Author Topic: Another English Rifle...Finally Finished........ (Read 39265 times)

Joey R · « **Reply #25 on:** March 06, 2015, 04:18:02 AM »

Dave, I agree with Mike about the contant study of English engraving. One of the best engravers in the English style that I have known is Jack Haugh. I had the honor of being in his shop a couple of times when he engraved a English sporting rifle for me and his copy of Great English Gun Makers by Neal and Back was so worn and dog eared that as for a builder of his talent it proved his constant study. Mr. Haugh to me is a man you don't talk to as much as to listening.You are building another great rifle and it is a pleasure to follow your progress.

mab7 · « **Reply #26 on:** March 06, 2015, 04:34:38 AM »

I'm sorry, but anyone who does the quality of work you produce has to have patience.
What would be the odds of you maybe doing a video of you engraving for those of us who sit in awe and wonder of your skills?

James Rogers · « **Reply #27 on:** March 06, 2015, 05:15:43 PM »

Beautiful work as always Dave!

Clowdis · « **Reply #28 on:** March 06, 2015, 06:08:17 PM »

I like this rifle a lot. Something just a little different with delightful engraving. Keep posting pictures.

Joe Stein · « **Reply #29 on:** March 07, 2015, 04:55:00 AM »

Quoting Mike Brooks, "if I still had them I would have shipped them to you for study pieces."
That's what is so great about this Forum. Where else do you see this kind of unselfish offer made?

davec2 · « **Reply #30 on:** March 07, 2015, 06:13:04 AM »

Joe,

Absolutely right. When I built a copy of a Jim Kibler rifle back in November, Jim sent me plaster casts of his rifle !! The members here are generous with their time, talent, and offers like Jim's and Mike's.

davec2 · « **Reply #31 on:** March 09, 2015, 08:43:10 AM »

Slow progress lately...but progress none the less

Barrel finish complete...

Butt plate engraving done.....

Patch box door carving complete...

Rear ram rod pipe engraving complete.....

Trigger guard engraving complete, trigger plate and trigger complete......

Lock plate polishing done....no engraving on this lock besides the name....

acorn20 · « **Reply #32 on:** March 09, 2015, 07:40:12 PM »

Beautiful work as always Dave. I don't think we'd expect anything less from you!

A question though...what's the dovetail for at the breech of the barrel? A ghost ring sight perhaps?

Again, outstanding work! Thanks for posting your progress.

Kermit · « **Reply #33 on:** March 09, 2015, 08:45:55 PM »

Quote from: acorn20 on March 09, 2015, 07:40:12 PM

A ghost ring sight perhaps?

I had the same question.

davec2 · « **Reply #34 on:** March 09, 2015, 09:27:35 PM »

Kermit, Acorn20,

Yes...this from a previous post......

Some time back I was perusing photos of a large bore English rifle built by one of my favorite contemporary makers, Stephen Alexander. This rifle had a rear "ghost ring" sight mounted very close to the breech which peaked my interest. I made up some dummy sights and glued them to the barrel of a build I am working on and I love the sight picture through them. In querying Stephen on the rear sight, he told me that this type of sight was frequently used on Turkish flint firearms and on some English and Continental ones as well. Here is another thread - some interesting responses from others to my question:

http://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=27794.0

By the way, peep sights long pre-date firearms. The were used on crossbows centuries before gunpowder came on the scene.

smart dog · « **Reply #35 on:** March 10, 2015, 03:47:20 PM »

Wonderful gun Dave!! I really like the butt plate. It looks a lot like the one on Turvey's rifle in RCA 1 and I like the departure from the later standard English butt plate that narrows monotonically. Yours is certainly a lot harder to inlet.

dave

flatsguide · « **Reply #36 on:** March 10, 2015, 04:16:46 PM »

Very nice looking patch box lid.
Richard

Blacktail · « **Reply #37 on:** March 10, 2015, 11:24:03 PM »

I can't wait to see how your rear sight turns out. Are you making it yourself? It looks perfect for hunting.

flatsguide · « **Reply #38 on:** March 11, 2015, 01:37:06 AM »

I was looking at the nick border on the ramrod pipe that fit to the forearm, I don't know the correct name. But the nick borders ends in a cool looking serpentine shape.
Richard

davec2 · « **Reply #39 on:** March 11, 2015, 08:06:45 AM »

Blacktail - yes, I will be making the rear sight out of steel. I will make a couple of simple sheet metal ones to try so I can get the hole in the right place vertically, then duplicate the dimensions in the final steel sight.

