Acer Saccharum]

Just be very wary as you let the barrel in that you keep it going in straight down. If you cant it a little, you get false black markings that look like high spots. So you then pare them off, and end up with gaps.

How do I know this? 

[Tom Currie]

I like to inlet the barrel into the forestock before I remove much of the bulk of the stock. Much easier for me to do with the stock being stiffer than flexible after removing  mass.

No rails here either.