Stock shaping advice needed

[conquerordie]

One area Im never happy with on my stocks  is the transition area at the rear entry pipe. How does everyone shape this area gracefully? I'm specifically talking about what you see when viewing a rifle or fowler from the side. The wood is gaining some thickness as it transitions from the upper and lower forearm, you have the rear pipe inletted, and somehow it needs to all flow. I miss the mark every time. This will be  on a New England long fowler. Any tips, techniques, and tools used would,be very helpful. Thanks again,
Greg

[Daryl]

I would think it is simply gun style specific. Some have no swelling, gently tapering smaller, while others have almost a schnabble-bubble  like early Brown Bess and of course, most everything in between the two extremes.

[smart dog]

Hi Greg,
A lot depends on the style of gun and of course the shape of the rear thimble tang.  On the NE fowler below, the wood is simply tapered in to the thimble tang, evenly but with no special care or shape as long as the contours fit with the thimble.  My original English fowler is done that way as well.  No special treatment.


On this reading rifle, the transition has a slight bulbous appearance.  It is not a swelling like a brown bess musket, just a convex rounding of the step down from the forearm to the ramrod channel.



Much depends on the style.  Some styles have a sharp crease at the transition, but of course all styles are constrained by the shape of the thimble.

dave 

[n stephenson]

As Daryl and Dave have stated it is different from style to style. If I could find them, I would post the pics I took at the CLA of these. I too ,wasn't satisfied with this transition area for a long time. Until I saw quite a few different looks in this area of the stocks on old guns. Heck ! there are a bunch of different shapes just in the Southern made guns alone. It`s always fun to see a treatment on an original that you haven't seen before. 

[conquerordie]

So on past builds when I shape this area, I usually shape down to the ramrod channel first, then the area after the entry pipe. I usually shape the wood of the upper forestock right up to the entry so my transition or blending of the two seems to happen slightly behind the entry in the stock. Maybe if I start a little earlier like 1/4" or so sooner with the blending it might look better? I just woke up and haven't had my coffee yet so not sure if I'm making sense. Dave, your pic is pretty much what I see in the original I'm copying, and have been using your build as a source on inspiration. What tools do you usually use for this area? Thanks again guys,
Greg

[Mark Elliott]

Greg,

I am not going to claim that my transitions are perfect, but they are passable.   The way I approach them is to shape the transition before the area in front and back of it.   Once started,  I work the areas just to either side of the transition.    It use this approach because I need to flow my rasp, file, or scraper from the transition area into the areas on either side of it.    I don't know if that helps you or not.    I mention it because it seems to be different than your approach.   

Mark

[conquerordie]

Any new ideas to me are a big help Mark, thank you!
Greg