I think I'm a big chicken. Woodsrunner carving

[Albert D]

I have not started my Woodsrunner yet. I've been researching carving and making drawings on paper. I have the practice stock from Kibler to learn on and I invested in a few good quality chisels. I'm worried I might be chickening out on carving on the beautiful extra fancy Maple stock that Jim and company sent me. I'll sure try it on the practice stock and if it goes well I may go for it.

Were many original rifles really carved? I imagine for most 18th century rifle owners they were tools and were not carved. Jim makes it look so easy in his videos and the rifles I see here are amazing. I'm really torn.

[c deperro]

Its far better to have a nicely done plain rifle than a poorly done carved rifle. First the drawing has to be right. If its not the carving won't make it better. If your not sure post some pictures and ask people to critique it. Practice on your practice stock until its right. Then try carving it.

[Bill Raby]

   It is as easy as he makes it look in the videos. Practice until you can do a good job, then go for it.

[rich pierce]

Were many original rifles really carved? I imagine for most 18th century rifle owners they were tools and were not carved. Jim makes it look so easy in his videos and the rifles I see here are amazing. I'm really torn.

Yes, many to seemingly most original rifles of the colonial period had some carving. It wasn’t a big deal  for a gunsmith to add some carving. Here’s an example of an extremely plain post-Revolutionary War smoothbore with nice carving around the tang. No side plate, no cheekpiece. Plain wood with a big knot right in the comb. Carved.

[TDM]

I have not started my Woodsrunner yet. I've been researching carving and making drawings on paper. I have the practice stock from Kibler to learn on and I invested in a few good quality chisels. I'm worried I might be chickening out on carving on the beautiful extra fancy Maple stock that Jim and company sent me. I'll sure try it on the practice stock and if it goes well I may go for it.

Were many original rifles really carved? I imagine for most 18th century rifle owners they were tools and were not carved. Jim makes it look so easy in his videos and the rifles I see here are amazing. I'm really torn.

Join the club. Mine is sitting on the bench awaiting some level of carving.

[Jim Kibler]

I think the carving Rich shows would work well on this rifle.

[JLayne]

Its far better to have a nicely done plain rifle than a poorly done carved rifle. First the drawing has to be right. If its not the carving won't make it better. If your not sure post some pictures and ask people to critique it. Practice on your practice stock until its right. Then try carving it.

I agree with the above. I don’t draw well, so I have not yet taken the plunge into carving. I also tend to prefer carved rifles only on wood without a lot of figure, as I tend to think carving on top of highly figured wood sometimes looks too busy and the figure and the carving tend to detract from each other. But that’s just a personal preference and many, if not most, may differ.

Jay

[smart dog]

Hi,
If you don't carve it, at least cut some nice molding and border lines along the lower butt stock, ramrod groove, and lock panels.  Without those the stocks look severely plain and unfinished to my eyes.

dave

[bnewberry]

It took me a few weeks of fret and practice on scrap before I attempted to carve mine. I think it came out ok. This was my first time carving a stock. Keep it simple. The original rifle we call the Woodsrunner was not fancy and had simple carving. Here is the original tang carving and what I did to mine.

[54Ball]

I imagine for most 18th century rifle owners they were tools and were not carved. Jim makes it look so easy in his videos and the rifles I see here are amazing. I'm really torn.

 Tools...
 The fairly common Lancastershire Saw. These were, well..... saws. The 18thCentury, it was an age of grace and art.
 Later in the 19th-20th Centuries, common carpenter saws will have the "wheat" carved into the handle.

[Enfield]

Same here... Welcome to the Chicken Club 
I planned some silver wire inlays and a bit of carving... But I am waiting for a brave moment....

[rich pierce]

Just do about 3 practice pieces before you do the real gun. Get some decent sized pieces if seasoned hardwood firewood, shape it, get it to sanded, and carve your design.

[Jim Kibler]

The first thing that should be done if you are interested in good carving is to study original work extensively.  This is something few seem to want to do. 

There are lots of factors that go into quality carving, but good design is about as important as you can get.  This takes dedication and time to develop. 

