STOCK CARVING PATTERNS

[KILTED COWBOY]

I totally suck at drawing. Does anyone know of a source for templates to copy some decorative scroll work for a planned first rifle build.
Something sort of full sized that i can lay on the wood and copy the design?

[G_T]

Like this? https://www.trackofthewolf.com/imgPart/plan/plan-rupp_1.jpg

TrackOfTheWolf and some other sites have some nice plans.

You could also take a picture of something you like from a book, and blow it up to the size you need. Or you could take measurements from pictures and transfer to your profiled stock. For a first rifle, I'd avoid going too ambitious. Save that for a future build! Just work on doing a good enough job on the first one, so you have one that is done! A little bit of molding work in a few places can add a fair bit of elegance to an otherwise fairly plain rifle.

Gerald

[Mike Brooks]

Or, you could practice your drawing.

[sqrldog]

In the books section at the top of the forum you will find Landcaster carving patterns and builder books. I'm not sure it is available anymore but I have a copy and it could be an asset to a beginning carver.  My copy isn't for sale.

[Mauser06]

www.HistoricalArmsmaker.com

That link worked not long ago...she sold a great book.



I'm in the same boat.  I bought tracing paper and graphite transfer paper to try to copy from the book and get an outline on my stock. 


It just didn't work for me Lol.  I tried so much that my drawing got better and with a little help from some stencils and such, I drew my own. Lol. 


Not sure if the site is down or if that book is not available anymore. 


The more I do and the more I study the better I'm getting.  My eye and hands are developing. I don't know if hat I will ever be good....but better than I was...

[KILTED COWBOY]

Thanks for the feed back. I have been practicing my drawing, for the past 60 years!
I can carve, whittle, and follow a line pretty well. freehand not so much.
Not looking for anything too elaborate like found on golden age rifles.
Something more simple like found on pre rev Lancaster's.
Thanks again

[sespe]

I won't lie, I used these to draw out the carving on my rifle.  Just picked a simple scroll and cut off the excess bits. 
https://www.michaels.com/laser-cut-scroll-borders-by-artminds/10480195.html#start=8

[M. E. Pering]

One aid you might want to consider picking up is a French Curve.  I have never used on in my designs, but I probably should.  A compass and circle templates can also be helpful.  Keep in mind though, most of your designs will have to transfer to a curved surface, and may not look right once you do this, so what might look good on paper might not look as good once transferred.  I work backwards these days... I draw it on the stock first, and if it looks good, then I photograph it, then I carve it and photograph it afterwards. 

If you want to try something, take one of those pieces of scrap you sawed off of you blank (assuming you are working with a stock blank), and glue it to a piece of 2x4 and shape it roughly to the curve of where you wish to carve.  Sand it down to a finish that you would have on your rifle before starting carving.  Draw you pattern on there... It doesn't matter the pattern, but just one you are hoping to execute.  Use your eraser frequently, and get it as good as you can.  Then carve it to totality.  It will really improve you abilities in all aspects, and having done your pattern once, it is likely you can see where you made mistakes, and correct for them on the real thing.  If necessary, repeat this until you are comfortable carving your stock.

M. E. Pering

[thecapgunkid]

A set of French curves from an art store may help.  Several sizes of tin cans to act as templates may also help.  Also, stamp your gouges into a piece of scrap wood to get an idea of the semi circles and full circles they form.  Sometimes you need to visualize what happens when you combine those gouges.

Spend a lot of time looking at Rococco's on guns, furniture, drawings and make JPG's of those you like.

There are several DVD's the most notable being that of Wallace Gusler, that will walk you through it.

If you really want to be a weenie, or possess a  level of mediocrity such as mine, try this.  It works on leather and will also work on wood with the right materials;

• Get a pattern you like and copy it until it reaches the size that will fit on your piece.  copy it onto a transparency, either with your copier or by tracing it with a sharpie.

