Fixing Mistakes

[Keb]

I am making a maple stocked smooth rifle, nothing fancy or anything special. It's just a form of therapy for me. Anyway, it's almost ready to start metal finishing & final wood finishing. A guy came along, saw it and offered me money (more than I'd pay or value it at) for it before it was even done. Well, I got in a hurry and made a sightly mistake when drilling a barrel pin. The drill walked and missed the under-lug. Now, I have to fix it. I thought I'd either plug it or patch it and hope it wasn't too noticeable when I finish it. I think it's gonna be a glaring spot no matter what I do. I also am going to show it to him and explain what I did before he pays me. I thought I'd offer to reduce the price too. I can afford it.

I was wondering. How do you all deal with little "oops"s? I know you all make em.

[Don Getz]

Keb............yep, been there and done that.   I would plug it, glue the plug in, and sand it smooth, then drill another hole.
Point it out to him, but should have little to do with the transaction.   You might offer him a slight discount, but in the end
it really will have little impact on the finished gun...............Don

[Curt Larsen]

I hope you were using a 1/16" drill and not a 3/32".  Small sizes are pretty easy to hide.  That's why the good Lord created wooden toothpicks.  Sand down a toothpick to fill the hole completely and insert it with some stainable wood glue.  The toothpicks are generally maple I think.  Once they are inserted and sanded and stained, they are pretty hard to detect as long as you are using a dark stain.  Next time invest in one of Tom Snyder's or Dave Rase's drilling jigs to keep holes lined up.

Curt

[Keb]

I know the mistake is totally my fault. I was hurrying and was using a hand drill instead of a good solid set up on the drill press. Haste makes what? :/

I am lucky I am a slob and don't sweep the floor regularly. I have plenty of maple chips to choose from for a plug.

[bama]

You are correct we all have made oops. It has been said that the mark of a true artist is being able to hide your mistakes. If you used a 1/16" drill or less you can patch the holes with a round tooth pick. Most of the time after staining these little patches will be very hard to see. A lot of times the bad hole will be in the molding line of the forestock and will pretty much disappear. If you do a little of the aged look to the finish you can make the repair disappear all together. So first I would try to do the repair and see how it comes out. If it goes well and is not noticeable I would not worry about it to much. This little fix has no impact on how the gun functions. This is probably one of the most common errors made by builders today and there are many very nice rifles out there that have builders repairs in them. If the patch does not go well then I would let the person make the decision who is buying the rifle if he still wants it. Offering a price reduction is a good idea and the customer will appreciate you honesty. This will be just one of the lessons learned when you build for other people. Good luck with your repair.

[Curt Larsen]

You'll get over it.  Please check out Tom Snyder's drill jigs in the items for sale section.  They work well.  Also, next time measure three of four times before you drill.  Also check out the comments on the list regarding splicing glue.  Chris Immel has some great photos of splices made to replace bad wood on some beautiful German guns.  Your misplaced hole is minor in comparison.  Just do it.

[Rootsy]

BTDT.  Fixed with toothpick method and no one has ever said a word to me about it.  Very difficult to see unless you are specifically looking for such items, especially if it happens to fall on one of the stripes or a dark area of the maple (cut grain).  

[Tim Crosby]

 Under the heading, BTDT.
 Did it come out the other side of the stock? If not lock it up in a vice and press, drill it from the other side. If the original hole was at the right depth/location there is a good possibility that the bit will come out the same hole.

 Tim C.

[Keb]

It did come out. I was using a hand drill & hurrying. My 1st two mistakes.
Oh wait. It looks like I am saying I have never made any mistakes before. We all know that's not true.
Actually, I was asking you all what mistakes you have made and how did you fix them. I have made this mistake before and have fixed it more than one way. I'll decide which is best for this one.

I once was inletting one of those awful patent breeches/tangs on a very hard & curly piece of maple. I flipped a pretty good chip out behind the tang. No big deal except the chip landed on a weeks worth of chips on the floor. I looked for that chip for quite a while and finally found it. That was nearly 25 years ago and I bet you can't see that "fix" today.

