Lock Inletting

[tuffy]

I'm new to this gun building game and have gotten a little carried away while inletting my lock. I seem to have removed a little too much wood and now have a sloppy fit. What is the best way to "fix" this problem?

[northwoodsdave]

Tuffy

I am sure some of the more experienced builders will have some ideas.  I just wanted to let you know that you have both my sympathy and total understanding.  I too am new to this game.

 You will NEVER find anyone complaining they did not remove enough material for the lock to fit. The problem is always getting a bit over-eager and over-confident and accidentally removing too much.  Power tools can made this tendency even more destructive, since they are so GOOD at removing that "problem" material that ends up being so important when it's not there.

Been there, done that.

Hang in there!  It gets better.

David Lowe

[northmn]

I do not know quite what you mean by a sloppy fit.  It does not hurt if a lock can be removed fairly easily for cleaning, which needs to be done fairly often, especially a flintlock.  Whether to tighten gaps is personal.  The repair can look worse than the gap.  I have used wood shavings from another part of the stock from my jack plane.  Stain the stock and the shaving and use a good glue like epoxy slow set.  Some of the better wood glues also work, and Elmer's makes a glue that dries dark for hardwoods. Some really like Accraglass. I advise to repair or fill with caution.  Some of the little goofs that bother us are not that big of a deal.  The originals were not perfect and many of the best guns today may have little imperfections.  More experienced builders often leave it, say nothing and see if anyone notices.  Most folks looking at the gun do not.

DP

[Roger Fisher]

I'm new to this gun building game and have gotten a little carried away while inletting my lock. I seem to have removed a little too much wood and now have a sloppy fit. What is the best way to "fix" this problem?

Well now Tuffy, you will find this site interesting!  Could you post photos or describe in more detail just where in the inlet it is that you removed too much wood?? I do believe that you would then see more posts on the fix!

[Kentucky Jeff]

There are several ways you can remove too much wood from a lock and several ways to fix those problems.  For example you can inlet it too deep and as a result it tilts away from the barrel when its tightened.  Or you can make the mortise too wide around the edges leaving big gaps.  Too deep is easy to fix...just glue in some stock on the bottom of the mortise and re-inlet. You'll never see it.  OTOH too large of a lock mortise around the edges is another matter and also is a matter of degree.  If its grossly oversize you can consider buying a larger lock or even a gunmaker's lock and shape your new lock plate to fit the larger mortise.  You could try gluing in some stock and re-shaping but that could get ugly unless you are careful and creative.   

[Ezra]

God knows, I've glued in more than my share of stock when I have over inletted...or chipped...or slipped.  Pictures would help us help you.  Hang in there.


Ez

[Jerry V Lape]

As Kentucky Jeff said, you can carefully splice wood back in where needed.  If it will be visible, as along the edge of the inlet, figure out the best way to match colors.  I have been successful in staining the piece being added beforehand so the glue/epoxy doesn't get to it first.   If it is a small gap around the edge, remember your finish coats will probably make up some of the gap anyway. 

If the error was under the lock that is a relatively simple fix.  I would do it with additional wood inletted into the area and the minor crannies beneath the new wood filled with Microbedding.  You could probably just glass bed the whole thing with Microbedding - to keep from epoxying the lock permanently to the stock  I would make some soft wooden parts to use in place of the internals of the lock during the bedding process.  Sure would make for a solid bed for the lock even though it wouldn't be PC. 

[rich pierce]

I take a piece of the same wood, off the same side of the stock if possible (starting with a blank) and cut it to about 1/2" square and 6" long and clamp this in a sturdy vise.  Then I set my freshly sharpened plane to where it will shave off smooth curls thick enough for the needed work.  I iron the curls with a steam iron flat and cut with scissors while wet.  Then I apply Elmers wood staining glue and slide the shaving edgewise in the inlet and put in the lock, barrel, tang, whatever.  The repair will be nearly invisible and will take common stains.  If your gap is larger than this, then the other solutions above are good ones.

[tuffy]

I don't have the capability of doing photos. I should have been more specific about the damage. The space where I removed to much wood is at the top of the lock toward the tang. Judging from what has already been said, I need to first, put away the dremel and use my chisels and sand paper. Second, sharpen up my plane blade. And most importantly, SLOW DOWN. Thanks to everyone that answered. Amazing how it's easier to ask questions first and save a ot of time and labor. Thanks again, guys.

[rich pierce]

Now you are thinking right.  For inletting, chisels and knives and scrapers only.  Well, some folks use drills now and then to hog out wood for the mainspring inlet and in the region of the bridle, etc.  And everyone uses a drill for the sear arm hole.  But dremels are dangerous and sandpaper is just for the surface of the gun.

[rsells]

I am like some of the other folks in that it depends upon where and how much of a gap you have.  I try to leave the lock inlet a bit loose to make it easier for the customer to take the lock out and clean and lubricate the internals without the worry about them damaging the wood around the lock inlet.  However, sometimes when I use fancy maple a small piece of the wood in the curl may pop out and leave a gap that looks terrible.  In this instance, I use the wood that came loose or a piece of wood from the stock cut to match the place where the fake came loose.  I use Accuraglass liquid to glue the wood back in place.  I match the color of the stain as much as possible with the stain in the accuraglass kit.  Most times, you can never tell there is a repair if you are careful.  You can use Accuraglass gel  to tighten the inlet around the part.  If the space is small it will work out OK, but a wide space full of the bedding compound will show, and you may want to do simething different with the lock plate or replacing wood.  Good luck.

