Stock carving...?

[Bigmon]

Anyone know of an archives or places that may show various stock carving details?  I been searching all over builders web sites, and anywhere I can think of for ideas.
There are some great examples to see, but nothing yet that has caught my eye that I think I am able to use, either my imagination or my talent as a carver is lacking, along with confidance.
I was at Lewisburg and saw a lot of good ideas that I think I could simplify and do, but didn't get any photos as they are not allowed.
I don't want to copy someones work, but I want something that looks like it could belong on a long rifle.
Thanks to all

[Stophel]

You need to look at original guns to see what is appropriate for whatever style of gun you are wanting,  not someone's modern reproduction, which may or may not be anywhere near right.

[Chowmi]

^^^^^^^
What Stophel said!!

Although its tough to make out detail in some of the photos, RCA Vol I,II are great resources for getting a good idea of what carving should look like overall.

Also, the KRA photo CDs have great pictures and you can zoom in and see more detail. 

The more originals (either in photo or real life) you see, the better feel for it you will get. 

Norm

[Ky-Flinter]

I was discussing stock carving design with Gary Brumfield at a CLA show years ago and he suggested looking at a US dollar bill for scroll and fern tendril ideas.  There's a lot of ideas there.

-Ron

[Scota4570]

"Engraving Historic Firearms" By J. Schippers has lot of quality photos of carving as well as engraving.

"I was at Lewisburg and saw a lot of good ideas that I think I could simplify and do, but didn't get any photos as they are not allowed."

How frustrating. I can not imagine why they would make such a rule. It seems ridiculous to me.   

[Mauser06]

Between RCA, Longrifle Notes, and the KRA discs, you'd have plenty of original work to look at.  Yes some pics aren't great and you don't get to SEE every little thing through pics...


I'm still struggling to learn carving and design.  For me, it's been helping but realizing you can break a lot of the carving down into simper elements.  A lot of it is just added to basic elements.  Volutes and scrolls and such.


I also have all the above resources plus some others....a bit of an investment...but they certainly help through the build process. 


There's some carving videos on the market too...I have Jim Turpin's set on decorating longrifles.  They've helped me understand the design and process.   He actually shows how to break it down and then add more complex elements to it simply. 

[TommyG]

x2 for Schippers book and original work.  Schippers book is a treasure trove of designs, c scrolls, tendrils, etc..  IMO studying original work(actual pieces) is probably the best thing one could do to gain perspective on how the carving was executed, i.e.- depth, background relief, etc..

[JTR]

Take a look at this one made by S. Miller. He made lots of guns, most with simple carving of the sort shown in the link. He was a late flint/ percussion period maker.
Auction website are a great place to search as well. For specific area carving/styles, the KRA DVD's can't be beat!

http://pre1900.blogspot.com/2018/04/a-simple-but-elegant-longrifle-signed-s.html