Lock inlet problem

[Uncle Alvah]

On my first build, I have the lock plate inletted and the cross bolt installed. With the pan fitted squarely against the barrel, the rear of the lock plate is nearly flush with the stock surface, but the front of the lock is almost 1/4" lower. The two "shelves' upon which the lock sits down in the mortise are almost exactly the same depth from the surface. Frankly, I'm not completely understanding what is happening here. Because I am so disappointed in my work, I hesitate to post pics, but I will to get the good info I need. Note, I am aware the lock needs to come forward slightly, and I can fix that. Its this plate situation I'm especially interested in figuring out.

[Sawfiler]

First look appears that your tools could use a good sharpening so they cut instead of tear the wood.

Please don't worry about posting pictures. The folks on here are nice enough that they want to help you learn and there's nothing embarassing about trying.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

With the lock fully bottomed, bolster against the barrel, shave off all the wood that is above the bevel of the plate.  You can do this if your chisels are super sharp, or use a sanding block with the plate removed.  Most of that torn out inlet will disappear, and it won't look nearly as rough.  I usually do this job using a gouge to cut away a few areas down to the lock plate's bevel, then remove the plate and sand the rest down to the gouge cuts.

[rich pierce]

If the bolster is flat against the barrel you need to plane the stock down so the wood is not making the lock look like it is in a hole. The wood gets trimmed down so it is right at where the lock bevel is.

You may be thinking the stock is supposed to be at finished dimensions. It is not.
I would expect to have to take more wood off the front of the lock panel than at the rear.

What Taylor said. We were posting at the same time.

[Kingsburyarms]

Thanks for the pictures - No worries - we were and are all there at some point - It's like the Dr's office, you gotta show them what hurts, and all they want to do is fix the issue, I don't think anyone on this sight has not seen or fixed all sorts of "issues"

When you say "Cross Bolt" is that the bolt under the barrel from the lock plate to the side plate? Did you drill and tap the lock plate?

So What I would do is:

1) Take out the lock plate and see if there is any bend in it. make sure it's flat
2) If you did drill and tap that front bolt, you will have a hard time moving the plate forward.
3) Are you pulling the plate inward by really tightening the forward bolt?
4) Are you pulling the plate against the barrel by really tightening the upper bolt next to the pan?

Either something is bent, the stock has much more wood on the front than the back of the lock plate (like the others said, a good thing, as you can remove it) or you are tightening the plate so much it's pulling inward (tough to do, as it would probably strip the bolt before bending the plate).  Can we see the other side where the brass plate goes (and the heads of the bolts)?

Thanks

Jon

[KentSmith]

At this point I take the lock panel down to just proud of the lock plate bevel.  I assume I will bugger the panel up later during the rest of the build so I leave a little bit extra wood on then sand off with a sanding block and the plate out as Taylor and Rich write above.  Things will look a lot better when you get the wood down at least to the level of the plate, and as Rich said you will need to remove more wood from the front of the lock panel than the rear.

Keep your chisels scary sharp.  Safer and more efficient that way.

[Uncle Alvah]

make sure it's flat

I checked that, it is.

Are you pulling the plate inward by really tightening the forward bolt?

No forward bolt.

Are you pulling the plate against the barrel by really tightening the upper bolt next to the pan?

I have been very diligent about not over-tightening the screw.

By cross bolt I am referring to the single screw from the left backplate through the lug and into the plate whuich I have drilled and tapped.

[PPatch]

That I can see you don't really have a problem with the seemingly buried nose. Do what Taylor and Rich recommend, thin that lock panel down until the wood is equal to the lower edge of the bevel on the lock. You will then want to use the lockside panel as your guide for the offside panel. Come off your centerline so you made both panels as even as possible.

At this point the nose appears too deep for a reason, it is supposed to be - because the longrifle architecture shows a slight flare at the tail of the panels. Looking at the top the nose of your lock panels will be somewhat thinner than the tails of the panels which flair outward from nose to tail. In other words the tail sticks out a bit further than the nose. It does this because that was the style in those days.

If you look hard enough you can see how the tails of the lock panels flair out wider in this photograph.



One of your problems is that ash stock with its alternating hard and soft grain which make it difficult to cut cleanly. We told you about that when you were asking about maple vs ash for a first build. Sharp sharp chisels will help but ash resistes being cut cleanly. I have seen folks here swear off ever doing another ash stock after one try.

dave

[flinchrocket]

Alvah, I couldn't tell by the picture, but sometimes this could be from a precarved stock tor a straight barrel that has a swamped barrel inlet into it making the lock and side plate panels on a different plane than the side of the barrel. Hope that made sense.
   I would start by thinning the wood down along the barrel to 1/8 " Begin 3/4" in front of the lock and go all the way to the muzzle on each side. Keep the sides square with the barrel. This will lessen the amount of wood on the panels to deal with and has to be done at some point and now is as good as any.

[Uncle Alvah]

One of your problems is that ash stock with its alternating hard and soft grain which make it difficult to cut cleanly. We told you about that when you were asking about maple vs ash for a first build.

Indeed I was told, and the advice was appreciated even if not heeded. I planned to build one Longrifle and one Longrifle only and ash was what I wanted the stock to be. If I was starting over, I would still select ash. If I was starting on another rifle, I'd never go with it again.
If the Good Lord allows it, there will be a second rifle build, one that I inherited. 42" H&H swamped .54 barrel with a MAPLE stock!

[retired fella]

Consider saving your wood chips to dress up your gap areas.  If properly done it should not be noticeable.  Keep at it, you'll get there.

[Eric Krewson]

I do a lot of gap filling so I know it can be done well and not show. A couple of days ago my toe plate shifted without me knowing it resulting in a bad outline for my inletting and subsequent gaps.

I planed off a couple of shavings from some walnut scrap, wet them in water, ironed them completely flat and dry with a hot iron, trimmed them to size and glued them in with superglue. I let my super glue get a little tacky before I put the shim in the inlet. I put beeswax on the part so it won't stick to the superglue and use the part in the inlet to clamp the shim in place.

Betcha' cant find the two shims in this inlet, temporary screws of course;