thumb/escutcheon plates

[The other DWS]

dumb newbee-type question here.    How are they commonly attached.     I'm considering one on my rifle project and one for the pistol when I get to it.

I have seen some that have a post on the back that could be inletted drilled and pinned, but I am a mite reluctant to do anything to weaken what may be the most high-stress part of the arm.

[Mike Gahagan]

Some are held on by small silver or brass pins(depending on what your plate is made of)or by a screw into the post from under the trigger guard like you mentioned.If you use a 6x32 or 6x40 screw it will not weaken the wrist,so don`t worry about that happening.

[Swampwalker]

I would say the most common method is to use pins.  If you make up some pins of the same material as the escutcheon, when filed and finished, they won't be very visible.

[Acer Saccharum]

Yep, screwed or nailed.

If you use a screw from underneath, you need a threaded boss on the underside of the escutcheon. Silver solder that on.

A treatise on nailing inlays: http://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=15.0

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

Tom's tutorial is excellent.  He goes to a lot of trouble to make great silver pins.  What a guy!
You can make your pins out of the 'mother' material, or make them from brass, copper or steel escutcheon pins.  I've used Buchele's great book over many years for instruction on 'how to' jobs in building longrifles and pistols, not having anyone else to show me how, and certainly, no internet.  I drilled a hole into a 1/4" thick piece of steel to allow the escutcheon nails to pass to the head, which is domed.  I countersunk the hole, and tapped the escutcheon nail into the countersink to form the head to exactly the same shape as the countersink in the inlay.  I cut little barbs on the nail with a sharp knife, and when they are driven into a pre-drilled hole they are there to stay.  No glue is needed under the inlay.  Here's a series of pics I took when I built my Kuntz rifle.  This thumb plate is pure silver .050" thick, because that's what I had.  There are four brass nails holding it down.  That wrist is very small, and is lots strong enough.
A picture tells a thousand words, and is infinitely more interesting, so here you go...

[Tom Currie]

Acer ( Tom ), Since you mentioned it, once a threaded boss is soldered on to a thumbplate how in the world would you accuately drill a hole for the screw so that it lines up with the threads ? Heck even RCA 53 by W Antes looks like the thumbplate is canted a bit by the screw hole being a little off. ( Notice what appears to be a slight gap on the end that is closest to the barrel tang )

[JDK]

Once your thumb piece is inletted take it out and drill from the center of the hole down.  Easier than trying to drip up blind and to hit it.  j.m.2.c.  J.D.

[Jim Kibler]

The hole can be easily drilled with one of the jigs or setups commonly used to drill the tang bolt hole.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

Re:  Wm Antes # 53...I expect I'll have small gaps too, when I'm 200 years old!  There might be a little shrinkage here and there.

[Tom Currie]

Maybe I'm overthinking it a bit but lock bolt and threads and tang bolt threads are cut through the already drilled hole so the screw threads in properly. Not sure that can be done this a boss soldered on the thumbplate.

[Jim Kibler]

It's really not too much trouble, Tom.  If a little care is taken in drilling and tapping the thumbpiece and then aligning and drilling the hole, everything should work out fine.  You can also drill the hole in the wood and then drill the hole in the thumbpiece by inserting the drill from the bottom of the wrist.  In this case it may help to start with a slightly undersized hole in the thumbpiece before drilling in this fashion.  It can also be tapped through the stock.

[The other DWS]

could it not be lug pinned side to side with fine stiff music wire and the holes plugged with matching wood dutchmen.  Its not like it needs to come out like a lock or barrel?

 I'd think that a fine stiff wire would weaken the stock less than another screw hole----though come to think of it.  if the crewe was tapped into the lug on the back of the escutcheon plate it might actually serve as a reinforcement against a horizontal crack in the wrist

[kutter]

Alot of initial plates on European shotguns and rifles are installed by soldering to a wood screw already installed in the stock.

Once the oval/shield what-ever shape thumpiece or toe line initial plate is inletted, a hole is drilled in the center of the inlet for a wood screw to be turned in.
The screw should have it's head rounded side to side to match the stock profile first,,then screwed into place so it's just below the level of the plate when in place.

Tin the back of the plate and the screw head with a soldering iron.
You can be a bit generous with the tinning operation, as a perfect metal to metal fit/contact isn't really possible w/o alot of work,,nor is it necessary. That's what makes this method work so nicely.

Place the plate in position and again with the soldering iron heat the plate fron the outside. The solder will melt and fuse together between the back side of the plate and the screw and hold it in position.
Any gap between the two will be joined by the solder, more than sufficiently strong to hold the plate into place.

The wood won't burn with the use of a soldering iron,,and the soldering itself in place takes only a couple of seconds to complete.
The entire operation is rather quick to accomplish.

[smart dog]

Hi Tom,
You can thread the boss 2 ways.  First, you can drill and tap a hole through the boss before you solder it on the back of the escutcheon.  Obviously the boss must be sufficiently deep to hold about 4 or more threads.  The second way is to solder the boss, drill a blind hole and then start threads with a non-tapered plug tap and then finish them with a bottoming tap.  No need to have a hole drilled all the way through.

I enjoy casting small objects so when I make a thumbplate, I usually cast it and if using a screw through the wrist, I would cast the plate with the boss in place. Then drill and tap a blind hole. 

dave

[porchdog48]

Question from a new builder. I have several pieces of ivory and was wondering if this would be a period correct material, and if so how to fasten it to the stock other than glue?
Dave

[smart dog]

Hi Porchdog,
Why are you concerned about glue?  In the 16th-18th centuries, ivory, bone, and mother of pearl were attached with hide glue.  Ivory is less prone to splintering compared with m-o-p and bone but drilling a hole for pins is very tricky and unnecessary.  One caution, simple round, diamond, and rectangular shapes in ivory or bone are easy to inlet, however, more intricate shapes need great care.  You cannot tap or push ivory, bone, or m-o-p in with a lot of force or it will break.  Gentile finger pressure is the key, so your inlet has to be very clean and the edges exactly fitting the inlay.  You cannot slightly undersize the inlet and force the piece in place. 

dave

[Tim Crosby]

Taylor,
  What are you using for jaw pads there?

  Thanks, Tim C.