Artistry and execution of carving on American long rifles

[smart dog]

Hi Folks,
I am having a lot of fun and educating myself at the same time.  I am carving a gun in the style of John Noll.  I’ve always admired his work and was eager to jump in and try to emulate it.  As I am working on this gun, I am finding Noll’s carving to be pretty easy to do because it is so 2-dimensional. In my opinion, the strength of his carving was not in execution but in design within the asymmetrically shaped spaces on a gun stock.  I have now worked in the styles of Noll, J. P. Beck, Isaac Haines, Dickert, Albrecht, Oerter, Haga, and Haymaker.  I still want to try my hand at Rupp, Berlin, Eyster, Berry, and Reedy or Bonewitz.  The process of studying the styles of those great makers by examining originals and photos of originals and then actually trying to carve designs inspired by them is incredibly instructive.  It brings you to a level of understanding and appreciation beyond that of the rifle student and perhaps some contemporary makers.   In my opinion, the carving done by Rev War period makers, and those working  shortly after was the very best both in design and execution.  In that group, in my opinion, Isaac Haines had no equal with respect to design and sophistication of execution.  His carving is a challenge to do well.  Later makers substituted profusion for quality and complex execution.  But some, like John Noll, did that very well.  I would love to read the opinions of others.  Specifically, I would like to know why you like the decorative work of a maker.   Have you tried to replicate it and was it a challenge.  Why?  I want to learn and maybe learn enough to do a gun inspired by that maker.     

dave

[rich pierce]

You have a great list there.  A real hall of fame.  I find John Bonewitz's carving to be outstanding, but others find it predictable and unexciting.  RCA 42 and the Musician's rifle are very fine to me.  One of the very best ever is a rifle attributed to Roesser or Resor.  It's #18 in Kindig's book.  Check it out.  When Shumway cleaned it up the carving popped out.  Beautiful.

More details on that rifle, #18 in Kindig's book: George Shumway featured it in a Muzzle Blasts article in February 1982.  The buttstock carving is a lot clearer than in the Kindig's illustration and it has exceptional sophistication and artistry.

[rich pierce]

There's also the choice of formal versus folksy carving preferences.  Some of the more folksy carving designs on colonial and federal period longrifles have a lot of appeal too.

[Mike Brooks]

Carving is cool. I like most all of the old stuff, from the well executed to the more folksy side. These guns really are all about art, that's what is so great about them. The decoration on these guns serves no practical purpose what so ever other than our human desire.

[Bob Roller]

Carving is cool. I like most all of the old stuff, from the well executed to the more folksy side. These guns really are all about art, that's what is so great about them. The decoration on these guns serves no practical purpose what so ever other than our human desire.

Well said,Mike. My own preference on long rifles is the plain as a fence post but well done Southern
rifles like the one Roger Sells donated to the CLA auction a couple of years ago.
Recently we had a power failure here that lasted for 19 hours.I had to get a tool from the shop
and it dawned on me that I could not begin to make a lock or triggers until lights and machines were
again working. The old guns,built under what we would call a handicap deserve our respect and preservation if for no other reasons than the way they came into being. Along the same line of thought is our medical care we have now,unheard of in the day of the long rifle. I had to get reading glasses at age 44 and these were where prescribed lenses began.Had I been alive and working in 1820 could I or anyone else get needed help with visual problems while living in a frontier environment?

Bob Roller

[smart dog]

Hi Folks,
Thanks for the replies.  My intention was not to ask if folks like carving or not, or how hard it was back in the day.  Those are great topics of discussion, but I am interested in understanding what it is about a certain gunmaker's style of carving that appeals to you.  If you ever tried to work in that man's style, how did it go?  What insights can you share about that work? How did you do it?   For example, let me get the ball rolling with John Noll.  When looking at his carving from a distance, I get a feeling of complexity, movement, and profusion.  If you look closer, however, the complexity is an illusion because his scroll device is very simple, but like a good cartoonist, he projects a lot of complexity with very few lines.  I believe he outlined his scrolls using a "V" chisel, which probably enabled him to cut a lot of work quickly. Next, I think he slightly rounds the heads of the volutes by scraping with a carving knife and then cuts a few incised lines for highlights.  Fini with the scoll, move on to the next.  He seems to have been a master of the "V" chisel and he adds to the illusion of complexity with incised lines that accent the scrolls and cross hatching. I spend much more time relieving and smoothing the background when carving like Noll than I do cutting any details in the scrolls.  Not so with Isaac Haines. His work is complex from a distance, and complex up close.  It demands a lot of time and effort at every stage.

dave     

[Long John]

Dave,

I am still striving to become a journeyman in the shop of William Antes.  I have pictures of RCA 53 all over my little basement-corner shop for inspiration and guidance.

