Is beauty only skin deep?

[David Rase]

While I was disassembling my latest build so I could finish the metal work and seal the stock I was looking at my inlets and started wondering how others inlet their parts, so I decided to start a thread and see where it goes.  Kind of like the lock polishing contest Acer initiated.  We learned a lot of different polishing techniques and methods from that thread a few years back.  I think that thread ended up being the basis for a tutorial on metal polishing.  I think this thread could have the same potential to expose us to the different tools and techniques used for inletting. 
We see plenty of  assembled rifles but rarely so we get a look at what's inside unless someone is experiencing a problem.  So my question, "Is beauty only skin deep" when it comes to your building?  Do some of us spend way too much time working on areas that are rarely ever seen?  Is  workmanlike more to your liking?  Does the style of rifle determine how you finish an inlet? This inside look could be educational as well beneficial to some of our new members.  A rare chance to see what all those finely finished  parts are really covering up.  I will start out with a few pictures from my latest project.  Let's hear what you have to say.  Let's see what you have done.
David

[Bob Roller]

Outstanding!Dedicated inletting and labor intensive.Not common
in the world we live in now but it's always good to have someone
do something out of the ordinary.

Bob Roller

[smylee grouch]

Great topic with lots of posible educational info here. I dont have anything to show right now but if someone can tell me how to get the locks out of my H. Holland 13 ga. double I might be able to post pics of that.

[Mark Elliott]

My inlets don't look like that.   They look like the originals. 

[Kermit]

I've been a cabinetmaker, then a traditional wooden boatbuilder, and finished up as a studio furnituremaker building furniture for the 1%. It's looking at inlets like that that keep me from even trying to build anything complicated. Thanks, Dave. I'll keep hiring others to build my nice guns.

I guess it's sorta like an old boatbuilder said to me when I was despairing over building my first Whitehall. "Aw $#*!, woodenboatbuilding is nothing more than a million simple tricks that it takes a lifetime to learn."

Who wants to show us the first trick? Please?

[Don Getz]

Well done Dave.   They look like something I can invision, however, it never happens.  Steve Alexander used to do a class out
at Conner Prairie.   It was a class on english guns, and basically how to build them.   He had a half stock, no gun, just the
stock, and showed the lock inlet.   I could never figure out how they did it.   No chisel marks, looked somewhat like plastic.
I know it wasn't, but I sure wish I could see how they did it..........Don

[volatpluvia]

Dave,
I once apologized to a builder at Dixon's faire about how choppy the inside of my barrel channel was.  He whipped out a stock, broken off at the junction of the upper and lower forearm and said, 'look at this original!'  After that I ceased to be concerned about it.
But my hat is off to you for the neat inletting you do.  I never had the patience.
volatpluvia

[Dave B]

That is first rate inletting David, When you support the return on the butt plate you know your going above and beyond. Here is a Jaeger project I have been stalled on for some time. I used the Davis  early Germanic lock. I still have uneven spots but to date it is one of my better inlets. David sets a high standard with his work so I have a ways yet to go to catch up.  The one thing that helped me clean up my inlets was the use of a router plane.to chase around the inside of the areas chiseled out  close to the depth needed. It works slick.  I used to use my Dremmel tool with a router base attachment but I didn't like how it  tended to jump at times.

[Acer Saccharum]

This is just a soapbox for Rase showing off.

[WadePatton]

My inlets don't look like that.   They look like the originals. 

thanks Mark!

my full tang inlet looks like it was done with a dull hatchet whilst suspended from a mast on the Mayflower (stormy seas ).

That OP inlet is exquisite, hope they pay you enough!

[Paddlefoot]

Well I am impressed. That's the sort of inletting I have set as my goal. It does always seem to be just out of reach and I think part of that is due to starting with pre-carves/ pre-inlet stocks. I am determined to start any remaining guns I build from a blank. It just takes too much time to try to fix the problems that crop up  with locks just slightly out of position and inlet cavities that go right to the edge of the lock plate, forestocks that are warped so bad they are doing a barrel roll.  Nice work Dave and an excellent post for learning.

[B Shipman]

I've been complimented on my internal inletting many times and it's no where good as that.