Jim

[Albert D]

Thank you all for the suggestions and motivation. I've been playing on some scrap Maple just to learn how to use the tools and read the grain. I can see where it takes some good practice to do a decent job. I guess we all start somewhere.

[54Ball]

 Albert,
 As far of study of original work, keep in mind the period, region and style. Jim’s Woods Runner is based in part on 3 similar rifles.
 The Woodsrunner
 The Feather Gun
 The Canoe Gun
 I do believe that the Faber Rifle is a close cousin mainly for region and time period.
 Valley of Virginia 1770

 These early guns have a simple and rudimentary style. They are not heavily carved but simple and interesting.
 I do have some images of the Canoe, Faber and Feather. I’ll post them when I’m home.

[Albert D]

Albert,
 As far of study of original work, keep in mind the period, region and style. Jim’s Woods Runner is based in part on 3 similar rifles.
 The Woodsrunner
 The Feather Gun
 The Canoe Gun
 I do believe that the Faber Rifle is a close cousin mainly for region and time period.
 Valley of Virginia 1770

 These early guns have a simple and rudimentary style. They are not heavily carved but simple and interesting.
 I do have some images of the Canoe, Faber and Feather. I’ll post them when I’m home.

Thank you, that would really help. In the meantime I'm learning to use my new chisels and gouges. I'm not finding it as easy as carvers on YouTube make it look. I'm lucky to have a couple of pieces of Maple to work on before I do the practice stock then the real one.

[54Ball]

thumbnail (20) by Travis Brown, on Flickr
Woodsrunner
thumbnail (15) by Travis Brown, on Flickr
A73gJEw by Travis Brown, on Flickr
Feather
Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr
IMG_0300 (1) by Travis Brown, on Flickr
IMG_0299 by Travis Brown, on Flickr
Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr
Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr
 Faber Rifle...nicknamed Canoe gun.... Correction Albert, The Faber and Canoe Gun are one in the same.

[Mike Brooks]

When and why did the Faber rifle become the canoe gun? That's a new one on me.

[Albert D]

thumbnail (20) by Travis Brown, on Flickr
Woodsrunner
thumbnail (15) by Travis Brown, on Flickr
A73gJEw by Travis Brown, on Flickr
Feather
Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr
IMG_0300 (1) by Travis Brown, on Flickr
IMG_0299 by Travis Brown, on Flickr
Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr
Untitled by Travis Brown, on Flickr
 Faber Rifle...nicknamed Canoe gun.... Correction Albert, The Faber and Canoe Gun are one in the same.

Thank you for posting these pictures. The originals really are simple compared to what some do today.

[Kmcmichael]

If you don’t plan to sell the gun, try some carving. If it ends up in your offspring’s hands, they will appreciate a carving you executed more than an experts work.

[54Ball]

When and why did the Faber rifle become the canoe gun? That's a new one on me.

I That's my fault Mike. I remembered it wrong. I guess I had canoe guns on the brain.
 The Woodsrunner and Faber were on display, there was conversation about the canoe shaped carving on the Faber. So Woodsrunner, Feather and Canoe stuck in my head.
IMG_0299 by Travis Brown, on Flickr
 There was some speculation that that scroll coming up from that carving may have been added later. It's a neat old gun.

[54Ball]

Thank you for posting these pictures. The originals really are simple compared to what some do today.
[/quote]

 These are Valley of Virginia rifles fairly early. If you notice on all three, the decoration is sparse compared to a later rococo carved Golden Age Gun.
 With this said notice they all have moudling lines, beaver tail lock panels, decoration around the tang that corresponds with the beavertails. The Faber has some decoration on the upper forestock. You can barely see some of it in one of my pics.

 Personally, I would concentrate of the decoration that's an architectural element. The stock moulding lines, forestock moulding lines and the beavertail lock panels. These are "simple" but need to be executed well.
 Study early rifles from that period and region. Some can be very plain but nearly all of them will have the basic decoration mentioned above.
 It's not very deep at all.

[Leatherbark]

My Woodsrunner is getting carved by nature and my clumsiness.  I've probably got 250 shots through it now since early June.  I seem to keep getting dents here and there between just shooting it, bumping it against stuff and cleaning it. In a few years it'll have that well used look about it.

Bob