Carving tool

[Kingsburyarms]

Admission (Please don't judge) So I'm not great at making that long straight cut above the ram rod channel.  It's a prominent feature of the rifle and it helps make it slender and catches the eye. So when I make the cuts it looks like a drunk Skunk did it. So I built this, made out of aluminum and it has a metal lathe cutter bit in it to cut the wood. It is fully adjustable, makes a perfect parallel cut to the ram rod channel and you can adjust anything about it - Just thought I would share today's "mother of invention" idea..... as always, all feedback most welcome (and there probably has been posts and 10 other versions of this made), but you can't get enough of New England ingenuity. 

Oh and not to forget, you can make both sides ......The same

Best to all,

Jon

[KC]

That's pretty cool. Looks like it works well, too.
K.C.

[bowkill]

How does it work on a swamped barrel chanel?

[Craig Wilcox]

Nice tool, fairly easy both to make and use.
bowkill, the base rod runs along the RR channel - just remove the pipes to give it a free run.

[Greg Pennell]

Kind of a modern take on a scratchstock. Gives me an idea...

Greg

[P.W.Berkuta]

Admission (Please don't judge) So I'm not great at making that long straight cut above the ram rod channel.  It's a prominent feature of the rifle and it helps make it slender and catches the eye. So when I make the cuts it looks like a drunk Skunk did it. So I built this, made out of aluminum and it has a metal lathe cutter bit in it to cut the wood. It is fully adjustable, makes a perfect parallel cut to the ram rod channel and you can adjust anything about it - Just thought I would share today's "mother of invention" idea..... as always, all feedback most welcome (and there probably has been posts and 10 other versions of this made), but you can't get enough of New England ingenuity. 

Oh and not to forget, you can make both sides ......The same

Best to all,

Jon

Nicely done and a great job on grinding that tool bit

[Kingsburyarms]

Bowkill, Craig is spot on - the aluminum rod is 10 inches long, so it runs right in the RR channel, and seeing it's long enough, it does not "dip" into the thimble grooves. It keeps everything straight and true. With a stock top cut to "curve" with a swamped barrel, this line will be parallel to the Ram Rod, not the swamp.  Jon

[JamesT]

Very clever

[Lzymtlsmth]

 
I made the same type thing many years ago I think mine was from a W. Buchele idea / plan.very much cruder but works , the “cutter” on mine is a cap head screw.  :)The only way to get a. Straight mounding line at least for me.

[Jeff Durnell]

I like it!

What diameter is the rod? Looks like 1/2" or so.

[Kingsburyarms]

That’s exactly the size, polished and ends rounded as to not snag on the thimble inlets. Guess this belongs in the shop made tool section? 😀

[davec2]

Not to detract from this excellent tool, but a while back, one of the members here (sorry I can't remember who) posted a link to a British fellow who had a woodworking tip on how to make a quick, inexpensive "beading tool".  I clicked on these two links:





Now I have made and tried a great variety of tools to aid in getting nice straight beads / moldings along ram rod channels etc.

Scratch stock :



Home made molding plane:





A beading scraper that rides a brass rod placed in the ram rod channel:



Individual form scrapers:



And I have used Acer's method of drawing a nice straight pencil line, following that with a veiner, and then straightening with a file, etc.  They all work and all have their utility but all of them rely on getting the first line nice and straight.  So when I saw the above links I thought, wow, that might be an easy way to get that first straight groove in place easily.  So I made this very complicated tool:



And then ran it up and down the ram rod channel lips on a rifle.....like this.....



I used it first as a marking gage with just the smooth edge of the screw indenting a line in the maple.  Then I turned it so that the screw slot actually cut wood.  I have to tell you, that was the quickest, easiest, most sure fire way I have put a very straight groove in the forstock without fighting the grain or the natural wobble of the other tools / methods I tried. 

[David Rase]

Jon,
Nice looking tool.  I find that making my own tools, especially one of a kind non commercial tools is just as much if not more fun, enjoyable and satisfying as making a rifle.
David

[Kingsburyarms]

Ha - I guess I could have saved a few hours just putting a wood screw in a piece of wood (excellent design by the way, and looks like it does the job very well) but then I would have had to do some housework in place of that time spent on engineering mechanical equipment required for precision architecture design and implementation. 

[davec2]

Jon,

Good point about the house work.....as you can see from the pictures I sent, I spent all sorts of time trying all sorts of ways to get a straight molding line on the forearm.  I had never thought about how many "honey dos" or how much house work I saved myself from.