• Flip it to the reverse side, and get a set of very soft pencils from an art store.   Trace the pattern in reverse.

• trying not to touch the wood, move the pattern around until it is in position, apply it to the wood and rub the thing until you think the pattern is transferred.

• If you are using a soft lead pencil, an ordinary eraser will remove it if you are not satisfied.

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Boom

Once you get the hang of it all, your confidence level will grow and you will get to freehand.  Then you can write a post on how you overcome poor carving techniques, doing so knowing that a lot of the original guns were endowed with just that.  When you do that, please learn how to manage the bullets icon in the tool bar.

Hope this helps.

[Mike Brooks]

Thanks for the feed back. I have been practicing my drawing, for the past 60 years!
I can carve, whittle, and follow a line pretty well. freehand not so much.
Not looking for anything too elaborate like found on golden age rifles.
Something more simple like found on pre rev Lancaster's.
Thanks again

I took 4 years of art in high school instead of 4 years of shop. Glad I did. But, I still ended up as the Director of Maintenance for 17 years, just call me "Mr. Fix-it! . You should find one of your friends that is a good artist, they could probably teach you how to draw, might be time well spent if you're going to do much of this.

[dogcatcher]

Spend some time on the engraving forums, same principle as woodcarving, just metal carving.  They stress learning to draw.  It is basically muscle and mind control over the pencil.  I suggest finding a book about "Zentangle" and start copying designs, start with simple ones.  It is an artistic form of doodling.  The more time spent on mind and muscle control of the pencil the better you will get. 

[fm tim]

"The Book of Lancaster Carving Details for the Gunmaker"  by Susanne Warren Bicio
Mine came from Muzzleloader uilders Supply, but I believe it has changed hands

[J. Talbert]

Practice, practice, practice. 

Believe it or not, you can get better.
I used to think I'd never be able to draw well enough to be able to draw carving and engraving on the gun.  I'd struggle with a design I wasn't really happy with but I couldn't tell just what was wrong.  I would also settle for flawed design because I wasn't sure I could do better on my next attempt.

Start copying designs from books or photos.  The more you draw them the sooner you'll see when something is not right, and you'll be able to spot just where the problem lies.

Ultimately being able to draw your own designs will let you taylor the design to the space.

Good luck
Jeff

[Scota4570]

Jim Kibler sells a carving practice kit.  It includes a book and an an example.  I carved the example half a dozen times in maple. 

I then used the pattern to do my stock.  I resize and modify on the computer, I transfer with carbon paper.  I draw with french curves and ellipse templates.  I can not draw a smooth line by hand.  I do not have the confidence to free hand a major element.  I transfer everything.

[Davemuzz]

 You should find one of your friends that is a good artist, they could probably teach you how to draw, might be time well spent if you're going to do much of this.

I happen to sleep with a now retired art school teacher.  She can draw like nobodies business!!  Of course, I've been married to her for 39 years!!

She can draw beautiful scrolls on darn near anything. I'm just to chicken to attempt the carving.

[smart dog]

Hi,
Whenever someone writes that they can't draw, I wonder is it that they can't make their hands do what they have in their minds or is it more they really can't conceive in their minds what they want to do?  Perhaps, it is both.  Drawing is easy, design is hard. A good way to learn design for long rifle carving is to look at books, CDs, other images, and original guns and gradually build a mental library of work that you can copy and modify on your own.  My Dad was a good wood carver and he was active in a local carving club made up of mostly retired guys.  I used to smile because every budding carver did a gnome, a face on a walking stick, an American eagle, a cowboy boot, and a carousel pony.  These were subjects right out of the popular carving books and they all looked pretty much the same, but the novice carvers learned how to carve well pretty fast from doing them and copying each other.  Some eventually did inspired work others not so much.  Of course my Dad was different.  He carved a pig with eagle wings and a carousel pig.  He liked pigs. 

dave   

[horseman]

Eric von Aschwege  has some plans he sells.  Go to his site and take a look.