Little Lehigh done

[Vomitus]

  Is "Lady Liberty" code for hooker?

[smart dog]

Tom,
In my opinion, Jim Kibler and Bill Shipman handle the lock panel areas better than anyone I know.  I have to add you to that list.  In particular, the way you shaped the forward part of the panel around the lock is awesome.  You have a gentle curve that extends beyond the front of the lock and then it is complimented perfectly by the shield.  It is perfect.  Boy, if anyone wants to know how to do it they need look no further.  Boy, I have to try my hand at a Lehigh one of these days.  Boy, I like this gun.

dave

PS.  Tom, what did you use to stain the stock?  The color is terrific.

[wattlebuster]

Im just a redneck an dont know much BUT I do recognize talent when  I see it and I see lots of it in that beautiful rifle you built.

[volatpluvia]

¿The carver was crazy?  Hmmnnnnnn...  I confess, I just look at carving and if it is well done I tend to like it.  I never had a concept of what was just right on a particular gonne.  You did an excellent job on the carving, therefore I like it a lot.  I DID notice the snowman and had to smile.  I had no idea that the originator of the design always put one in on his carvings.
volatpluvia
BTW, I won't be able to get to Dixon's, I am too busy down her in México building my house.

[smylee grouch]

Wow, so much has already been said that I cant come up with anything else except the border work around the lock is very Kunzy and I like it alot along with the whole unit.  Thanks for posting.   Smylee

[Dr. Tim-Boone]

He's gonna get the Big Head........ there's gotta be something...........

[KLMoors]

Wow! Very cool.

Your incised carving is super clean. Are those laser machines the Doc mentioned expensive?

[Tim Crosby]

 Good looking rifle Tom, great detail, well done.

   Tim C.

[Acer Saccharum]

Thanks for the kind words, everyone.

The carving was something that I had a lot of concern about, because I'd not done much in the way of incised, ever. Just took an occasional stab at it. 

The tool that proved to be my all-timefavorite was the Pfiel 16/1 vee tool. It's a very acute angle, so the line width is easy to control. If I go a little deeper or shallower, it does not change the line width too much.
If I use my 90 deg vee for fine lines, the line width changes dramatically with depth changes.

All those little stabs with the Vee tools and gouges required a special sharpening. This is a complex thing to try to describe with words alone. But I had to do a lot of practice cuts before I understood how to make the stabs without popping the wood out. Also adjusting the gouge geometry to get the right result took a lot of time.



I had the good fortune of many people lending me a hand along the way. Without their help and advice, I would not have gotten the results I did.

Last, but not least, thank you, Mr. Neihart, for providing the inspiration.

Tom

[Tom Currie]

Tom, With caffieine in my veins to enhance my critiquing skills I've looked your pics over closely and can only assume you're hiding flaws  by only showing pics that hide them. Lady Liberty's sort of got a big shnoz , much like the character on then pin the the Lewisburg artisan show, she could be more attractive.

Regarding the pic of the tang carving, I look forward to talking over execution of that next weekend. Not sure how much of that was accomplished by parallel gouge or V tool cuts to remove wood or just stamping in the design. Either way it's obviously delicate work and well done.  I've glued popped out chips back in before.

[Acer Saccharum]

Tom, With caffieine in my veins to enhance my critiquing skills I've looked your pics over closely and can only assume you're hiding flaws  by only showing pics that hide them. Lady Liberty's sort of got a big shnoz , much like the character on then pin the the Lewisburg artisan show, she could be more attractive.

How do you know it's a lady? I can't tell from gun to gun what he/she is. Then there are the 'ghosts' on gravestones up in the Boston area.
And, yes, there is a striking similarity to the powderhorn art man used for the 18th Cent man. This is one of those ways work gets attributed: a man does things a certain way, and these tell-tales can be seen as clearly as a thief leaves his fingerprints.

Regarding the pic of the tang carving, I look forward to talking over execution of that next weekend. Not sure how much of that was accomplished by parallel gouge or V tool cuts to remove wood or just stamping in the design. Either way it's obviously delicate work and well done.  I've glued popped out chips back in before.

I'll be doing some carving demos at Dixon's, and we can go over some of these things then. I'll show you how the tools are sharpened, and the angles of attack of stabbing.

Less than a week to go!

T

[Tamdar]

Surely thou art a modest man! Beautiful work.
                                                                                     Dale

[Vomitus]

Surely thou art a modest man!
                                                                                     Dale

BS! 

[Acer Saccharum]

I am the most immodest person ever known, with the exception of Leatherbelly. 

[Pete G.]

A "blended" Lehigh makes perfect sense in my book. Although the are a lot of common features, it seems that every one was different in some way. Yours looks outstanding.

 The border of the lock is really good work, but the facets on the tail look a bit odd to my eyes. Everything else is rounded, but as previously stated, every Lehigh is different, so it works. Don't know that I would have had the patience to finish that nose cap; I can barely  get a normal one done.

