Jaeger building progress

[bama]

I have been working on this Jaeger for a couple of weeks now and finally have it to the point where it is just about ready to carve. I still have to install the wood box and the nose cap to do and after looking at the pictures I am going to reduce the size of the lock panels to about half of what they are now.

This is the first time I have used English Walnut and I have really enjoyed working with it. I got this piece from Ron Scott and it is a very hard piece of wood. It cuts beautifully and does not chip out as bad as Black Walnut.

The barrel is a Rice 62 cal with RB rifleling, Davis Jaeger lock and triggers, the brass hardwarre I also got from Ron.

I have not added any finish to this piece of wood. The shine you see is from the scraping process. This wood is so hard that the scraper burnishes the wood as it is scraped. No sand paper has been used.

This blank ws wide enough for me to get a full 1/4" cast off. Thanks Ron for a great piece of wood.

[FALout]

Looks like that walnut has exceptionally tight grain structure, should carve very well.  Looks like you got a good start on that in such a short period of time.  I'm still getting parts cleaned up and ready, work seems to get in the way.  Can't wait to see this finished.

[kaintuck]

I too have a beast I'm working on.....
Does the cheek look like that? I have my little flat area smaller than yours, that area always give me trouble. And what is your choice in toe plate? I just used a simply small one screw brass piece.

Walnut gets my nose and lungs messed up, I have only one blank left.....and may never use it, if I did, I want a newbie to have it....trading fodder......I made a friend a SMR as my last walnut. But yours looks great.....more pictures please.

Marc n tomtom

[Keb]

Nice looking gun. That wood is awesome looking, too.

[Bill Paton]

Kaintuck,

My lung and sinus problems caused by wood dust resolved when I started using a P100 breathing mask which I bought from a store supplying equipment for auto body paint shops. Using it, all odor of wood dust, metal grinding, and smoke is completely blocked and my cough and sinusitis clear up. the mask is comfortable, easy to breath through, and puts the fun back in my shop. It will not seal over a beard, however.

Bill Paton

[smart dog]

Looks great Bama!!

Glad you discovered English walnut.  It is hands down my favorite gunstock wood with respect to working and carving it.  I love the look of figured maple but I'd rather carve English walnut.

dave 

[ejcrist]

That is an extremely nice looking jaeger. If the one I'm building comes out half as good as yours I'll be happy.

[old george]

That is some kinda wood, very nice jaeger.

geo

[flatsguide]

Very nice. Good looking piece of wood too.

[black ed]

Bill, I have the same problem, My beard is short and I take and put a little Vaseline on the beard where the resporator seats. Seals up pretty good. It can be a mess taking off, witch I do often, But it works.

[t.caster]

Bama, that is looking good! I am glad you liked working with that wood from Ron. I got two pieces like that from him in 2008 that was fresh cut. I will be using one for my next project, a 1710 Brandenburg school Jaeger with a 28" x .62 barrel.
I hope it doesn't have the bitter smell of American Black Walnut. Yes? No?
Do you plan to stain it, or just seal and finish?

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

Bama:  this is going to be a good looking rifle.  English walnut is a joy to work with.  The grain structure on most of it is very dense and fine, and it takes carving beautifully, with sharp chisels, of course.  The dust has its own aroma, but it is not the acrid kind of BW.  Looking forward to seeing it done.

[Lucky R A]

   Jim I sent some photos yesterday.  If you can't use then on this project put them in your file for future project ideas...Just in case you thought the message was spam.   Ron

[Ed Wenger]

Looking good, and a beautiful piece of wood, make sure you post some photos when you have it completed! 


  Ed 

[Topknot]

Jim........All I can say is WOW. That takes the cake, awesome! I never knew that english walnut was so beautiful and you know how to make it shine. That thar is sum punkins there pardner.

                                                 Topknot

[acorn20]

I enjoy handling and shooting Germanic rifles; they have a place in my heart.  Your project is coming along quite nicely Jim.  Say, where did you obtain your hardware?  From Ron as well? 

[bama]

This piece of English Walnut does not have the smell that black walnut has and the dust does not seem to have the tendency to affect my breathing. It still stains my hands a little dark but not the purple/black that back walnut does.

I have a long way to go to finish shaping the cheek piece area. I was just trying to get the stock shaped up enough to take it to the NRA show in Nashville this past weekend. I hope to have an update after i get back from the Norris show next week.

Thanks for all the kind words