Enhancing a fine New England Rifle by Mitch Yates

[smart dog]

Hi Folks,
I had the privilege of enhancing the decoration on a very nice New England rifle made by Mitch Yates.  I spoke with Mitch about it, and he said it was the first gun he made from a bandsawed blank.  That is remarkable considering how well the gun is designed and made.  I am in awe.  The current owner is very knowledgeable about New England guns and he wanted some historically correct details added.  He loves the gun but just wanted a few historically defining extras and wanted me to do the job.  So I added the silver diamond on the wrist, the wire inlay around it, the brass inlay by the butt plate on the cheek side, and the cheek piece inlay and wire.  And then, he asked me to checker the wrist.  The inlays and wire are no brainers for me and I consented to do that work but I was very reluctant to try checkering the wrist because I have never done that before.  The owner was persuasive and I consented to try.  So began another historical adventure because everything had to be bang on historically correct.  I accumulated as many photos of originals as I could, looked at antique NE rifles in shows and museums, and communicated with knowledgeable people.  I studied the engraving on NE rifles as best I could.  Paraphrasing the admiral in "Hunt for Red October" , "I didn't take a dump without a plan, son".  I have modern Dem-Bart checkering tools but they cannot reproduce the historic flat topped checkering.  So I made my own single line and parallel cutters.  The parallel cutter is set for the correct 16 lines per inch (I was really anal about this guys).  I did the job and here are my results for better or worse.  The "pucker" factor doing the checkering was every bit as intense as metal engraving.  I think I did OK and did Mitch honor and the owner is very happy but I often feel like I am such an amateur.  I hope someday that feeling goes away.  Enjoy the photos.

dave   

[Bill Paton]

Dave,
Your anal attention to historical detail and meticulous and artful execution is again greatly admired and appreciated. You, Mitch, and the knowledgeable and obviously discriminating current owner can be rightfully proud!

Bill Paton

[Chowmi]

Beautiful!


I wish I felt like that sort of amateur!



Norm

[tallbear]

Dave
The gun looks great.Your work has definitely added a WOW factor to my original work, super job.This was my second gun and as you said was my first from a plank. It was hidden in my shop for many years before I finally agreed to sell it.So glad now that I did.The fact that it's being used and the owner is pleased makes me happy.Your improvements have only enhanced that!!!!!

Mitch

[Joe S.]

one heck of a first time on the checkering,nicely done as is the rest of the rifle.

[n stephenson]

Dave and Mitch, Compliments to you both on capturing the details of these  unique rifles . It`s a neat thing when two good builders can both work on a piece and have their work come together in a flowing , cohesive manner . NICE JOB!!!!                             Nathan

[Mark Elliott]

Dave,

Great work as always!

Mark

[JV Puleo]

Nice job... you did particularly well with the checkering and the border around it. This is generally quite distinctive on NE rifles and unlike that seen elsewhere in American gunmaking as early as the flint period. I have a feeling it was copied from English guns...

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

That is nice work indeed, and I'm sure the owner is delighted.  It would be interesting to know what the true colour of the wood is, because most of the images indicate that it is Philippian mahogany.

[smart dog]

Thanks for looking,
I am really glad you like it Mitch.  I think it compliments your fine work and fits in.  It does not look like the work of different people.  Thanks for commenting Joe and Bill.  I was hoping you might chime in.  Taylor the true color of the black walnut stock is about halfway between the purple brown in the photo showing the diamond and the orangy brown of the other photos.  I have not had adequate daylight for several days so most of the pictures were shot under incandescent floodlights, hence the reddish hue.  It is a nice dense piece of black walnut but it also had a horrible tendency to chip out. I had to be really careful during the checkering and I deepened each line slowly in several stages.

dave

[FALout]

I've checkered a few finished stocks and I know what you mean about the pucker factor!  You did a great job, both of you, very distinctive and definitely has the New England look to it.

[greybeard]

Dave. Your work is outstanding as  usual.   Bob

[WaterFowl]

Dave I hope your pucker has finally relaxed..Great team effort..Bet the owner is beaming!
Where else can you find the sharing of working art.? Thank you!