Flatsguide - the way the nicks fade out at the end of the rear ram rod pipe is the same way I engrave sunbursts....like this one on a lock....

flatsguide · « **Reply #40 on:** March 11, 2015, 05:01:34 PM »

Thanks Dave. Always enjoy seeing your metal work and engraving up close. Good photography too.
I have seen,in another post, where you were engraving or just finished engraving on a trigger guard bow. It appeared that the part was supported by a product called Thermallok or something similar. Can this Thermalok be molded to shape, by hand, when it is worm and does it have to have some of the Thermal lock over the edges of the part. I ask because numerous recommendation suggest 5 minute epoxy for work holding. Or a combination of both products. Yesterday I made a bunch of wood fixtures to hold the various parts of a Chambers English Sporting Rifle. Referring to the wood fixture for the trigger guard, In order to file the long finial and forward short fancy finial I relieved the wood right up to the width and pattern of the finials. Would epoxy be the best choice to hold the finials and thermalok stuffed under the bow? There is a lump in the fixture that follows the interior of the bow. Sorry for not having photos.
Thanks for the help.
Richard

davec2 · « **Reply #41 on:** March 12, 2015, 12:04:36 AM »

Flatsguide,

Go to this link on another post of mine

http://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=34414.0

About half way through I talk about how I hold parts like a trigger guard for engraving.

Thermoloc works well, but does not adhere to smooth parts like the inside of a trigger guard. So after I mold it in place, and let it set, I pop the part loose and then supper glue it back in place. When I am finished with the engraving, I heat the part with a small bench torch to break the glue bond and release the part.

5 min epoxy works also...as does Bondo...and the dental acrylic I mention in the above post. I use super glue to stick things to wood blocks anywhere I can because it is quick and easy.

flatsguide · « **Reply #42 on:** March 12, 2015, 01:20:13 AM »

Thanks Dave! I must be losing my mind I read that article awhile back AND responded to it.
Thanks again.
Richard

davec2 · « **Reply #43 on:** April 22, 2015, 07:15:03 AM »

I have been busy lately with work but decided that a little more than NO engraving on the lock was called for. (I am weaning myself off engraving every blank surface in sight....but slowly.) Didn't want to go too far, so I just put a sunburst on the tail of the lock plate and another on the top jaw. Two tiny scrolls and some border on the cock and a plain double line border on the frizzen. Done.

Really not much left to do on this rifle except to get a few little things done before finishing the stock. I hope to get to this before work completely takes over my life again.

I lied....about being done..... A friend recently asked me just to engrave a few of the screw heads on his gun. After seeing what a little engraving on just the screw heads could do to perk up the look of a plain gun, I did the lock bolts, butt plate screws and tang screw on this rifle as well. Same design as on the cock screw.....

Now I'm done.....

Joey R · « **Reply #44 on:** April 22, 2015, 02:43:05 PM »

Are you sure about that??

old george · « **Reply #45 on:** April 22, 2015, 04:58:01 PM »

Exquisite workmanship...............it'd like a beautiful woman always have to take that second look!!!!

geo

flatsguide · « **Reply #46 on:** April 22, 2015, 05:55:55 PM »

Lol! why stop at a second look. Really nice design of the sunburst on the lock. Dave, do you have to anneal the frizzen prior to engraving?
Thanks Richard

Daryl · « **Reply #47 on:** April 22, 2015, 06:57:18 PM »

Elegant, Dave - pure but certainly not simple.

flatsguide · « **Reply #48 on:** April 22, 2015, 07:33:52 PM »

Dave, another question please. What type of finish, if any, will you put on the steel parts like the lock plate? Or will you just use Renaissance wax. Thanks for answering this newbee's questions.
Regards Richard

davec2 · « **Reply #49 on:** April 23, 2015, 12:23:13 AM »

Flatsgfuide,

Yes, the frizzen is annealed prior to polishing and engraving and then is re-hardened. (These are cast 1090 and are a pain to re-harden, at least for me. I follow the Chambers instructions for hardening their frizzens, but the oil quench just does not cool the part fast enough so I use brine. Works better, but may take two or three tries to get hard enough to spark.....topic for another post).

As for the finish on this lock, I will case harden it and then polish off the colors. Not sure yet if I will just leave it bright, as I have with some of the others, or "bronze" it like I did on the barrel of this rifle.

News:

Author Topic: Another English Rifle...Finally Finished........ (Read 39265 times)

Blacktail