Best Regards,

John Cholin

[smart dog]

Hi John,
Thank you for contributing to this discussion. RCA #53 is a very nice rifle.  What about the carving inspires and or challenges you?  How do you think it was done or how might you proceed to emulate it? 

dave

[Jerry V Lape]

Before I ever started building Isaac Haines stood out from the others in RCA volumes.  I have carved his pattern several times now, mostly on practice pieces.  I like Haines work because his design is fully integrated throughout the stock.  It all appears to be one design.  Many other designs are more a collection of different pieces placed here and there to cover the open areas.  The design looks as if it emerged from the wood, not glued to it and it has motion.  The impression of multiple levels or depths is also part of it.  The shape of the pattern and the shape of the stock enhance or complement each other.  Right now I am building a Reedy and will put a Reedy/Bonewitz pattern on it.  Reedy didn't generate his designs.  They were copied from Bonewitz and are not as good as Bonewitz.  Just don't transfer the image intended by the originator as fully.   

[smart dog]

Hi Jerry,
So would you say Haines looked at the whole gun as a single canvas rather than each individual section, like behind the cheek piece?  Do you think he stabbed in his designs or used a "V" tool for outlining?  He raises some questions in my mind, like where did he come from?  Who did he apprentice to and why is he just so much better than the rest? I cannot think of anyone other Pennsylvania rifle maker who carved like him.  In my opinion, he was as good as any specialized furniture carver of the time.  

dave

[Jerry V Lape]

I think he clearly saw the rifle as "a single canvas" as you said.  Wish I could say that I have had an opportunity to get close enough to one of his originals to examine the cuts in detail but the truth is the closest I have been so far is from the outside of a glass case when two were displayed at the PA Landis Farm museum couple years ago.  The display was poorly lighted (had to use my cell phone flashlight to see much at all.)  He did model the leaves and other shapes well so I am not sure you could determine whether it is done with stab in or V tool. I do think from my own very modest experience carving his pattern that the stab in system provides a lot more control around the small details than the V tool. 

As to his training I am not a student of those aspects.   

[smart dog]

Thanks for the contribution Jerry.  I am in the same boat.  The closest I've come to a Haines gun is through a glass pane. Dave Hansen's wonderful book sure helps though.  Your note reminded me of a story. Back in the early 1980s when I was a young lad building my first guns, I spent as much time as I could in Bill Kennedy's shop, which was in NJ at the time. He told me if I was serious about building long rifles,  I should visit the Eagle museum in Strasburg, PA.  Bill said that if I show real interest in the guns, Vince Nolt may let me get a closer look.  My Dad and I made the trip and I, with sketch and note pads in tow, pushed my nose right up against the glass trying to see every angle I could. I must of left nose prints, just like a dog, on many of the cases. Anyway, I was really intent on the fine J. P. Beck he had in his collection, when Vince came up behind me and asked if I would like a closer look.  I thought he would just open the case and let me get a little closer. Instead he reaches in and hands me the Beck.  At that point I was a young guy who had found Nirvana way too early in life.  I still have those notes and sketches. 

dave

[Dave B]

My favorite carving on a long rifle is that done by Isaac Haines. I attempted to carve the second longrifle I had ever built in his style. It was a struggle. He blends the use of the incise line with the recessed plane in a manor that simple yet is elegant.  I was fortunate enough to take a carving class from the late John Bivins through the NMLRA gunsmith courses held at UK Bowling Green KY. He opened the world to us in the subtleties of the carved butt stock. The use of a incised line here and a chip cut there and it made sense. The use of this type of gouge to make this detail. John Noll's carving is also one I would like to study to attempt to reproduce. It is sophisticated and well executed. 

It is rare to get the opportunity to hold originals especially when you live out here on the west coast. We do get to see a few now and again. I joined the KRA at one point and got a major induction in the art of the fine rifle by attending the main show one year. I was catatonic at the number of fine rifles on display. Kindig had 12 of his  published rifles on display on the stage and I soaked up as much as I could. Rudy Barr let me hold his early JP Beck. I made sketches of the details. I was amazed at how low profile the carving was. His use of the v tool to give the impression of depth is astounding. Great topic Dave