Inlays, order of operations

[Scota4570]

German silver cheekpiece inlay, the material sold by Track.  Aquafortis stain, Laural Mountain forge, probably some dye stain, then  linseed and varnish for finish. 

Should I affix the inlay, final sand, stain, finish.  This would be nice since the sanding dust fills andy tiny gaps making the inltting look better.

Or, final sand, remove the inlay, stain, then put it on permanantly, then top coat.  My concern is the stain eating the inlay and discoloring the nearby wood.   

Happy holliday,

Thanks all,

Scot

 

[Mark Elliott]

Right or wrong,  I always do the final scraping, whiskering, staining, and finishing with the mounts/inlays in place.   I take iron mounts off after staining for their finishing.   As brass and silver usually don't get any sort of color treatment,  I would just clean them in place, if necessary, after the final wood finishing is done.   Ballistol will take the worst of tarnish off brass or silver almost instantly without harming the wood.  

If finishing involves wetting the stock with water, all inlays and mounts must be in place for that to avoid having the inlets close up so that you can't get the inlay or mount back in without more cutting.   A word of warning,  make sure that all inlays/mounts, or the bevels thereof, are flush with the wood and NOT even the slightest bit below the surface.   Scrape along the edges to make sure all is flush and level.   Wood above an inlay can swell over the inlay causing a chip out when the inlay, such as a patchbox finial, is removed.   Been there, done that, and it is a real bummer when it happens.  

Along those same lines,  mounts should just drop in a stock without forcing them.   This is critical for the barrel/tang, set triggers and lock.   If these things are tight,  it will shorten the life of the stock.    All stocks shrink over time.   If they haven't air dried for a number of years before you use it,  it will shrink even more.   When the stock shrinks around the barrel,  the forearm splits, and you can even get splits down the center of the barrel channel right to the breech.   I have seen antiques with stocks that look like they exploded where the barrel was inlet particularly tight.   You can never put them back together right.  You have to glue in a linen strip to hold everything together.   Just some advice, if you want your gun to still be around in 200 years.

[Ed Wenger]

Scot, for what it's worth....  I was taught to typically stain with the inlay in the stock.  The reason being is that their pinned to affix them to the stock.  To do that, the heads of the pins are typically filed off, and that would be difficult on a finished stock.  Also difficult if there's engraving on the inlay.  Because of that, I inlet, pin, file/sand, engrave, then finish the stock.  Also, sometimes you can get little "dimples" in the inlay where the pins go, and their usually fairly easy to file/sand out, but would be problematic to do with a finished stock.  

I guess it would be different if the inlay was somehow glued in place, or the heads of the pins/brads aren't filed off...  I've never had a problem with the stain eating an inlay or silver/brass wire.  I don't think German silver would be any different.

Interested to see how others approach this.  Best,


        Ed

[JDK]

If you are in doubt take some of the scrap and apply the aqua fortis to it, let it sit for a few minutes and see if there are any ill effects.

I can't speak for German silver either as I haven't considered using it as it was not commonly in use on guns until later in the 19th century than the period I am interested in.  That being said, like Mark and Ed, all brass and sterling silver inlays stay in place and I have had NO problems, even when using ferric nitrate as a medium to change the color of the wood.

The FN, like AF, is only on there long enough to soak in and dry before it's blushed with heat and neutralized.  The mixture doesn't appear to be acidic enough to bother the inlays.

Enjoy, J.D.

[Pete G.]

A properly installed inlay is pinned in place and worked down flush with the stock. You will never be able to remove it and re-install it in a manner that looks right.