John Hills rifle

[Bob Gerard]

Dave, that patchbox release spring arrangement is genius. So simple and easy. I really believe I could  manage doing that and am now not afraid to try.
This is just another of the big lessons I am learning from this thread. Your instruction on installing the trigger guard (starting from the front and working back) is one that takes the fear of that task away.
Can't say how much I appreciate your dedication to teaching this art.
~Bob

[smart dog]

Hi Richard, Jim, and Bob,
Thank you for your comments.  I appreciate them a lot.  Bob, as you know from the "other" forum, I try to highlight details that often are not discussed, if at all, and even hard to find in the "how to" books.  Just sort of filling in some gaps in details that I think are important.

I made the side plate today.  Hills seemed to use 2 types.  The rear lock bolt areas and tails of his types are the same but the forward section has either 1 step on top or steps top and bottom.  Here is an example of the latter.
 


Here is my version of the former made from 1/8" thick brass sheet.



It is a style the entire Hills family used from the mid 1700s.  Mine will eventually be engraved in John Hills' style.

After inletting the side plate, I refined the lock and wrist area.  Hills was not terribly fussy about those features.  On some guns they have precise edges and shapes, and on others not so much. Width of lock panel flats varied from very thin to medium wide and the tails rather indifferently defined.  On this one, the flats will be thin and shaped with a bit more care.

 









dave

[Mgray]

It's looking great Dave!
It's awesome to watch you work and see your progress.
And that's one very good looking side plate!

-MG

[smart dog]

Hi,
Fun day working on this rifle.  The grunt stuff is done and now the fun stuff, albeit not a lot of it.  Some John Hills guns and many New England guns have double line borders along the barrel channel and ramrod groove. I think the inspiration was from better quality French guns.  Sometimes the border is a pair of raised beads as on this New England fowler.
 




Hills just cut incised lines.  I cannot tell if he did this on his rifles but the famous "Rufus Greene" fowler made during the same time period has them.  I decided to use the decorative device on this rifle.  The shaping of the fore stock must be finished first and the surface as even and true as possible, otherwise the lines will look rough, wobbly, and uneven.  I use an old marking gauge I inherited that was my great great great grandfather's.  His name was E. E. Muschlitz and he grew up and was trained as a carpenter and joiner in Nazareth, PA.  He moved to Brooklyn, NY and built many of the famous "Brooklyn Brownstone" homes in the late 1800s.  Anyway, I deeply scribe the main line.
   


Then I deepen the line using a long single line checkering tool made in England.



Then I use a 60 degree skip line checkering tool (16 lines/inch spacing) to cut the parallel lines.





The result is very pleasing.  I go over the top lines of each pair with a 90 degree cutter so the end result when stained will be a "thick and thin" decorative border.





Next up is outlining carving around the barrel tang and removing the background.  Hills usually carved a simple shape that sometimes looks like a shell and other times a round fan.  It is sometimes hard to determine what he meant it to be.  I created a design that mimics Hills' work but is a little more refined and unambiguous.




I stab the edges in with small flat chisels.



Then use small skew chisels and riffler files to remove and smooth the background and clean up the edges.



I leave it here until after I have whiskered the stock in preparation for final finish and staining. After whiskering, I will cut in the details in the carving. This kind of design is found on so many New England guns. I call it the "potted plant on a pedestal" design.  Some leafy or radiant shape at the end of straight austere borders along the barrel tang. It is not very imaginative but it is effective decoration. Next up, the wrist plate and finishing the stock.

dave

[SBachner]

"Then use small skew chisels and riffler files to remove and smooth the background and clean up the edges."

Could you please elaborate on "clean up the edges"? Is this a by product of stabbing in? How do you clean up the edges?

[Jennison]

What lovely work. Can’t wait to see the finished product!  Seeing a pre-1790 New England rifle is like spotting a two-headed Turkey.  They’re known to exist, but….

Jennison.

[smart dog]

"Then use small skew chisels and riffler files to remove and smooth the background and clean up the edges."

Could you please elaborate on "clean up the edges"? Is this a by product of stabbing in? How do you clean up the edges?

Hi,
I use narrow slightly curved riffler files that are safed on both sides with teeth only along the narrow edge. The photo shows 2 of them along with another riffler useful for smoothing the background  and my scraper.
 

I use these tools to smooth the background and smooth and shape edges where needed.

dave

[smart dog]

Hi,
IT'S ORANGE!  Curt will have no trouble finding his gun during a hunt, other hunters will see him and not shoot him, and he will be noticed by everyone on the shooting line.  Win, win, win!!

I use orange, red, or yellow water-based aniline dye to paint the stock during whiskering.  The color shows up all the scratches, especially on maple, and when it is all scraped and sanded away, I know I scraped and sanded the entire stock.   Any residual color gets overwhelmed by the ferric nitrate stain I will use but if any orange still shows, it will compliment my staining.
 










dave

[rich pierce]

It’s going to pop!

[smart dog]

Hi,
I added the carving and the brass wrist plate.  The carving at the barrel tang is inspired by Hills but not a copy.  His carving varies a bit from rustic to crude so I refined things a little but kept the feel of it.  I also added a simple incised carving behind the cheek piece.  Again, Hills' carving at that location on his 2 rifles is pretty crude and not very appealing.  So I interpreted my own design that does homage to Hills.  I inlet the wrist plate and then popped it off for engraving.  I designed a simple monogram with his initials and engraved it along with Hills' curvy border.
 






