Buttstock beading

[ltdann]

I've been studying pictures of butt stocks lately.   I've noticed the beading line above the toe plate is sometimes different between some rifles.

Some are parallel  to the line of the stock and others seem wide near the butt plate and then narrow towards the trigger guard.  I like the look of that.

I'd planned to make a scratch block to that make that line, but unsure how to achieve that narrowing.  Ideas?

Which is the correct way, parallel or tapered?

[David Rase]

Tapered!  I can't recall seeing any that were parallel.
David

[ltdann]

Maybe it was the angle of the photos.

The butt stock curves gently from the butt plate to the trigger guard area, how to do you make a curved tapered bead?  I can't wrap my head around that.  Probably not enough coffee.

[SingleMalt]

I lay it out with masking tape, mark with a pencil and start cutting after I'm happy with it.  Getting both sides the same is the hard part!

[ltdann]

using a v-gouge maybe?   I was hoping to use a scratch stock.  Was thinking maybe laying a long metal strip along the bottom as a guide, with a quarter inch shim at the but plate.  Not sure that'll work...for that matter not sure it won't.

[Scota4570]

I used to do quite a bit of checkering of modern guns. For cutting borders and inset strips I found a really good way.  I use DYMO plastic label material for this.  It is just the right size, follows curves, not too sticky, and makes a good fence to cut against.  I have also taped pieces of measring tape to the stock to get the same effect.   I would start the line with a safe side v-cutter checkering tool. I would deepend it with a regular checkering tool. 

A veining tool will not cut a straight line.     Then again I have seen some pretty poor cross hatching that tried to be checkering on old rifles.  Maybe they never used checkering tools as we know them today?  IT might be more authentic to do the rustic job on purpose.  I don't know.

[Cuboodle]

I used a straight edge and laid out lines tapering to the bow in the trigger guard. I used a few different sized gouges then a 10 inch rat tail file then sand paper on short dowel sections. There are 100s of pictures on this site not to mention the books we have or should have.
Matt

[rich pierce]

Could double stick tape a tapered flexible wooden slat to the toe line. Take the guard off of course.

[L. Akers]

Watched a gunsmith at Williamsburg lay out and cut a toe-line.  He used a scratch-awl and a straight-edge for the majority of the length and free-handed the curved part to the triggerguard.  Then he used a knife to follow the line and then a chisel to relieve the upper side of the knife-cut.

[ltdann]

Watched a gunsmith at Williamsburg lay out and cut a toe-line.  He used a scratch-awl and a straight-edge for the majority of the length and free-handed the curved part to the triggerguard.  Then he used a knife to follow the line and then a chisel to relieve the upper side of the knife-cut.

I watched a guy draw a line along the edge a board using his finger as a guide....It was like magic, couldn't tell it wasn't done with a straight edge.  That's a skill I don't possess.  Anything that helps take the chance of error out of the equation is for me.!

[flehto]

I just pencil in the molding edge freehand...mainly because of the curved toeline on the Bucks County LRs. Although I do the same w/ a straight toeline on the Lancasters.

An Xacto knife then cuts on the line and a 1/2" straight chisel removes the background wood......Fred

[smart dog]

Hi Lt Dan,
I mark out the line completely freehand.  I hold my pencil with my thumb and fore finger and use my middle finger as a guide against the bottom of the stock.  Years ago, that was all good carpenters needed to draw decorative borders.  As I draw the line up the stock, I angle it toward the bottom using my middle finger as the guide.  When you have the skills, this goes very fast and efficiently.  Then I cut the line using a Dem-Bart checkering tool, which is a combination cutter and file.  I learned these skills from my father who learned them from my great grandfather who was a master carpenter and builder.

dave

[David Rase]

I draw this molding on freehand as well.  I mark the height at the butt and the end point at the wrist and then pencil in a line between the two.  I then stab in the molding with my chisels, relieve the background with a carving knife and then edit the final shape of the molding and smooth out the background with a file.
David

[ltdann]

Like I said....Magic.  I must be pencil challenged.

[WadePatton]

Watched a gunsmith at Williamsburg lay out and cut a toe-line.  He used a scratch-awl and a straight-edge for the majority of the length and free-handed the curved part to the triggerguard.  Then he used a knife to follow the line and then a chisel to relieve the upper side of the knife-cut.

I watched a guy draw a line along the edge a board using his finger as a guide....It was like magic, couldn't tell it wasn't done with a straight edge.  That's a skill I don't possess.  Anything that helps take the chance of error out of the equation is for me.!

Watch Paul Sellers' furniture-making videos.  He's amazing with the fingers-guided pencil line.  I'm gradually learning to do it properly, and Paul's example is what convinced me that it's _not magic_!  That mortals can do it.

-like anything else, get the fundamentals down and practice (practice practice practice) and speed/accuracy comes.  I'm still working on accurate, but have no fear that sooner or later I may be able to approach the task as nonchalantly as Mr. Sellers does.

[PPatch]

using a v-gouge maybe?   I was hoping to use a scratch stock.  Was thinking maybe laying a long metal strip along the bottom as a guide, with a quarter inch shim at the but plate.  Not sure that'll work...for that matter not sure it won't.

A scratch stock is kind of iffy performance wise, especially if you are not used to using one, and, it will only do a parallel line which you do not want.

I mark the beginning up near the triggers then the rear and use a #2 pencil to draw the intended molding line. Don't like it? Use the other end of the pencil to remove it, and redraw your line until you do like it. Hold your pencil at an angle to the wood as you draw, you only want a faint line, try and not let the pencil point leave an impression in the wood.

I then very carefully use a sharp knife along my line, lightly, it does not need to be a deep cut, you are only scoring the line. Next is a vernier, a V tool used with a 1lb wooden mallet driven lightly and slowly along "up" side of the line. After that I use a checkering cutter to even out the cut and deepen it. You should now have the beginning of a nice even butt molding tapered the way you intended.

Another way to get that initial line is to clamp a thin strip of flexible wood (any material that works, plastic, whatever) in the butt plate area, then just flexing the wood with one hand draw your line with the other.

dave

[ltdann]

I just pencil in the molding edge freehand...mainly because of the curved toeline on the Bucks County LRs. Although I do the same w/ a straight toeline on the Lancasters.

An Xacto knife then cuts on the line and a 1/2" straight chisel removes the background wood......Fred

Fred,

I absolutely love the color of your stock.  In my mind, its the perfect tint of red to accent the details.  How'd you achieve that?  I'm a long way from staining but I try and visual the entire process of a project and I've just decide that color is for me.

[Long John]

I'm not as skilled as some of my friends here.  

I mark the lower surface of the butt with a pencil in fourths or eighths and then measure up each side of the butt the distance I want and mark the side of the butt.  These marks give me a set of target distances along the bottom edge of the butt stock.  With these target marks along the lower edge of the butt in place, I then use the pencil method Dave described, coaxing my pencil point to each successive target mark.  This gives me a line for a nice smooth, tapering lower butt molding.  

I use a veiner (V-chisel) to cut the edge of the molding and then very shallow curved gouge to pare away the background.

Best Regards,

John Cholin

[flehto]

ltdann....sent you a PM but didn't mention that a darker aqua fortis or ferric nitrate application might come close to the pictured color. Wood when stained can be very unpredictable and the Wampler "Super Stains" are able to correct this, even though a finish has been applied..  Sorry that these stains are no longer available....Fred   

[Jerry V Lape]

I think there are a few builders who did not taper the accent line along the bottom of their stocks.  Just looked at several  Bonewitz and Reedy photos which seem to be parallel to the bottom line of the stock.  Their accent is a pair of parallel lines which is also different from most.