Carving or decorating

[Daryl Pelfrey]

Im af r aid to try relief carving on my 40 cal. The reaon is its looking to good to mess up with inferior carving. Would incised carving be alot easier? I will have patchbix on the right side and a star on the cheek piece. I use to put inlays on the foreatm but dont want v to over do it. Just the star. Im thinking a real simple carving behind the tang ,like just a design made with just a veining or v gouge i guess. If i were good at it i would love a nice relief carving but,,, not. Maybe something sjmple behind the cheek piece also , you know between cheek piece and butt end. Any sugestions. Maybe I can have the brass furniture engraved some at friendship this year.
So far im real happy with it although its nowhere close to the talent ive seen here.

[Marcruger]

I understand that well executed incised carving is more difficult than raised carving.  I am no wood carver, nor do I play one on TV.  I know a few folks who are pretty darned good at it though.   God Bless,  Marc

[M. E. Pering]

There is nothing wrong with a good looking plain rifle with no carving whatsoever.  If you love what you have now, then why try and improve upon something that doesn't need improving?  There is a fine line between wonderful and oops.

That being said, I don't think incise carving is easier for me, to the contrary, I think it might be a bit harder.  I have two veiners… one is a 30 degree, the other a 90.  But with both, it is difficult to control line width for me.  On the other hand, relief carving is easier for me, since line width is not a factor.  Engraving for me is also difficult for this same reason, though with engraving, the heel of the graver gives me a bit more control that I don't really have with a wood chisel.

But really... Practice is the answer.  Before I carved my first rifle, I had absolutely no experience in carving.  Except what I did on practice plates to do the carving.  I had my design, and knew what I wanted, so I took a couple pieces of the waste maple and did the design on those first to learn how.  I only had to use one of the plates, and it came out much better than expected.  I did this with a couple carvings after that, and then felt comfortable enough that I didn't think I needed to practice first anymore.  Today, I just draw the design on the stock and carve from there.  But if you are even slightly uncomfortable with your first, do try a practice plate just to learn the basics.  Carving and engraving are not difficult, but do require a bit of eye-hand coordination, which certainly can be developed with just a little bit of practice.

Matt

[smart dog]

Hi Daryl,
I urge you to push yourself and carve because how else will you get better?  However, don't touch your gun until you practice a lot on scrap wood until you are confident.  Incised carving is not easier than relief carving and if you botch the job there is no way to get rid of it.  At least with relief carving, you can usually file it off if it goes badly.

dave

[rfd]

some people are naturals at wood carving, like my dad was and he won awards. 

others might wanna think thrice before committing a chisel to good wood until they've assessed their talents with lotsa practice on the type of good wood to eventually be carved.

i like some carved, inlaid stocks.  most others are far too ornate for my tastes.  i prefer plain, functional gun stocks more than carved ones. 

so who cares but you, and that's all that should matter.

a feller here just finished a kibler kolonial and did a fine job.  a simple gun, no carving, in all it's intrinsic beauty, with the wood grain making its own natural statement ... my kinda gun ...

[Jeff Durnell]

I'm right there with you Daryl. I just started my first gun and the fitting, shaping, finishing, and mechanics of it aren't what worries me... well not so much... since they're related to things I've done before. But the carving and engraving? scares the bejesus out of me. I'm going to keep it simple, but I'm going to do it because if I don't, then I'll still have this same fear and apprehension on gun #2... and still no farther along with those skills or experience. I figure I have to get my feet wet eventually.

I'm going to continue to study the carving and engraving on guns, the tools and techniques, and practice until I feel I won't ruin the gun, I can live with the results of my efforts, and then I'm going to go for it. If I totally gaffe the carving, I'll rasp it off and have a smooth gun, and I'll start engraving parts that can be more easily replaced  but it IS my first, so I'm just going to do my best and then it is what it is.

I still have the first osage bow I made. Compared to my bows now, it looks hideous, but it's one of my most treasured because it represents the most important part of my journey.

Whatever you decide, do your best, and it'll be what it's supposed to be.

[Goo]

I would encourge you to make up some " practice blanks" and go Gang Busters on them.   Most of us usually mess up on the first couple pieces, at which point the carved practice blanks become a joyful learning situation to be proud of.

[Mike Brooks]

I find incised carving to be faster but just as difficult as raised carving. You ought to give Kibler a call and buy one of his practice buttstocks and try both types Also, copy some old existing carving. Draw it out till it's right then carve it in. If it doesn't look right on the practice stock when you're done you can rasp it off and do it again. That being said I never used a practice stock, I always just go for it, But I'm not a great carver like lots of these folks.

[Eric Krewson]

Nothing makes a gun look more amaturish than bad carving, I have resisted the urge to carve my guns because my practice pieces look lousy to me, maybe someday.......

[Daryl Pelfrey]

Thanks,,,, looks like i will start practicing fkr the next project

[Mr. Bubbles]

With raised carving, it starts out as incised carving wherein the background plain is removed and evened out.  I would suggest that you keep the mallet away from your chisels & stock until you are really good.  Just hand push with really small tools.  When making volutes & such it's really really easy to square off a portion and get an elbow here and there.  If you make really thin cuts (with incise carving) then you can go back and shave them off in one portion, and deepen them in others in order to even them out.  raised carving elbows can be shaved.  You can also sand down the whole surface, but there are some practical limits to this, just as there are for lowering the plain or tops on raised carving.  The most common novice mistake on raised carving is to make it too high.  1/32" is the norm, but if you can achieve your goals with it lower, by all means do so.  If it gets as high as 1/16" it will look really really high.

[BOB HILL]

As so many have already said, practice, practice, practice. Scrap wood is cheap enough. You won't be sorry down the road.
Bob

[Daryl]

I gave a huge monetary award for this incised carving. I just love it. 'Course, my favourite gun builder did the work.
His inletting is fairly well done too.

[Mike Lyons]

I’m not a pro at carving but I’ve tried each type.  Here’s my advice. Buy the Kibler practice kit. Find the design you like and study it.  Learn to draw your design exactly how you want it to look on your rifle. If you can’t draw it on there,  you’re going to have problems.   Keep the drawing on there a few days until you are satisfied. Post some pictures of your drawing and let the guys on here critique.  Don’t make deep cuts and don’t rush. Learn to sharpen your tools razor sharp. Add a few days to your expected finish time.  Post some more pictures for critique and ask lots of questions.