I think that is the only scroll I 've ever carved that follows the "golden mean".  I guess it's never too late to follow the rules.   After sanding and scraping the stock, I stained it with ferric nitrate dissolved in tap water 1 part crystals to 6 parts water by volume.  Looks like really weak tea.  After blushing with heat, I painted the stock with a lye and water solution, which made sure any residual acidity (theoretically there should be none after blushing when using ferric nitrate) was neutralized but more importantly, it enhances the red tones.  When dry, I rubbed the stock vigorously with a maroon Scotch Bright pad to lighten the color.  Finally, I put on the first coat of finish, which was Sutherland Welles wiping varnish medium sheen diluted 50% with mineral spirits and tinted slightly with LMF Lancaster maple stain.  The wiping varnish is polymerized tung oil mixed with polyurethane varnish.  I emphasize "polymerized" because somebody will inevitably write that they used tung oil and it took months to dry.  They did not use polymerized tung oil.  Anyway, here is where I am.  I intend to rub back the stock again to lighten certain areas before adding any new finish.
   







dave

[David Rase]

It is great to see this project getting close to crossing the finish line.  It has been fun as well as interesting to follow.  Can't wait to see it finished.  Nicely done Dave.
David

[Daryl]

INdeed!!!

[smart dog]

Hi Folks,
I have a question.  I may attempt to engrave the great seal of Vermont on the patch box lid.  It is perfectly round so can be oriented in any direction.  It was designed by Ira Allen and adopted in 1779.  How should it be oriented.  It has some lettering so should it be sideways on the lid so you can read it when looking at the gun from the side?  For example, if it was hanging on a wall. Should the seal be readable from the bottom of the lid?  Or should it be upside down so readable if you have the rifle in your hands about to open the lid and looking down on the side? 

dave   

[Dwshotwell]

I would think you'd want it readable from the perspective of a viewer rather than the person holding the gun. So "sideways on the lid so you can read it when looking at the gun from the side" as you put it.

Great work as always Dave. Truly enjoy your posts and learn something from each one. Someone earlier (this thread or your other with your apprentice) mentioned your tutorials should be compiled in a book and I for one would gladly buy that if it was offered.

[Jennison]

Here’s how the Massachusetts seal is oriented on a Militia Musket at Old Sturbridge Village.  I’d be inclined to have it sideways.

[smart dog]

Hi,
I took David's advice.  Here is what I came up with.  The seal designed by Ira Allen and adopted in 1779 was kind of rustic with letters that looked like inexpensive period type and images that were crudely drawn.  Nonetheless, it has a real period feel and charm.  It is also the design currently adopted by the state.  At one point a more refined seal was adopted but was eventually replaced by the original Allen seal.  I like the look.  I may add banners on either side of the seal with the dates 1777 on one side and 1791 on the other.  The earlier date signifies when Vermont was born as a political entity and the other is the date it became a state.  Before the Revolutionary War, the Green Mountain Boys were vigilantes terrorizing settlers in Vermont from New York and they fought against vigilantes from New York.  It was violent and bloody.  The Rev War stopped it and was the making of Vermont.  One of the great ironies is that when Seth Warner's Green Mountain Boys were adopted into the Continental Army, New York was ordered by Congress to arm them.     






dave

[Joe Stein]

The patchbox looks really nice like that, Dave.  The whole rifle is looking interesting. As with all your building series, you have done a good job and a real service to the forum in posting your explanations and pictures. Thank you.
Joe Stein

[Jennison]

That looks fantastic!   Not the easiest of state seals to engrave I’d imagine.  Bravo!

[smart dog]

Hi,
More engraving done.  I am trying to emulate John Hills' style but not copy him.  I added banners on each side of the Vermont seal indicating the dates when Vermont became a political entity separate from New Hampshire and New York, and the date it was made a state. Those dates encapsulate John Hills' life in Vermont.  I also engraved the side plate with the name of the owner in the manner of John Hills.  More to come soon.

[smart dog]

Hi,
Finished it.  I think I preserved the rural feel despite refining some things relative to the original rifles. The carving behind the cheek piece is simple, partly reflects the rather crude incised lines Hills carved but embellishes them a bit.  Same with the carving around the barrel tang.  The staining and finish came out well and the wood really shows the figure. It has a Rice "C" weight 54 caliber barrel cut back from 44" to 41".  The lock is a Chambers early Ketland lock that I modified.  I case hardened the plate, cock, and top jaw and then temper blued them.  I also cased the frizzen and tempered it to 375 degrees F.  Trigger pull is a crisp 2.5 lbs.  The rifle weighs 8lbs.  The sights are high and clearly quite a bit of height will come off the front sight but I will wait until the owner and I shoot it.

   




























I have to finish making a New England fowler but after that I am done with New England guns for a while.

dave

[Ed Wenger]

Really nicely done, Dave…, came together beautifully!     Best,


               Ed

[Stonehouse john]

Dave, 

Thank you so much for taking the time to post this process!  I, and I know many others, have followed this project from the start with greatest interest.  Taking the time to photograph and write detailed descriptions like this made a long involved job even slower and harder for you.  I just wanted you to know how appreciated it is!  You said you wanted to share some of the details that don't often get enough attention and that's exactly what you've accomplished here.  Along with building a beautiful rifle (that will surely outlive all of us) you've written a post that will instruct and help more builders in the future than you'll probably ever know.

John