inletting a tang

[hugh]

This being the first tang that i have inletted, I am curious about beveling it on the bottom? It is a fixed tang on a Fowler and I have read on here that it needs to be beveled on the bottom side but I have no idea on how thin to make the edges, any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

[smylee grouch]

Hugh, you need to put a slight bevel on the sides and end of the tang so as to create a wedge effect to the thing and then when you deepen the inlet the top of the tang will be wider than the bottom thus always keeping a tight wood to metal fit untill the tang is inlet all the way so that it lies flush with the top of the wrist wood. Long mwinded but I hope you understod what I was trying to say. Good luck.    Smylee

[Dave B]

The amount of "draft needed is only a couple of degrees per side. I have taken about 1/16th off the bottom of the bolster of the tang tapering to zero at the top flat of the tang. keep that same side angle all the way back to the rear end of the tang. The other thing that you should consider is the tang need not be left full thickness all the way to the rear of the tang. It means you wont have to inlet it so deeply back there. Here are some original barrel tangs for comparison.

[Acer Saccharum]

Thanks for that photo, Dave.

[deano]

Wow, I've been bending the full thickness of the tang and inleted it into the wrist, thinking I needed it for strength, now I'm not sure where I got that idea. Tapering it like these pictures just makes that process so much easier and leaves some extra wood.

[Acer Saccharum]

The more wood you leave in the breech area, the better. Reducing the tang thickness will lighten the gun up a tad. Every little bit helps. I have never seen an original with a full thickness tang like we make on today's barrels. Every one I've seen taper down like Dave's photo above.

This thick tang is one of those things that gets interpreted over time, and then gets accepted as 'norm' for how it's done.

Tom

[Dphariss]

I would not thin the tang under 3/16.
I put 3 degrees  (?) on a side on breech plugs all the way down. It just looks better than the square lug. 
Besides I have an end mill that cuts the taper

Dan

[Acer Saccharum]

Besides I have an end mill that cuts the taper

Cheater! You're supposed to take six days to inlet the tang by candle light and a dental pick.

[bgf]

Besides I have an end mill that cuts the taper

Cheater! You're supposed to take six days to inlet the tang by candle light and a dental pick.

Well, at least I can do one thing better than Dan !

[hugh]

Thanks for the info, and all of the humor to go with it, guess I will go out to the shop and get started. Thanks again.

[Bill of the 45th]

See you in six days, and besides the candles that Acer mentioned, kerosene lamps are allowed.   Good luck.  Remember measure twice, cut once, then swear repeatedly.

Bill

[Acer Saccharum]

Just so you are aware, the thick tangs that come with the rifle barrels can be forged out, flattened to broaden them. Sometimes this can be used to effect an early style, or sometimes to fill inletting gaps. 

[dannybb55]

Drawing the tang down on the anvil is the way I have done it. Filing off the top to make it flush after inletting was probably the other way to thin the stock. If you are lucky toy get to see a tang with a forge weld on the bottom to add meat, and fire scale where the customer won't see because files are dear.

[Dphariss]

Besides I have an end mill that cuts the taper

Cheater! You're supposed to take six days to inlet the tang by candle light and a dental pick.

I bought it because I was making some breechplugs from bar stock. Then I realized it would cut the inlet angle too. But I cut it undersize and finish it with a sharp chisel.

Dan

[Tom Currie]

Thanks Dave for posting those pics. Makes me think as I have pretty much inlet the factory tangs we get today. However on some of those I'd hate have to get a tight plug out as there isn't much behind the barrel to grab onto. Especially underneath the rear lock hole. Just thinking out loud.

[flintriflesmith]

Just a tip to speed up the process--for me it is much faster to forge out the tang and then cut it off than to file away all that material. There's good reason that smiths say "Five minutes at the forge can save five hours with a file."

Its true even if the forge is a MAP gas tourch and the cutting is with a hacksaw instead of a hot cutter.

Once you have done a few you can cut off the fat factory tang first and then forge out whats left to the right thickness and length. It's just a matter of eye-balling the volume of metal.

Gary