Filing a "wedding band" on a butt plate?

[Ky-Flinter]

This butt plate was cast with 5 flats on the return.  Is it possible to file a "wedding band" on the end of the return and have it look right?  I sure would appreciate suggestions on how to go about it.  Thanks.



-Ron

[Bill Raby]

Go for it! If it does not work, you can always get another one. Easy enough to do. Mark out the locations of the low spots and cut them in with a jewelers saw. Then just use small file from there.

[David Rase]

Ron,
Use  set of dial calipers and scribe some lines on the buttplate where you want the low spots in the bands to be.  Next us your jewelers saw and cut on the lines.  I use the blade to tell me when I have sawed deep enough.  The using a safe edged file start filing the band.  I am assuming you will have 2 narrow bands surrounding 1 wide band in the center.  File using a rolling stroke to get a nice round transition.  Finish off with some sandpaper and steel wool.
David

[Stoner creek]

Come over and see me. I’ll show you. It’s easy.

[Jerry V Lape]

Always good to practice so take a piece of flat brass stock, bend it around a curved surface, file in the flats and practice on that until you are comfortable with your tool and method.  This really isn't hard but it is good to get past the learning curve before screwing up a buttplate.  The jewelers saw as Dave recommended works for me. 

[David Rase]

The good thing is that if you screw up filing the wedding bands you can always file them off and solder on a silver band and start over.    Of course then you will have to add them to the triggerguard and thimbles to balance things out. 
David

[Mike Brooks]

I just give it the ol' eye ball and attack with a 3 corner file laying out where I want the band. Then I may use a different file with a safe side to file in the hump.....or I might just use a 3 corner for the whole works. Looking at original work those bands aren't usually very precise or pretty on close examination. Mine can come out a little crooked but the old guns weren't perfect either.
 Different schools will require different styles of bands so do a bit of homework before you go at it.

[Ky-Flinter]

Thanks for all the replies and advice.  I was worried the filed in band would be lower than the flats, and so it would look funny. 

Wayne,
I'm overdue for a visit up on Stoner Creek.  I'll give you a call.

Thanks all.

-Ron

[Shovelbuck]

I did this one this past summer. Just used a 3 corner file.

[Terry Reynolds]

I did this goofing off! Simply like me

[Mark Elliott]

I just cut the grooves in using a triangular needle file.     I mark about where I want the grooves with a pen and then file around keeping a bit of the file in the groove behind as I gradually work forward.   If you file in the direction of the line you drew,  the file pretty much stays on course.   Once you have the initial groove cut,  it is easy to deepen it up.    Once I have the depth I want,  I just roll the file over the top from both sides to round up the band.  Do leave a little depth for the rounding up process.

[flehto]

I use a surface gage w/ a sharply pointed scriber to deeply mark the grooves so the triangular needle file will follow the grooves. This is done w/ brass Bplates and RR pipes.

The Bplate is just clamped so the tang is vertical while the RR pipes are on a tightly fitting rod and chucked in a drill press. While the spindle is rotated by hand,  the surface gage w/ the scriber is cutting the grooves.

Just line up the scriber tip w/ the short layout mark and start cutting the grooves......Fred

[deepcreekdale]

I do as Mike does, just file it with a sharp triangular file by eye. If you have a copy of RCA, or something similar, take a look at the originals. Most look like they were done by hand in just a few minutes. When they built the original guns, time was money and you will see lots of minor imperfections. That does not mean sloppy work, it just means careful hand work without the use of gauges or machine tools which we are used to. To me a longrifle made with modifications like you propose done by hand and eye, look far superior and "warmer" than ultra-precise, exactly measured features that looked like they were done on a CNC machine.

[flehto]

The "quality" of the work done by builders depends on their "requirements"....and their customers' expectations. Personally, I try to attain "perfection" but never do, but that's the way I work. Others "do it their way".

Many yrs ago I visited TOW to place a LR in their consignment sales and while talking to Dave Riplinger the owner, a TOW customer brought in a completed TOW LR  parts set and wanted a value on his handiwork. Dave was hesitant to do so, but the customer insisted and wouldn't leave. Finally he gave a price which was  less than the parts set's price. The customer left and Dave told me that the LR "reeked" of impatience and if a little more time would have been spent on each operation, the price would have been higher.

Producing MLers  in a "workman like manner" is open to interpretation by the individual builder and if used, can yield MLers w/ varying degrees of "quality" which is also a word that's open to interpretation.

So..... in the end, the work produced has to satisfy the builder and the customer if there is one......Fred