When to whisker?

[Firelock]

This will be the first gun I've done any carving on. Do you whisker the stock before carving, after carving or both?

[mjm46@bellsouth.net]

I whisker after all my inlays are in and before any carving is done. I never whisker over the carving.

[t.caster]

I scrape after final shaping and again after relieving the background of my carving. Scraping is whiskering.

[Acer Saccharum]

Walnut definitely needs whiskering.

Maple, I stain with aqua fortis, and then steel wool the grain down a bit. Subsequent stainings might raise the grain, but I also do a lot of burnishing of the stock, and handling. By the time I'm done, there are very few whiskers left on the stock.