[Acer Saccharum]

Pete, thanks for your comments. To me, there is no 'right way', it's all interpretation. I don't like to make copies, I like to pretend I had something to do with the design.

The lock has precedent; Jacob used this faceted motif on his rifle at the Met.  But to touch your point, just because this was used before, it's not guarantee that it works design-wise.



When this gun was in utero, it was heading more toward Rupp in the form of the stock, with decorative toward Kuntz. Somewhere along the way, I became enamored of Neihart's work, and Kuntz faded into the background. But he remained in the lock.

[M Tornichio]

Very nicely executed rifle. I like the carving. Definitely very skillfully done. Thanks for sharing pictures.

[B Shipman]

Yes, I was going to say the Lock is the Kuntz-esc part before you showed the pic. Really good job on a hard subject.

[Larry Pletcher]

Acer,
Beautiful gun.  The photos that really caught my eye were the full length side views.  Then it was the side view from the lock back.  Allen Martin said to me, "It's the architecture."  I certainly agree with him.  This rifle would be outstanding without the beautifully done decoration.

Regards,
Pletch

[Don Getz]

Tom.......A lot of great work on this piece, kind of like a "Picasso".     I hope you have a nice spot on a wall somewhere in
your house where you can display it, and enjoy it......a real work of art.    But, I thought guns were made to shoot?   Just
bustin' your "snowman".  Will continue this at Dixon's.........Don

[Acer Saccharum]

Will continue this at Dixon's.........Don

Now you have me worried, Don.

Thanks for the kind words, everyone. I feel this was a collaboration between me, Rupp, Kuntz, and especially Neihart, and a great number of ALR folks and KRA members who patiently guided me through Lehigh architecture. Yes, of course, this gun ran thru my hands, but who was really steering the bus?

Tom

[Topknot]

TOM,beautiful doesnt describe it . Its is simply fabulous and amazing.
 I hope that i live long enough to be able to create a rifle thats half as beautiful as this one. how long have you been building ? how many have
you built? have you been taught by a master builder like yourself, or did you pick it up from books? did you take gun building classes early on in your early building days? TOM. in other words, how did you get so great at building? Its simply amazing.

                                                topknot

[Acer Saccharum]

have you been taught by a master builder like yourself, or did you pick it up from books?

Oh, boy, you had to start that conversation again. I wish you hadn't said that.

Here's a short list of my teachers:
Taylor Sapergia
Eric Kettenburg
Bill Shipman
Rich Pierce
Ken Gahagan
Eric vonAschwege
Chris Laubach
Hugh Toenjes
Jerry Huddleston
Mike Brooks
Mark Thomas
Cody Tetachuk
Mark Wheland
John Getz
Jim Kibler
Don Getz
Allen Martin
Bill Slusser
Jacob Kuntz
Lorentz Kafka
Joe Flemish
Chuck Dixon
Dave Kanger
Walter Fleming
Ken Guy
Ian Pratt
John Bivins
Roger Vincent
Dave Crisalli
John Cholin
Randy Sherman
Bill Kennedy
Jim Chambers
Dan Phariss
Jim Filipski
Fred Miller
Don Johnson
Kevin Hagen


....and always, the humble Dave Rase.


Each and every person you meet and come across has something to tell you, you can learn something from, if you are able to listen.

Books, yes, all kinds of books. Museums, go to them all. Organizations such as the KRA, CLA, ALR, all contribute vastly to one's personal database.

You need to be a sponge for this stuff.

But the biggest thing is to build. The next biggest is to screw up. Make all kinds of mistakes so you learn not to do them anymore. All the book learning and jibber-jabber doesn't make a rifle. Hands-on work, hard work, countless hours of work, frustration and joy, all mixed together is what makes rifles. Work builds the skill sets you need to complete a rifle. It doesn't happen in just one rifle, it takes many. Sorry guys, the sad truth is, unless you're a Jim Kibler, who was able to make perfect guns from birth, you're going to have to make lots of guns. I think I've made 25 or 30 so far. It's not enough yet.

Once I've 'arrived' I'll post my masterpiece.

 

[rich pierce]

Some folks are artistic and others are crafty.  Tom is both, and a thoughtful student as well.  It takes time and study to learn to see things, and practice plus talent and a willingness to accept criticism to advance.  But in the end some folks brains are more artistic than others plus they have honed that part of their brain for years, have spent time drawing and learning to draw, and they can design better and more quickly than folks who are just crafty, not inherently artistic.

I know everyone can improve but just as some folks can hit a baseball or golf ball or do math easier than others, the same is true for design, methinks.

[Brian]

You know my love of Lehigh rifles Tom, and this one rings all the bells.  I don't pretend to know enough to discuss all the contributing details of each master and/or the way you brought them together,  but I know what I like - and boy do I like it!!  Outstanding!  I can only dream.