                                        Roger Sells

[northmn]

Dremels have their place in polishing, sometimes in inletting.  If you did not own one you would not miss it.  I have used one with wire brushes to remove rust in tight places that sort of thing.  One thing I learned on this site that really works good is to take an old hacksaw blade and make scrapers out of them.  The Dremel works for making the scrapper.  No rocket science in these, break off the blade, grind off the teeth and make the scraper any shape you need.  Sometimes you can use them for springs.  We could have a whole discussion on inletting the interior parts of a lock.  I inlet the bridle first and try to get a good mirror image + a slight clearance inside the plate inlay.  Then go to the other parts.  Like Rsells I like to have a little looser plate inlay to prevent chipping when removing the lock.  In areas of varying humidity like MN it don't hurt.  Sealing the interior with fiberglass isn't all dumb either at it does help with any moisture from cleaning being absorbed in the area and may help against splitting.  However there are reasonable aesthetic arguments against doing that also.

DP

DP

[Jerry V Lape]

I use the cordless dremel weekly - to keep my birddogs toe nails proper length.  Use the sanding drum with fine paper and it cuts dog nail without splintering very quickly.        Wouldn't consider using one in constructing a rifle as in my hands anything power tool just makes big mistakes too fast. 

[jerrywh]

Tuffy.
  Just tell us----How much gap and where is it in relation to the lock??? HUH?

[tuffy]

OK, once more. The gap is at the top of the lock. It runs from just behind the hammer when it is at half-cock all the way to the tip toward the wrist. It varies from 1/16 to 3/32 of an inch. Again guys, I appreciate all the help. Kinda overwhelming. Thanks to all.

[Rich]

If you plan on a dark stock, you could mix up some clear epoxy with some burnt seina watercolor pigment in it.

[Benedict]

OK, once more. The gap is at the top of the lock. It runs from just behind the hammer when it is at half-cock all the way to the tip toward the wrist. It varies from 1/16 to 3/32 of an inch. Again guys, I appreciate all the help. Kinda overwhelming. Thanks to all.

That seems like a large gap.  When I had one that big, I opted to replace my lock plate with a larger plate and reinlet.  I cut the pan off the plate that I had and welded it to another piece of metal and fit the lock internals to it.  The plate browned just fine and I did not have to worry about matching wood and finish and glue.

Good luck!

Bruce

[Roger Fisher]

I would suggest (although I have no experience in shims for lock mortices ) cut a sliver that is slightly thicker than the gap and a tad longer from the same stock and a bit higher than the moulding.  Minor thing but try to match the grain or curl.  Good waterproof carpenters glue and since the wood may crack if tried dry soak the shim a bit.  Set it in the guilty area and clamp or block well.  Come back later after its dry and with hand tools this time, files and scrapers redo that area, testing with the lock til all is fine and dandy.  Your stain on down the road farther will hide the quite well.  Then you will sleep better at night and quit beating your dog and or wifey! This is the easier fix than going to a larger plate!

Not that I had had to shim anything; but in case I have to in the future I studied on  the matter 

[rich pierce]

Agree with Roger and just would add the obvious that if you are gluing in an inflexible piece of wood, you'll probably need to prepare for the glue joint by cutting back further to give you a nice squared up slot to fill.   The piece you use must be "inlet" with next to no gap for the glue to hold well.

[jerrywh]

When you have a gap that wide the best recourse is to glue in a piece just as the guys have already described.  Just be sure to stain the area and the piece to be glued in before gluing.

[chuck c.]

Tuffy

You've already gotten some good advice on how to fix your problem so I'm just going to offer you some encouragement . What you're trying to do isn't easy, but it's very rewarding! I've found on my part that the most important skills I've developed is how to fix my mistakes. Each time I start a new rifle I tell myself that I'm going to do this one without any mistakes. Well it hasn't happened yet! The good thing about the mistakes you is that they seem really bad when you make them, but after the repair and a little time you don't even notice them. Almost everyone who examines the rifle won't notice them either. Right now I trying to learn how to forge a butt plate and I'm on #7 right now and still not satisfied with the results. I'm getting close though and it'll happen. There's a lot of really talented people who frequent this site and most of them will go out of their way to help someone who needs it. Just hang in there and don't be afraid to ask for help.

[voyageur1688]

 I am new to this as well and am not sure but I think you may be able to inlay a strip of brass or some other metal around the lock to fill the gap. Maybe some of the other members can answer this one for us both.
 Todd

[Roger Fisher]

I am new to this as well and am not sure but I think you may be able to inlay a strip of brass or some other metal around the lock to fill the gap. Maybe some of the other members can answer this one for us both.
 Todd

IMHO The brass would stand out like a sore thumb and would attract the eye to itself and look like what it would be - a patch!

[northmn]

I am new to this as well and am not sure but I think you may be able to inlay a strip of brass or some other metal around the lock to fill the gap. Maybe some of the other members can answer this one for us both.
 Todd

IMHO The brass would stand out like a sore thumb and would attract the eye to itself and look like what it would be - a patch!

I can only agree

DP

[Rifleball 36]

I agree with Chuck C. The differance between a poor or averidge gunstocker and a good gunstocker is the ability to fix and hide mistakes. If you are not making  mistakes you are not doing anything.