Forearm lines

[FALout]

I'm finally getting back into building, had set aside a Issac Hanes rifle.  Having never built a rifle with a swamped barrel, my question concerns the top edge of the forearm.  Should it follow the barrel profile?  I've only handled a few old rifles, but was more interested in the inletting and carvings/engravings so missed that aspect of stock constrution.

[volatpluvia]

Falout,
The top edge of the forearm will be a straight line as looked at from the sides.  It follows the center line of the profile of the barrel.  You split the side flats of the barrel in half.  Some like to have a little more of the side flats showing than hidden. 
Now looking down on the forearm the wood follows the profile of the barrel.  that gives it all a rather racy form.
volatpluvia

[FALout]

Thats kinda what I thought from pictures showing barrel/forestock area.  Did the originals have ramrod groove that was straight or one that followed barrel?  I'm thinking that was straight for the drilling aspect.  I know these may seem like dumb questions, but have been out of the building arena a couple of years and feel rusty, don't want to make any glaring mistakes.

[omark]

not dumb at all. i dont know about you, but where i live, longfifles, antique or contemporary, are very few and far between. real hard to tell all the details from pictures. i often wondered about the very things you are asking about.    mark

[NSBrown]

Mark Silver advocates following the barrel swamp with the groove. The drilling is of course straight, then the the groove is  established with a gouge and finished with a plane. This way the center thimble gets a better "hold" on the rod. I've done it Mark's way and like it better than a straight ramrod groove.

[omark]

wondering if marks way is traditional? or do traditionals have a straight groove?       mark

[Dphariss]

I'm finally getting back into building, had set aside a Issac Hanes rifle.  Having never built a rifle with a swamped barrel, my question concerns the top edge of the forearm.  Should it follow the barrel profile?  I've only handled a few old rifles, but was more interested in the inletting and carvings/engravings so missed that aspect of stock constrution.

Top edge of the barrel channel follows the bore centerline but is usually slightly below center on the side flat.

Dan

[Dphariss]

wondering if marks way is traditional? or do traditionals have a straight groove?       mark

I would guess most are straight simply from the fact that it takes less time.
Once the groove is done to allow the hole to be drilled deepening it in the middle would just add more time to the build.
This does not mean it was not done, however.
On further thought. It would allow the rod a friction fit and not slide out easily unless pulled and still not be so tight as to wood bind if the stock were to pickup excess moisture.
In actual use, in the field, a loose rod can slide out at an inopportune time and get broken.
Dan

[omark]

yeah, dan, i know about loose rods   .

and as i think about the mechanics of making a rod channel thats curved. you would start with a straight channel and hole. scraping the channel wouldnt be hard. scraping the hole, while it could be done, is not as easy. it would also leave the entry hole in the stock egg shaped. guess that wouldnt be too big a problem as the entry pipe could be inlet deeper to cover that up. kind of doubt they went to that much trouble too often. and i could be wrong. seems i am quite a bit according to my wife.  oh well.   just got thinking out loud, i guess.    mark     

[Dphariss]

Too much swamp in the groove would be a problem I would think. Getting the rod through the entry pipe would become more and more difficult as the rod groove was deepened.

Dan

[Jeff Stewart]

Great questions for us neophytes.  Seems like Mark Silver's method makes sense for a woodsrunner, especially if the ramrod is significantly tapered.

[NSBrown]

Mark's method makes sense for any rifle. We are not talking about a lot of swamp in the groove...but enough swamp to get a purchase on the rod. It is not at all enough swamp  to have a problem getting the rod lined up with the thimbles. It is a much better method to secure your ramrod than hoping a little binding in the entry hole will do the job.

[NSBrown]

Dan, the deepening of the groove takes place before the entry hole is drilled, so the additional work requires no more than a few passes with your groove plane in the area of the middle pipe. When you drill your entry hole you block the drill bit up near the lower forearm entry point...the slight swamp doesn't affect the drill bits direction.

[keweenaw]

Even in Mark's work the swamp of the groove is considerably less than the swamp of the barrel.  You have to look very closely to see that the bottom profile of the forestock is swamped. The problem with too much swamp is that the forestock molding and area above it give proportional problems.   In terms of drilling the hole, there are only two points in the groove that are important in having the hole go where you want it, right where the bit enters the wood and at the foreend tip.  As long as those two areas are in a straight line with where you want the hole to go, it will stay in alignment if you're using a straight, deep hole type drill.

Tom

[Curtis]

A method taught by Jack Brooks that he has seen on several originals:  Make your barrel underlugs 1/8" tall, or 1/8" proud of the barrel when installed more specifically.  Inlet the barrel lugs, then drill a small pilot hole straight down through the center of of your barrel lug inlet.  This will locate the center of your ramrod channel.  Gouge, scrape or plane your ramrod channel until you break through to the lug inlets, then thin as much as possible.  This will make the thinnest practical web of wood between the barrel inlet and ramrod channel, which also closely follows the barrel contour.  Makes for an incredibly slender gun.

Curtis