wrist, lock panel area

[jim m]

this area on my 1st build just don't look right to my inexperienced eye but can't figure out what.

measurements are 7/8 barrel, width at lock panels 1 1/8" and width at wrist 1 1/16"

[northmn]

One thing that jumps out at me is the fact that the wrist depth is thicker at the comb than at the tang (or appears to be)  Normally that is tapered down to less than 1 1/2 inch in depth.  While it could be claimed as an individual style it still does not look right to me.   The bottom border of the lock mortise is also thicker in front of the cock than at the tail of the lock.  Also the border is thicker at the top of the tail than at the bottom.  It looks like you had a lock mortise area and inletted the lock rather than form the area around the lock.  Also the rounding of the rear of the lock mortise does not flow such that its center points down the center of the wrist.  No one of them by itself would make it look too off, but the combination is what grabbed you.  These ascetic conventions we use make sense for that reason.

DP

[Dennis Glazener]

 
I don't know if this helps or not. Its the way I do my lock panels. I am working on them now and will thin them a little more before I finish up.
Dennis

[rich pierce]

A couple more pictures would help.  Depending on the angle, some things appear to be the case but are illusions.

You want a consistent flowing width to the lock panels above and below; you want the tail of the lock panel molding to center on the wrist; you want the taper from the breech to be part of an arc like on a C-scroll that varies in radius along its length.  That arc should start out straight  (tangential) at the barrel breech and increase some in radius toward the comb on a curved-wristed stock.

[J.D.]

Jim, It's hard to tell by the photo, but it appears that the tang is straight and the curve of the wrist begins behind the tang.

The tang needs to be bent to match the contour of the wrist to eliminate that little bit of a hump that appears to be at the back of the tang.

More photos of the side profile of that area would help.

[jim m]

thanks for the replies, been taking a close look and I think everyone spotted something [never said I was good]. northmn made a comment about the thickness at the comb and tang being different. took the measurements and yes it is thicker at the comb than at the tang. kind of gives it that long neck goose look, think this is what I was seeing. it gives the impression that the wrist is way to long . so many little things really make a big difference. think I'm going to name this one the Doctor[Doc for short] for she has surely taught me a lot and continues to do so

[J.D.]

Don't worry about being good. Most of us aren't, but we get better as we absorb the information shared on this forum. Your next attempt will be much better than the last, so just focus on how to improve your work.

Viewing good photos of originals is a good way to get a feel for good architecture if you don't have access to the guns in the flesh, so to speak...and few of us do.

The American Historic services page has quite a few photos of very nice originals, as well as some good contemporary pieces.

http://www.americanhistoricservices.com/html/home.html

Gary Brumfield's  page also has lots of information on originals and very good contemporary pieces for your viewing pleasure.

http://www.flintriflesmith.com/

Eric Kettenburg's page has LOTS and LOTS of information too.

http://web.mac.com/kettenburgs/iWeb/Site/Home.html

Reading about these old guns and building them can become addicting, and the only way to feed that addiction is to read and learn all you can, from whatever source you can. And this forum is one of the best sources available.
good luck,
J.D.

 

[Tom Currie]

measurements are 7/8 barrel, width at lock panels 1 1/8" and width at wrist 1 1/16

Jim, Even for a slim 7/8 barrel the lock panel width should seem to be a bit wider 1 1/8. The problem is that with your 1 1/8 lock panel  the wrist width has be to less ( as your is )  and is extremely thin at 1 1/16. Now I don't know southern rifles well but most PA rifles minimum wrist width is 1 3/16 - 1 1/4. A bit wider lock panel would provide for better architecture.

Several things can be done to provide lock panel width ( such as flaring out the lock panels slighty.

I know these width measurements don't show in your photo ( a top down one would ) but they sort of jumped out at me.

I'm basically a PA rifle student and part time builder certainly not Southern rifle expert, so if a Southern Builder wants to correct me , please do.