[flehto]

Wow! Dave that's how inletting should look, but mine never does. When I learned the tool and diemaking trade, I was told to be precise where it needs to be and where accuracy isn't req'd, don't spend the time.  Recognizing where to be precise and where not to, is a skill that is important economically.....that's probably why the original makers didn't "fuss around".  I know my gunbuilding is a hobby, but just can't change old habits. My inletting achieves good side fits, but the inlet bottoms aren't very smooth....but they do the job. Again my compliments on your precise inletting.....Fred

[E.vonAschwege]

Dave - What beautiful work!  Any chance this rifle is going to make it to the Lewisburg show?  I strive for that level of sophistication and detail - really marvelous!  The triggers are my favorite detail - removing as little wood as possible is really key for a gun as slim as this one.  Looking forward to seeing the whole piece soon. 
-Eric

[Dphariss]

Now I know why I took these...
18 pound rifle.

Dan

[Robby]

Beautifully done Dave, all of them!!! That's how I envision my lock inlet every time I start out, but somehow it never ends up that way. Oh well, as I like to say, If you shoot for the stars, and end up with the sun and the moon, that's not too bad! 
Robby

[Col. Barnett]

I have been having a two week period of builders block on my first build. These pictures have helped me.  I think I'll head to the basement and make some kindling.

On second thought, another cup of coffee sounds good too.

[Mark Elliott]

I feel compelled to say that I don't even try to do what David did here.   The original makers didn't do that, so why should I try to do something they didn't do.   It just ruins the overall feel of the gun in my opinion.   As it is,  I still probably finish my guns better than I should.   You don't see David's kind of work until the late 19th century.    

[Dphariss]

Try again


Dan

[Captchee]

 That is simply out standing Dave. Like many of the others have said , that level of perfection is something I have always tried to strive for  but  it just never quite happens .
 
 While I would agree that very few originals were done to that level , I still believe that type of work is something that should be strived for  .
 Acer has a very good tutorial up on how he inlets his locks . Which is fairly close to how I inlet  the lock as well  .
 That said though . I still never get as  the quality you have shown .
Frankly  not as good as Acer’s eather LOL .
 Would you mind telling us . How does your process differ.
Im really with Don on this in that I would love to see  exactly how this  is done 

[Dphariss]

I feel compelled to say that I don't even try to do what David did here.   The original makers didn't do that, so why should I try to do something they didn't do.   It just ruins the overall feel of the gun in my opinion.   As it is,  I still probably finish my guns better than I should.   You don't see David's kind of work until the late 19th century.    

I guess everyone should work to his own standard and/or skill level.

Dan

[Kermit]

I think this thread could have the same potential to expose us to the different tools and techniques used for inletting.

Well, so far that party's a bust.

[Jim Kibler]

Some thoughts coming from someone who is often fairly particular...  Efficient work that's a little rough can be fine.  Maybe even preferred, but there's some other considerations.  Sometimes this rough work has a habit of extending itself to areas that do make a difference.  Parts that don't always go back in the same way they came out, parts that rock in inlets, consistent fits between barrel and wood, locks and triggers etc.  And yes, you can be sure many originals suffered from some of these problems.   Part of all this is personal approach, but there is a line that has to be walked.  One more thing t consider..  Quick efficient work from someone with skills can be a great thing, but it's usually not the same as that from someone without a lot of ability.  It can be easy to find ways to rationalize work.  Hope this all makes sense.

[Acer Saccharum]

Thanks for the thoughts, Jim. Again, it gives me cause to pause, and look at how I do my own work.

Not everything needs the same attention to detail. But if you're going for a quality work, the quality runs thru the whole gun, not just the surface.

A quickly inlet barrel, lock or buttplate can come to haunt me in the finishing stages. I like things well done, with a lot of thought behind how it's done, how it's placed, always with the image of the final product at the end of the tunnel. But I don't do this for a living, so a professional would probably have a different perspective.

[flehto]

I've been told that my MLers are  done in a  quite fussy manor.....everything that
"shows" is as perfect as I can get it. But  many things on a MLer don't require that degree of precision and I don't give these areas the time and effort of the areas that shoiw.   Not to say that the hidden areas are sloppily done. just that they don't equal the shown areas. When doing the hidden areas of a MLer. function has to prevail  and that's what I base the work on. But.,...whatever standards one  adopts is a personal thing and that standard should be strived for.....otherwise?.....Fred