Patchbox Cavity

[TommyG]

After having a good look at Tom Caster's fine Schreit rifle, I got to thinking - in the patchbox cavity on originals, did they mostly square the corners? or leave 'em with the radius in place from the boring bit?  Or, is this something school or region specific?  When I go to shows, usually this is an area that I don't get to see much of, if at all.  I tend to think from a structural standpoint that the radius left in place would tend to be the stronger of the two.
What say you guys?

[Stophel]

I've seen them all squared up, and also squared with the pilot holes left in the bottom of the cavity from a center bit.  A few are round-bottomed, but these seem fairly specific.  I haven't heard of any evidence of the use of a spoon bit, other than perhaps (if I recall correctly) the brass barreled, cherry stocked rifle that EK wrote of some time ago, but this one is pretty unusual, with individual recesses apparently for balls.

[Nordnecker]

One little detail I've noticed on the originals I've had access to is a very small chamfer around the edge of the cavity. Where the chamfer goes from the long edge to the round, there is a "chip" cut out. It is just small chisel cut that removes the long grain splinter where the round meets the square. I don't have a picture of what I'm describing.

[Bob Roller]

As long as it's big enough to keep a candy bar in should be OK.
Bob Roller

[t.caster]

I guess I've seen them both ways!

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

I square up the corners of the box after the Forstner bit has removed the bulk of the wood.  I leave the point marks in the bottom.

[heinz]

A center bit leaves a different looking hole than a Forstner bit.  Close but different.  I like to drill about 3/4 of the way with the center bit and then clean the holes off the bottom with a hand chisel or just cut them with a gouge and a chisel.  It really does not take long.