[Swampwalker]

The trouble with the toothpick method is the exposed end grain accepts stain different than the surrounding long grain.  Make up a little plug with the grain running perpendicular to the length of the plug.  That way, no end grain is exposed when it's glued in place and trimmed flush, and it's less likely to show on the finished gun.  I would plug and finish it first, then decide whether to tell the buyer - if done right, it won't be visible.

[NSBrown]

As to drilling accuracy, Tim Cornich showed me a helpful idea when drilling through holes. Set a level on top of the barrel. Vice up your barrel with the level across the barrel in the pinhole line. This gives you a reference while drilling. This has helped me significantly.

[omark]

ive only made one mistake in my life. thought i was wrong about something once, but it turned out i wasnt.      seriously, one other option would be to put escutcheons on. i know thats  a lot more work but does dress up the rifle a little.   any way, the ways suggested by the others will take care of it very well.   mark

[Acer Saccharum]

if the pin location looks OK to you from the outside, make a longer lug. Just be sure the lug doesn't block the RR hole.

Than it looks like you MEANT to do it that way. 

[Black Hand]

The trouble with the toothpick method is the exposed end grain accepts stain different than the surrounding long grain.  Make up a little plug with the grain running perpendicular to the length of the plug.  That way, no end grain is exposed when it's glued in place and trimmed flush, and it's less likely to show on the finished gun.  I would plug and finish it first, then decide whether to tell the buyer - if done right, it won't be visible.

...and if visible, can look like a small knot that was drilled and filled (as I have on the forestock of my rifle).

[rsells]

I have used Swampwalker's process with good results. You can make a plug with the grain running perpendicular to the plug, and line up the grain to match the surrounding wood.  If you have wood from the project you can make the plug using grain that will match the curl around the hole you are trying to repair.  I have done this and it is invisible when finished.   I showed the customer the repair before the sale to let them decide if it is an issue for them or not.  In my instance, the customer was not near as picky as I was about the issue.  I think most of us are more critical about our own work because we know every little sin we worked through when making a rifle.

Also, I have used Acer's process as well with good results.  Just depends upon the situation on which process to use. 

Not to worry, just work through the repair. learn from the experience, and move on.  I have yet to make a rifle that is perfect in my eyes!  That is why I continue to work.  I want to make the next one better than the last.  Good luck with your project.

                                                        Roger Sells 

[bgf]

I tried something else last time this happened to "a friend of mine".  Basically, plug with a toothpick and let dry, then cut/chisel out a sliver (tapered on both ends) lengthwise (with the stock), no bigger than necessary, but long enough to blend in, and glue in a piece shaped as closely as you can get and pressed firmly into the "sliver hole you've made, leaving some proud of the surface.  Its really hard to see even when you know where it is after it is scraped flush, and -- like the plug-- it will stain more like the rest of the wood than the endgrain of the toothpick, but I preferred the irregular outline to a plug, and didn't have a plug cutter, anyway.  Maybe something to consider when (as in my case) the number of "knotholes" might strain credulity at times .

[Glenn]

I am making a maple stocked smooth rifle, nothing fancy or anything special. It's just a form of therapy for me. Anyway, it's almost ready to start metal finishing & final wood finishing. A guy came along, saw it and offered me money (more than I'd pay or value it at) for it before it was even done. Well, I got in a hurry and made a sightly mistake when drilling a barrel pin. The drill walked and missed the under-lug. Now, I have to fix it. I thought I'd either plug it or patch it and hope it wasn't too noticeable when I finish it. I think it's gonna be a glaring spot no matter what I do. I also am going to show it to him and explain what I did before he pays me. I thought I'd offer to reduce the price too. I can afford it.

I was wondering. How do you all deal with little "oops"s? I know you all make em.

How bad is this mistake?  Can you post a photo or two of the wood problem please?  Sometimes dents and scratches look worse than they are to repair.